Hespĕrĭdes

, three celebrated nymphs, daughters of Hesperus. Apollo dor us mentions four, Ægle, Erythia, Vesta, and Arethusa; and Diodorus confounds them with the At lan tides, and supposes that they were the same number. They were appointed to guard the golden apples which Juno gave to Jupiter on the day of their nuptials; and the place of their residence, placed beyond the ocean by Hesiod, is more universally believed to be near mount Atlas in Africa, according to Apollo dor us. This celebrated place or garden abounded with fruits of the most delicious kind, and was carefully guarded by a dreadful dragon, which never slept. It was one of the labours of Hercules to procure some of the golden apples of the Hesperides. The hero, ignorant of the situation of this celebrated garden, applied to the nymphs in the neighbourhood of the Po for information, and was told that Nereus the god of the sea, if properly managed [ See: Nereus ], would direct him in his pursuits. Hercules seized Nereus as he was asleep, and the sea god, unable to escape from his grasp, answered all the questions which he proposed. Some say that Nereus sent Hercules to Pro me the us, and that from him he received all his information. When Hercules came into Africa, he repaired to Atlas, and demanded of him three of the golden apples. Atlas unloaded himself and placed the burden of the heavens on the shoulders of Hercules, while he went in quest of the apples. At his return Hercules expre ed his wish to ease the burden by putting something on his head, and when Atlas a isted him to remove his inconvenience, Hercules artfully left the burden, and seized the apples, which Atlas had thrown on the ground. According to other accounts, Hercules gathered the apples himself, without the a istance of Atlas, and he previously killed the watchful dragon which kept the tree. These apples were brought to Eurystheus, and afterwards carried back by Minerva into the garden of the Hesperides, as they could be preserved in no other place. Hercules is sometimes represented gathering the apples, and the dragon which guarded the tree appears bowing down his head, as having received a mortal wound. This monster, as it is supposed, was the offspring of Typhon, and it had 100 heads and as many voices. This number, however, is reduced by some to only one head. Those that attempt to explain mythology, observe that the Hesperides were certain persons who had an immense number of flocks, and that the ambiguous word μηλον , which signifies an apple and a sheep , gave rise to the fable of the golden apples of the Hesperides. Diodorus , bk. 4 .— Ovid , Metamorphoses , bk. 4 , li. 637 , . ; bk. 9 , li. 90 .— Hyginus , fable 30.— Apollo dor us , bk. 3 , ch. 5 .— Hesiod , Theogony , li. 215 , .