Women, Weird and Wonderful: The Hesperid Nymphs, Gardians of the Garden

We’ve all heard about this magnificent garden, created by divine intervention, where flowers bloomed all year long, where fruit grew abundantly, where music, laughter and dance filled the air, and where life was pleasant and beautiful. And where there was one special tree, guarded by a giant, mischievous snake. Its apples were forbidden fruit, as they were dedicated to the supremest of deities. I’m talking of course of the garden of the Hesperid-nymphs, with Hera’s apple tree, fiercely guarded by her pet-dragon Ladon. It had been a wedding gift from earth goddess Gaia, and Hera loved dwelling in it, and dancing with the nymphs around her golden tree. No wonder she was beside herself with rage, when Herakles unalived Ladon and stole her apples, as his eleventh labour. She already resented Herakles, him being Zeus’ illegitimate child, and this event added to her hatred. Athena reclaimed the apples for her, but it didn’t ease the tension. From the dead snake, Hera created the constellation Draco, and it’s still there, as a warning to all humans, that she never forgets, let alone forgives.

Herakles and Ladon, Roman relief Plate, Staatliche Antikensammlungen Munchen, Germany

Hesperid Nymphs, Hydria, British Museum, London, UK

Did you know?

• The Garden of Eden, the Great Flood, the First Communion, hell and heaven,... were all common themes in storytelling long before christianity.