" and in the same account, they are described figuratively or literally to have white arms and golden heads. Hespere became a poplar and Eretheis an elm, and Aegle a willow's sacred trunk. The Hesperides could be hamadryad nymphs or epimeliads as suggested by a passage in which they change into trees: ". Euripides calls them "minstrel maids" as they possess the power of sweet song. In addition to their tending of the garden, they have taken great pleasure in singing. This version further states that Dracon ("dragon") was the name of the shepherd of the sheep, a man who excelled in strength of body and courage, who guarded the sheep and slew any who might dare to carry them off. Others also say that it was because the sheep had a peculiar colour like gold that they got this designation. Unable to trust the Nymphs, Hera placed an immortal, never sleeping, hundred headed dragon named Ladon in the garden to further safeguard her land.īut in the account by Diodorus, the Nymphs instead possessed flocks of sheep which excelled in beauty and were therefore called for their beauty, as the poets might do, "golden apples", just as Aphroditê is called "golden" because of her loveliness. The Hesperides were tasked with tending to a grove belonging to Hera, where trees producing golden apples grew, they would occasionally pick these apples off their branches. In this painting, the Hesperides are depicted tending to the groves in the garden of Hera. They seem to feel very happy and calm in their garden home, where they both garden and make time to relax. The Hesperides appear as beautiful, youthful, flawless women, well dressed in fine garments. There were several couples recorded as the parents of The Hesperides, such as Nyx with Erebus, Atlas with Hesperis, Phorcys with Ceto and Zeus with Themis - one account even suggests a single parent- Hesperus. Additional members recorded in the accounts include: Medusa, Asterope, Chrysothemis, Hygieia, Lipara, Aiopis, Antheia, Donakis, Calypso, Mermesa, Nelisa, Tara, Hippolyte, Mapsaura and Thetis Whilst in another source they are named Aegle, Arethusa, and Hesperethusa. Hyginus in the Fabulae named the Hesperides as Aegle, Hesperie, and Aerica. Apollodorus of Rhodes identified three members: Aigle, Erytheis, and Hespere (or Hespera). Their alternative name The Atlantides comes from the name of their father in some accounts of mythology, Atlas.Īccording to accounts, there were three, four or seven members of the Hesperides. Their name the "Hesperides", derives from Hesperus, who is the personification of the planet Venus in the evening.
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