45. Eleventh Labour: Golden Apples of the Hesperides (primer)
postquam ac-cepit boves Geryonis,
after he received the oxen of Geryon,
Eurystheus imposuit Herculi undecimum laborem,
Eurystheus imposed on Hercules an eleventh labour,
graviorem quam quos narravimus supra.
heavier than which we have described above.
mandavit enim ei ut auferret
For he ordered to him that he should carry off
aurea poma ex horto Hesperidum .
the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides .
Hesperides autem erant quaedam nymphae praestantissima forma ,
Now the Hesperides were certain nymphs with most beautiful appearance ,
quae habitabant in longinqua terra ,
who lived in a far-away land,
et quibus quaedam aurea poma commissa erant a Iunone .
and to whom certain golden apples had been entrusted by Juno.
multi homines inducti cupiditate auri
Many men led on by desire of gold
iam antea conati erant auferre haec poma.
already before now had tried to carry off these apples.
res tamen fuit difficillima,
The thing however was very difficult;
namque hortus in quo poma erant
for the garden in which the apples were
erat circumdatus ingenti muro undique;
was surrounded by an enormous wall on all sides;
praeterea quidam draco cui erant centum capita
besides this a certain dragon to which were a hundred heads
diligenter custodiebat portam horti .
watchfully guarded the gate of the garden .
opus igitur quod Eurystheus imperaverat Herculi erat summae difficultatis,
The task therefore which Eurystheus had ordered to Hercules was of the highest difficulty,
non modo ob causas quas memoravimus,
not only because of the reasons which we have stated,
sed etiam quod Hercules omnino ignorabat
but also because Hercules wholly did not know
in quo loco ille hortus esset situs .
in which place that garden was situated .