In the Twelve Labors of Hercules, Hera owned the golden apples guarded by the Hesperides.
The apples grew in a divine garden at the western edge of the world. They were connected with Hera’s wedding to Zeus and were guarded by the Hesperides, daughters of the evening, together with the serpent-dragon Ladon in many versions.
Hercules had to obtain the apples for Eurystheus. The story includes several different strategies: Hercules may ask Atlas to retrieve them while he temporarily supports the sky, or he may obtain them through another arrangement involving the Titan. This variation explains why retellings do not always describe the same sequence of events.
The apples are often mistakenly treated as ordinary fruit from an earthly orchard. Their golden appearance, divine ownership, remote garden, and supernatural guardians make them a distinct mythic object.