The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Hesperides
(hspr´dz) (KEY) , in Greek mythology, daughters of Atlas. They lived in a fabulous garden located at the western extremity of the world. There they guarded (with the aid of the dragon Ladon) a tree that bore golden apples. Hercules killed the dragon and obtained the apples as one of his 12 labors.