Hesperides/Definition

From Greek mythology, they are nymphs who live on an island in the far western part of the Mediterranean Sea who guard a tree with golden apples. The eleventh labor of Heracles is to get these apples, and he gets these with the help of Atlas; Heracles holds up the sky temporarily. Source: Elizabeth Vandiver, Classics scholar, authority on Greek mythology and Greek tragedy, including the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Homer, and Virgil. This definition is based on her course Classical Mythology for The Teaching Company.