Augeas stables, Cattle as people, Augeas cleaned with water as Rome by Nero was by fire. Deposing Augeas for the pro Greek unity Phyleus

Augeas stables, Cattle as people, Augeas cleaned with water as Rome by Nero was by fire. Deposing Augeas for the pro Greek unity Phyleus
by valpetridis @ 2008-06-08 - 22:30:57
Augeas stables, Cattle as people, Augeas cleaned with water as Rome by Nero was by fire. Deposing Augeas for the pro Greek unity Phyleus
The myth of Hercules was told like a poem and is from pre history, or what is known as before history was written. It is like a Greek drama in which the king represents the common Greek of his time.This task reveals how animals can represent a city or people.King Augeas had the largest number of cattle housed in one stable. They were said to be a divine gift. The cattle came to represent king Augeas city. Due to their divinity the cattle were said to be immune to disease and the stables had never been cleaned. A cities stable represents the city and the cleanliness of the stables how clean the city was. In fact, as Nietzsche might agree, the people pf the city were cattle to Augeas. Hercules made a deal with Augeas to clean the stables and city of its filth in one day and in return be would be granted one tenth the cattle. This task is an engineering triumph as Hercules rerouted two rivers, Alpheus and Peneus, to flood the stables and city area thus cleaning the area in one day. Like Rome when Nero burnt it down playing his fiddle and creating the image of a devil playing the fiddle, the city of cattle was dirty. After Hercules cleaned the city Augeas reneged on his deal and had his son Phyleus exiled for siding in Hercules side. So Hercules killed Augeas and once deposed he placed Phyleus in his place to rule the newly cleaned city. The politics in this tale are simple. The city of Augeas was filthy, both in refuge and in spirit, Hercules cleaned the city in exchange for 1/10 the cattle, both bovine and human. The idea was to impress the people and have them join the Greeks as a unified people. King Augeas did not want to join the Greeks nor offer the 1/10 the population to the union. So he was disposed and the new pro union leader was put into power. The divine gift of the cattle refers to the religious and civic nature of the people when it came to clumsiness. Hercules also changes the belief system to maintain better civil upkeep, which was the enticement and necessity to join the union of Greeks. Hercules established civic works and upgraded the city from being run down, dirty and not virtuous and clean, as its cattle, human and bovine lived in their own filth till cleaned by Hercules. The use of the two rivers might be an allusion to Mesopotamia or Babylon , more to the point eastern beliefs carried to Greece from places like India where cattle is considered sacred. The fact that divine cattle were surrendered to Hercules portrays a change in the cities views on their sacred nature and thus a religious shift.
In most renditions of the task of Hercules the Olympic Games are inaugurated after this event. It is just as appropriate as the tale tells of Greeks being brought into the union and the civic duties it took to do so. In this case the Olympics help unify Greeks new and old, this time due to the civic renewal of Augeas’ city and stable.