Pausanias Analysis

Passage 5.1.9

← 5.1.8 5.1.10 →

Passage 5.1.9: Augeas hires Heracles to clear his dung-filled lands (the Augean stables).

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

Ἠλείου δὲ ἦν Αὐγέας· οἱ δὲ ἀποσεμνύνοντες τὰ ἐς αὐτόν, παρατρέψαντες τοῦ Ἠλείου τὸ ὄνομα, Ἡλίου φασὶν Αὐγέαν παῖδα εἶναι. τούτῳ βοῦς τῷ Αὐγέᾳ καὶ αἰπόλια τοσαῦτα ἐγένετο ὡς καὶ τῆς χώρας αὐτῷ τὰ πολλὰ ἤδη διατελεῖν ἀργὰ ὄντα ὑπὸ τῶν βοσκημάτων τῆς κόπρου· Ἡρακλέα οὖν εἴτε ἐπὶ μοίρᾳ τῆς Ἠλείας εἴτε ἐφʼ ὅτῳ δὴ καὶ ἄλλῳ μισθῷ πείθει οἱ καθῆραι τῆς κόπρου τὴν γῆν.

English Translation

Augeas was an Elean; but those who glorify him distort his origin from "Elean," claiming instead that Augeas was the son of the Sun (Helios). Augeas possessed such numbers of cattle and goats that eventually, due to the dung produced by his herds, much of his land had become uncultivated and waste. Therefore, either in return for a share of Elis or for some other wage, he persuaded Heracles to clear the land of the dung.

Proper Nouns

Helios (Ἥλιος) deity
Augeas (Αὐγείας) person Q3629529
Heracles (Ἡρακλῆς) person
Eleios (Elis, the Elean) (Ἤλειος) person
Elis (Ἠλεία) place Q6536845
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