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Pillars of Hercules

(Encyclopedia)Pillars of Hercules, ancient mythological name for promontories flanking the east entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. They are usually identified with Gibraltar in Europe and with Mt. Acha at Ceuta i...

Segers, Hercules Pietersz

(Encyclopedia)Segers, Hercules Pietersz: see Seghers, Hercules Pietersz. ...

Nemean lion

(Encyclopedia)Nemean lion nĭmēˈən [key], in Greek mythology, an enormous lion, said to be the offspring of Echidna and Typhon. It was invulnerable to all weapons until Hercules, in his first labor, strangled it...

Telamon

(Encyclopedia)Telamon tĕlˈəmŏn [key], in Greek mythology, son of Aeacus and father of Ajax. He and Peleus killed their half-brother Phocus and were banished from Aegina. Telamon fled to Salamis, where he became...

Laomedon

(Encyclopedia)Laomedon lāŏmˈĭdŏn [key], in Greek mythology, king of Troy. When Laomedon failed to pay Poseidon, Apollo, and King Aeacus for building the walls of Troy, Poseidon sent a sea monster to ravage the...

Hippolyte

(Encyclopedia)Hippolyte hĭpŏlˈĭtē [key], in Greek mythology, an Amazon queen. One of the 12 labors of Hercules was to take the golden girdle of Ares from her. To accomplish his task Hercules captured Hippolyte...

Cerynean hind

(Encyclopedia)Cerynean hind sĕrĭnēˈən [key], in Greek mythology, golden-horned hind sacred to Artemis. The fourth labor of Hercules was to capture the hind. ...

Cretan bull

(Encyclopedia)Cretan bull, in Greek mythology, giant bull that Hercules captured as his seventh labor. Some versions of the legend state that this bull was the same one that carried Europa to Crete; others claim th...

Erymanthian boar

(Encyclopedia)Erymanthian boar ĕrĭmănˈthēən [key], in Greek mythology, a huge boar that ravaged the environs of Mt. Erymanthos. As his third labor, Hercules captured it by chasing it into deep snow and bindin...

Alpheus, river, Greece

(Encyclopedia)Alpheus älfēôsˈ [key], river, c.70 mi (110 km) long, rising in the Taygetus Mts., S Greece. The longest river in the Peloponnesus, it flows northwest through gorges, past Olympia, and onto the Oly...