2.6.9 Stage 9: EuropiumLabor 6: The Stables of Augeias.
These stables were filled with the manure of years. Augeias owned innumerable herds of cattle, among them twelve bulls sacred to Helios. Heracles had to clean the stables in one day. On the advice of Athena, he succeeded in this by diverting the waters of the rivers Alpheus and Peneius through the stables. As a present Heracles received land near the Mt Olympus, where later the Olympic games would be held.
What is typical is that the great labor is solved with cleverness instead of force. This is a typical aspect of
Europium. In this stage Athena enters into the story, at the same stage as in the story of Odysseus. Athena is the Goddess of wisdom and the protector of the hero on his search for self-knowledge.
Self-knowledge is a key word for the
Lanthanides. The manure can be seen as symbolic of the shadow.