Hesperides Hesperides In Greek mythology, the Hesperides (; Ancient Greek: Ἑσπερίδες ) are the nymphs of evening and golden light of sunsets, who were the "Daughters of the Evening" or "Nymphs of the West". They were also called the Atlantides (Ἀτλαντίδων) from their reputed father, the Titan Atlas. The name means "originating from Hesperos" (evening). "Hesperos", or "Vesper" in Latin, is the origin of the name Hesperus, the evening star (i.e. the planet Venus) as well as having a shared root with the English word "west". Ordinarily the Hesperides number three, like the other Greek triads (the Three Graces and the
Hesperides Discord, obtained the Apple of Discord, which led to the Trojan War. In later years it was thought that the "golden apples" might have actually been oranges, a fruit unknown to Europe and the Mediterranean before the Middle Ages. Under this assumption, the Greek botanical name chosen for all citrus species was "Hesperidoeidē" (Ἑσπεριδοειδῆ, "hesperidoids") and even today the Greek word for the orange fruit is πορτοκάλι (Portokáli)--after the country of Portugal in Iberia near where the Garden of the Hesperides grew. After Heracles completed his first ten Labours, Eurystheus gave him two more claiming that neither the Hydra counted