The Barnyard of King Augius (sixth feat)

Soon Eurystheus gave a new assignment To Hercules. He had to clear the entire barnyard of manure Augia, king Elides, son of the radiant Helios. The sun god gave his son untold riches. The herds of Augius were especially numerous. Among his herds were three hundred bulls with legs as white as snow, two hundred bulls were red as Sidonian purple, twelve bulls dedicated to the god Helios were white as swans, and one bull, distinguished by extraordinary beauty, shone like a star. Hercules offered Augius to clean up his entire huge cattle yard in one day if he agreed to give him a tenth of his flocks. Augius agreed. It seemed impossible to him to do such a job in one day. Hercules broke the wall surrounding the barnyard from two opposite sides and diverted the water of two rivers, Alpheus and Penea, into it. The water of these rivers in one day carried away all the manure from the barnyard, and Hercules again laid down the walls. When the hero came to Augius to demand a reward, the proud king did not give him the promised tenth of the flocks, and Hercules had to return to Tiryns with nothing.

The great hero took terrible revenge on the king of Elida. A few years later, having already been released from the service of Eurystheus, Hercules invaded Elida with a large army, defeated Augius in a bloody battle and killed him with his deadly arrow. After the victory, Hercules gathered an army and all the rich booty near the city of Pisae, sacrificed to the Olympic gods and established the Olympic Games - the most important of the Greek festivals, during which universal peace was declared throughout Greece. A few months before the Games, ambassadors were sent throughout Greece and the Greek colonies, inviting them to the Games in Olympia. The games were played every four years. There were competitions in running, wrestling, fist fighting, discus and spear throwing, as well as chariot racing. The winners of the games were rewarded with an olive wreath and enjoyed great honor. The Greeks chronicled the Olympic Games, considering the first to take place in 776 BC. There were Olympic Games until 393 AD, when they were banned by Emperor Theodosius as incompatible with Christianity. 30 years later, Emperor Theodosius II burned the temple of Zeus in Olympia and all the luxurious buildings that decorated the place where the Olympic Games took place. They turned into ruins and were gradually covered by the sand of the Alphea River. Only the excavations carried out at the site of Olympia in the XIX century AD, mainly from 1875 to 1881, gave us the opportunity to get an accurate idea of the former Olympia and the Olympic Games.")" onmouseout="UnTip()" href="#" onclick="javascript:void(0)" style="cursor:text;">the Olympic Games, which have since been held by all Greeks every four years on the sacred plain planted by Hercules himself dedicated to the goddess Athena-Pallas olives.

Hercules took revenge on all the allies of Augius. Especially the king of Pylos paid Neley. Hercules, coming with an army to Pylos, took the city and killed Neleus and his eleven sons. The son of Neleus was not saved either Periclimen, given by the lord of the sea Poseidon has the gift of turning into a lion, a snake and a bee. Hercules killed him when, having turned into a bee, Periclimenes mounted one of the horses harnessed to Hercules' chariot. Only the son of Neleus Nestor survived. Subsequently, Nestor became famous among the Greeks for his exploits and great wisdom.