Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See Hercules.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun Greek mythology : Son of Zeus and Alcmene, a celebrated hero who possessed exceptional strength. Most famous for his 12 labors performed to redeem himself after killing his family.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (classical mythology) a hero noted for his strength; performed 12 immense labors to gain immortality

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek Ἡρακλῆς (Heraklēs), apparently from Ἥρα (Hēra, "Hera") + κλέος (kleos, "glory").

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Examples

  • HPFacebookVoteV2. init (418564, 'Barack Obama and Change: Even Heracles Had Better Odds', 'President Obama\'s stab at changing government is a lot like Heracles\' famed battle with the Hydra of Lerna, a nine-headed serpent with poisonous breath.

    Brian Ross: Barack Obama and Change: Even Heracles Had Better Odds 2010

  • While Heracles is in the underworld obtaining Cerberus for one of his labors, his father Amphitryon, wife Megara, and children are sentenced to death in Thebes, Greece by Lycus.

    Capsule Summaries of the Great Books of the Western World Jonathan Aquino 2009

  • While Heracles is in the underworld obtaining Cerberus for one of his labors, his father Amphitryon, wife Megara, and children are sentenced to death in Thebes, Greece by Lycus.

    Archive 2009-03-01 Jonathan Aquino 2009

  • Heracles is technically free, but his whole life he has been a slave to the will of the Gods.

    Archive 2007-11-01 2007

  • Heracles is technically free, but his whole life he has been a slave to the will of the Gods.

    Weight by Jeanette Winterson 2007

  • Egyptians, — that is to say those of the Hellenes who gave the name Heracles to the son of Amphitryon, — of that, I say, besides many other evidences there is chiefly this, namely that the parents of this Heracles, Amphitryon and Alcmene, were both of

    The History of Herodotus Herodotus 2003

  • Hellenes who gave the name Heracles to the son of Amphitryon, -- of that,

    An Account of Egypt 480? BC-420? BC Herodotus 1883

  • Hellenes who gave the name Heracles to the son of Amphitryon, -- of that,

    The history of Herodotus — Volume 1 480? BC-420? BC Herodotus 1883

  • The title more of less spells it out: it's an RPG set in Ancient Greece, and immortal demi-god Hercules (aka Heracles) factors in somehow.

    1UP RSS feed 2009

  • Such was the issue of the first expedition from Lacedemon: and the burial-place of Anchimolios is at Alopecai in Attica, near the temple of Heracles which is at Kynosarges.

    The History of Herodotus Herodotus 2003

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