King Augeas owned the cattle and stables involved in Hercules’ fifth labor.
Augeas was a legendary king of Elis in the western Peloponnese. His herds were famous for their size, and the waste from the animals had accumulated in the stables for many years. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to clean the enclosure in a single day.
Hercules redirected the Alpheus River through the stables, washing the filth away. In some versions, the nearby Peneus is also involved. Hercules had agreed to receive payment from Augeas, but the king later denied that the promised work had been completed in the agreed manner.
This dispute distinguishes Augeas from Eurystheus, who assigned the labors, and from Diomedes, who owned the man-eating mares. Augeas’ name survives in the expression “Augean stables,” meaning a place of extreme accumulated dirt or disorder.