Libya

Libya was a large region, west of Egypt, in northern Africa. This included the present day Libya, including modern Morocco, in the West. The region was named after Libya, the daughter of Epaphus, king of Egypt, and Memphis, daughter of the river god Nile. Libya was also the granddaughter of Io, who had migrated to Egypt in the form of a cow.

The Atlas Mountains were the home of the Titan Atlas, where he carried the burden of heaven upon his shoulders. It was also the home of the Hesperides, where golden apples were kept in a garden, guarded by the nymphs and a dragon called Ladon.

Perseus went through there, when he went to find the Gorgon Medusa. Heracles also came to the garden of the Hesperides to fetch the golden apples as part of his labours.

Jason and the Argonauts became stranded in the Libyan Desert. The heroes had to portage the ship all the way to Lake Tritonis. There, they found the garden of the Hesperides. The nymphs aided the heroes in finding water. Lake Tritonis was salty, and unsuitable for drinking. However, the Hesperides told the Argonauts that Heracles had just left the garden, a few days before. Heracles had kicked a boulder, causing spring water to gush from the opening. Thus, Heracles had unwittingly saved his former crew members.

It was the sea god Triton who rescued the Argonauts, by pulling the Argo back to the open sea.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus also landed in Libya, where he met the Lotus-eaters. If they ate the lotus flowers, they would forget their past lives. Their only desires would be to stay where they were and eat some more of the addictive flowers.

The most prominent cities in classical mythology: