Hesperides

The Hesperides were nymphs who cared for and guarded the grove of trees that grow golden apples in the garden of Hesperides. The name means "Daughter of the Evening Star".

There is some confusion over the number of nymphs there were. Some say there were three or four, but most say there were seven. Their names were given as - Aegle (Aigle), Arethusa (Arethousa), Erytheia, Hespere (Hespera), Hespereia, Hesperusa and Hestia. In the Library, Apollodorus named only four nymphs – Aigle, Erytheia, Hesperia and Arethusa.

There was also some confusion over their parentage. Their parents were said to be of Erebus and Nyx, or of Phorcys and Ceto, or of Zeus and Themis. The most likely and popular version said that Atlas and Hesperis were their parents.

The grove was located near Mount Atlas or at Lake Tritonis. Nearby the garden was said to be the place where Atlas was said to hold the weight of heaven on his shoulder. The grove was the wedding present of Gaea to her granddaughter Hera. So the grove was sacred to Hera. A dragon called Ladon protected the grove.

It was said that the hero Perseus went through the garden of Hesperides, possibly meeting Atlas. Taking pity on the Titan, Perseus turned Atlas into stone, using Medusa's head. Atlas became great mountain range in modern day Morocco.

Heracles, who was a descendent of Perseus, also came to the garden to fetch some of the golden apples as part of the labour he needed to perform for Eurystheus. According to this version, Heracles duped Atlas into fetching the apples for him. Before he left he kicked a nearby rock which caused spring water to gush from the dry ground. The Hesperides described Heracles as an ill-tempered brute.

This was a fortunate event, because the Argonauts arrived a few days later. They were stranded in the desert with their beached ship. The Argonauts would have died from lack of water. Taking pity on the Argonauts, the Hesperides led them to the new spring that Heracles had created through his bad temper and mighty kick.