The stories of Greek mythology that survive into the modern day focus on the lives and adventures of the Greek heroes and the Olympian gods. Heroes and gods though lived in a land that was made up of men, mythical creatures and monsters. There were nymphs and Oceanids, and it was into the former group that the Hesperides were put, and also portrayed as female in form, were immortals.
As with many Greek tales though there is more than one version of the story of the Hesperides. The common stories relate to the Hesperides being Aegle, Erytheia, Hespere and Arethusa. In most Greek tales though there are normally a triad of nymphs or mythological women, so at various points in time there have been said to be as many as seven Hesperides, or as few as two. Thus Lipara, Asterope and Chrsothemis are also names as Hesperides.
It is not clear cut who the parents of the Hesperides were either. Most sources either indicate that they were the daughters of the evening star, Hesper, or the Titan Atlas. In the later case it was Hesperius who was the mother, thus providing the Hesperides with their name. If Hesperius was the mother though, Zeus is sometimes named as the father rather than Atlas. If Zeus is the father then another mother is often quoted to be Themis.
Even more parentage is recorded with sources stating that the Hesperides were the offspring of Nyx, the Night, and Erebus, the Darkness. One last set of parents are also recorded to be Ceto and Phorcys.
As with all nymphs, the Hesperides had their own role to play in the ancient Greek world. The Hesperides were given the task of maintaining the Tree of the Golden Apples and its associated garden. The tree had been a wedding gift from Gaia to Zeus and Hera on their wedding day. The fruit from the tree gave the consumer immortality. Hera though did not trust the Hesperides to guard the apples alone and so also placed an additional guard in the Garden of the Hesperides. This guard was a dragon called Ladon, Ladon was a hundred headed dragon that never needed to sleep.
The location of the Garden of the Hesperides is often thought to have been located at the Western Mediterranean, near to Mount Atlas, thus linking into the other names for the Hesperides, "The African Sisters". Some sources though also suggest a second possible location, being that of the Arcadian Mountains in Greece.
Though hardly central to the overall Olympian tales, the Hesperides find fame for their role in the Twelve Tasks of Heracles. Again though there are differing versions of how the Eleventh task was undertaken. The Eleventh Task of Heracles was set by Eurystheus for the hero to steal the Golden Apples.
The finding of the Garden of the Hesperides was the first problem for Heracles, and it was a location that he was either told about after the releasing of Prometheus, or through capturing the sea god Nereus.
Knowing where the Garden was though was not the same as being able to remove the Golden Apples. Most tales then relate how Heracles convinced the Titan Atlas to retrieve the Apples for him. This would tie into the story of the Hesperides being the daughters of the Titan. Heracles therefore relieved Atlas of his burden of the heavens whilst the Apples were retrieved. Although Atlas obtained the apples he would not take by the heavens from the shoulders of Atlas, and so Heracles was forced to trick Atlas to hold the heavens for a while whilst he adjusted his cloak.
Some of the alternative tales of Heracles' Eleventh task say how Heracles entered the Garden of the Hesperides himself killing Ladon, or else the Hesperides simply gave the Golden Apples to the hero.
Some stories also indicate that Perseus made a visit to the Garden of the Hesperides and at the same time turned Atlas to stone using the head of Medusa. This though would be hard to tie in with the stories of Heracles, Perseus being the great-grandfather of the hero and Atlas was not turned to stone during Heracles's adventures.
Look deep into the stories of ancient civilisations and you will quickly see links to more modern religious tales. Consider how easily the guarding dragon could be seen as a serpent, how the Garden of the Hesperides becomes the Garden of Eden, and Heracles becomes just a man taking an apple.