Eleventh Labour (Apples of Hesperides)

For the eleventh labour, Heracles had to fetch the golden apples of Hesperides. The Hesperides ("Daughters of the Evening Star") were the daughters of the Titan Atlas and Hesperis (Evening Star). How many daughters there were, really depended on the author. Some said three, four or seven. They cared for a grove of trees that bore golden fruit. The trees were guarded by a serpent or dragon with a hundred heads, known as Ladon, offspring of Typhon and Echidna.

On his journey, at the Caucasus Mountains, he killed the Caucasian Eagle that fed on Prometheus' liver and freed the Titan from his bonds. Prometheus told him that the tree and apples were guarded by Ladon, a dragon or serpent. The Titan advised him to let his brother Atlas fetch the apples, to avoid Ladon.

Heracles then continued his journey south, travelling through Phoenicia and Palestine. Heracles killed Busiris, king of Egypt, who was sacrificing foreign travellers. Some said that Heracles also killed Emathion, king of Arabia, son of Eos and Tithonus, and brother of Memnon.

In Libya, Heracles wrestled with and killed Antaeüs (Antaeus), the son of Poseidon and Gaea, who remained invincible as long as he had contact with the earth. Antaeüs would often let his opponent throw him on the ground, only to spring up, even stronger than before. Heracles had to keep Antaeüs off the ground before crushing his opponent to death.

Finally, he arrived where the Titan Atlas bore the weight of heaven on his shoulders. Heracles asked Atlas where the golden fruit were. Atlas told the hero that he would fetch the golden apples for him, if Heracles would carry heaven on his shoulders. Heracles agreed and carried the sky for Atlas.

Atlas returned with the apples, but did not want to bear the burden of heaven on his shoulders again, and told the hero that he would take the apples to Eurystheus for the hero, trapping Heracles into bearing the burden of heaven.

But Heracles was far cleverer than the Titan. Heracles cunningly told Atlas that he was willing to carry heaven, provided that the Titan would hold the heaven for a moment. Heracles told the Titan he wished to roll his lion cloak as a cushion for his shoulders. So while Atlas was holding the sky once again, Heracles walked away with the apples.

In another version of the story, Heracles actually went into the garden of the Hesperides and killed Ladon.

(In the Argonautica, not long after he left the Garden of Hesperides, the Argonauts arrived. Their ship, Argo, was stranded in the middle of the Libyan desert.

According to Apollonius of Rhodes, the Argonauts were running short of water. At the garden, the nymphs directed the Argonauts to where a spring sprouted from a boulder. Heracles had kicked the boulder, which split in half and fresh water gushed out from underneath the rock. Heracles had unknowingly saved his former comrades, the Argonauts, from dehydration.)

After showing the apples to Eurystheus in Tiryns, Heracles gave the apples to Athena, who returned them to the garden of Hesperides, since they really belonged to Hera.