Augeas

Family: Elis · Role: king · First appears: Book 2 · Chapter 15

As king of Elis, Augeas was said to be the son of Eleus, though some called him the son of Helius. In Book 5, Chapter 1, Hercules cleared Elis’s country of dung by diverting the river Menius. Augeas then refused him a reward because the work had been done by ingenuity rather than toil, and expelled his son Phyleus for defending Hercules’s claim to fair treatment. He shared power at Elis with Amarynceus and allied with him and Actor’s sons to prepare against Hercules.

In Book 5, Chapter 3, Hercules gave Elis to Phyleus, granted the captives, and forgave Augeas. After Phyleus had set things in order and returned to Dulichium, Augeas died in old age; his son Agasthenes succeeded him. The account also says that Augeas and Hercules appointed games after the capture of Elis.

Relationship record

Life events

• Hercules cleared Elis's country of dung by diverting the river Menius.(Book 5 · Chapter 1 · 📍 Elis)
  • With: Hercules
  • “Hercules therefore, whether for a part of Elis or some other reward, was persuaded by him to clear the country of this dung. And he effected this by turning the river Menius on to it.”
• Augeas refused Hercules's reward and expelled Phyleus for defending Hercules's justice.(Book 5 · Chapter 1 · 📍 Elis)
  • With: Hercules Phyleus
  • “But Augeas, because the work had been effected by ingenuity rather than toil, refused to give Hercules his reward, and turned out of doors the eldest of his sons Phyleus, because he told him he was not acting with justice to a benefactor.”
• Hercules gave Elis to Phyleus, granted the captives, and forgave Augeas.(Book 5 · Chapter 3 · 📍 Elis)
  • With: Hercules Phyleus
  • “And to Phyleus Hercules gave up Elis and other places, not so much willingly as standing in awe of Phyleus, to whom he also granted the captives and forgave Augeas.”
• Augeas died in old age.(Book 5 · Chapter 3)
  • “Augeas died being already advanced in age”
• Augeas and Hercules appointed games after the capture of Elis.(Book 5 · Chapter 8 · 📍 Elis)
  • With: Hercules
  • “So also did Augeas and Hercules, the son of Amphitryon, after the capture of Elis.”
• Iphicles was wounded fighting Augeas, taken to Pheneus, and buried after dying.(Book 8 · Chapter 14 · 📍 Pheneus)
  • With: Iphicles Hercules Buphagus Promne
  • “And Iphicles the father of Iolaus, when Hercules fought his first battle against Augeas and the people of Elis, was wounded by the sons of Actor who were called Molinidæ from their mother Moline, and his relations conveyed him to Pheneus in a very bad condition, and there Buphagus (a native of Pheneus) and his wife Promne took care of him, and buried him as he died of his wound.”