Hesperides

The Hesperides () are nymphs in Greek mythology. They look after a peaceful garden in the far west of the world. The garden is located near the Atlas mountain range in far western Libya and close to the edge of the known world (the Pillars of Hercules), probably in the city of Lixus in modern Morocco. The garden originally belonged to Zeus but was given to Hera as a wedding gift. The garden was protected by the hundred-headed dragon Ladon and was famous for containing trees with golden apples that could grant immortality and the eleventh labor of Hercules also took place there. The oldest versions say that the Hesperides were the daughters of Nyx, but in later versions, considering the definitive ones, it will be said that they were the daughters of the first legendary king of Mauretania (a kingdom located in Morocco and Western Algeria), the titan Atlas, and of Hesperis.

Category:Nymphs