Apples of the Hesperides
labor of Heracles
The Apples of the Hesperides were golden apples in Greek mythology, kept in a garden at the far western edge of the world. According to myth, the apples were a wedding gift from Gaia to Hera, and they were said to grant immortality. The apples were closely guarded by the Hesperides, nymphs of the evening, and the serpent-dragon Ladon. The apples were the object of Heracles' Eleventh Labour, in which he was tasked with retrieving them for King Eurystheus.
Mythology
Origins and the Garden of the Hesperides
The Apples of the Hesperides were kept in an orchard known as the Garden of the Hesperides. According to Hesiod's Theogony, Gaia presented the apples to Hera as a gift upon her marriage to Zeus. The goddess Hera planted them in a divine garden located at the westernmost point of the world near the Atlas mountain range, which in ancient times was identified with the westernmost part of Libya (now North Africa), Morocco.
The garden was watched over by the Hesperides, daughters of either Nyx (Night) or the Titan Atlas, depending on the source. Additionally, the apples were protected by the serpent-dragon Ladon, who prevented anyone from stealing them.
The Eleventh Labour of Heracles
The most famous myth associated with the Apples of the Hesperides is the Eleventh Labour of Heracles.
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This entry incorporates text from “Apples of the Hesperides” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.