The mentally unstable King Augeus came to believe that he was Zeus. He took to throwing rocks with lightning bolts on them and planned to re-dedicate a temple of Aphrodite to his "wife" Hera. Delighted with strange turn of events, Hera gave Augeus the powers of a god and ordered him to use them to kill Hercules. With the help of Aphrodite (who initially got involved in an effort to keep her temple), the hero was able to defeat Augeus. One of his lightning strikes was reflected back at him causing him to lose his godly powers. His dementia, however, continued. After the lightning strike he believed himself to be Ulysses.
Augeus was great friends with the Augean Stables master, Palamedes.
Background
In Greek mythology, Augeas (or Augeias, /ɔːˈdʒiːəs/, Greek: Αὐγείας), whose name means "bright", was king of Elis and father of Epicaste. Some say that Augeas was one of the Argonauts.[1] He is best known for his stables, which housed the single greatest number of cattle in the country and had never been cleaned, until the time of the great hero Heracles.
