In ancient Greece, there was a king named Agius, who inherited large herds of bulls from his father, the sun god Helios.
Three hundred of the animals were white-legged, two hundred were red, twelve were white as snow, and one shone like the sun. And they were always young and healthy, so no one had ever cleaned their stables for thirty years. One day Hercules agreed to clean the stables on behalf of King Eurystheus. King Augeus promised the giant a reward if he could do it in one day. As a result of the promise, Hercules was to receive one tenth of the herds. Without hesitation, Hercules made gaps in the walls and directed the rivers Alpheus and Penaeus into them. Their waters burst into the courtyard from opposite sides and instantly freed it from thirty years of manure. After that, the giant rebuilt the walls and went to get his reward, but he got nothing, because Augustus was very greedy and did not keep his royal word.
What does the phrase “Augean stabless” mean?
This myth gave rise to the phrase “Augean stables”. It is used when you want to emphasise something that is extremely neglected and very dirty. The expression is also used figuratively when someone has neglected their personal affairs and needs to work very hard to put things in order.
