Ἡρακλῆς

See also: Ηρακλής

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• Ἡρακλέης (Hērakléēs) — Poetic, uncontracted

Etymology

From Ἥρᾱ (Hḗrā, “Hera”) +‎ -κλῆς (-klês, “glory”). Compare Ἡράκλειτος (Hērákleitos).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /hɛː.ra.klɛ̂ːs/ → /i.raˈklis/ → /i.raˈklis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hɛː.ra.klɛ̂ːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /(h)e̝.raˈkle̝s/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /i.raˈklis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /i.raˈklis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /i.raˈklis/

Proper noun

Ἡρακλῆς • (Hēraklês) m (genitive Ἡρακλέους); third declension

1. Heracles; Hercules

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ Ἡρακλῆς; τοῦ Ἡρακλέους (contracted, Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ὁ Ἡρακλῆς ho Hēraklês
Genitive	τοῦ Ἡρακλέους toû Hērakléous
Dative	τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ tôi Hērakleî
Accusative	τὸν Ἡρακλέᾱ tòn Hērakléā
Vocative	Ἡράκλεις Hērákleis
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of Ἡρακλέης; Ἡρακλῆος (uncontracted, Epic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	Ἡρακλέης Hērakléēs
Genitive	Ἡρακλῆος / Ἡρακλέος Hēraklêos / Hērakléos
Dative	Ἡρακλῆῐ̈ / Ἡρακλέῐ̈ Hēraklêï / Hērakléï
Accusative	Ἡρακλῆᾰ / Ἡρακλέᾱ Hēraklêa / Hērakléā
Vocative	Ἡράκλεες Hēráklees
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• ἡράκλειος (hērákleios)
• Ἡράκλειος (Hērákleios)
• Ἡράκλεια (Hērákleia)
• Ἡράκλειαι (Hērákleiai)
• Ἡράκλειον (Hērákleion)
• Ἡρακλείδης (Hērakleídēs)
• Ἡρακλεώτης (Hērakleṓtēs)
• Ἡρακλεῶτις (Hērakleôtis)
• Ἡράκλανον (Hēráklanon)

Descendants

Historically, there have been two dominant forms of the name in other languages—one based on the Greek form (Heracles), and the other based on the Latin form Herculēs. The Latin form was adapted from the Etruscan form 𐌇𐌄𐌓𐌂𐌋𐌄 (hercle), which was adapted from Greek. When used together, Heracles specifically refers to the figure in Greek mythology, and Hercules specifically refers to the adaptation of the figure in Roman mythology. However, in many languages, the dominant form (whether from Greek or Latin) is used interchangeably to refer to either mythology context. In particular, in English, the Latin form Hercules is most common.

Language	Heracles	Hercules
Arabic	هِرَقْل (hiraql)	هَرْقُل (harqul)
Basque	Herakles	Herkules
Bulgarian	Херакъл (Herakǎl)	Херкулес (Herkules)
Catalan	Hèracles	Hèrcules
Coptic	ⲏⲣⲁⲕⲗⲁⲥ (ēraklas)
Czech	Héraklés	Herkules
Danish	Herakles	Herkules, Hercules
English	Heracles	Hercules
Esperanto	Heraklo	Herkulo
Estonian	Herakles
Etruscan	𐌇𐌄𐌓𐌂𐌋𐌄 (hercle)
Finnish	Herakles	Herkules
French	Héraclès	Hercule
Georgian	ჰერაკლე (heraḳle)
German	Herakles	Herkules
Greek	Ηρακλής (Iraklís)
Hebrew	הראקלס (Heraqles)	הרקולס (Herqules)
Hungarian	Héraklész
Indonesian	Herakles	Herkules
Irish		Earcail
Italian	Eracle	Ercole
Japanese	ヘラクレス (Herakuresu)	ヘルクレス (Herukuresu)
Korean	헤라클레스 (Herakeulleseu)
Latin	Hēraclēs	Herculēs
Lithuanian	Heraklis	Herkuliu
Luxembourgish	Herakles
Norwegian	Herakles	Herkules
Polish	Herakles	Herkules
Portuguese	Héracles	Hércules
Romanian	Heracle	Hercule
Russian	Геракл (Gerakl)	Геркулес (Gerkules)
Serbo-Croatian	Heraklo/Херакло; Herakle/Херакле	Herkul/Херкул
Sicilian	Èracli	Èrculi
Slovak	Herakles	Herkulom
Slovenian	Heraklej
Spanish	Heracles	Hércules
Swedish	Herakles	Hercules
Tagalog	Hraklís	Hercules
Turkish	Herakles	Herkül
Ukrainian	Геракл (Herakl)	Геркулес (Herkules)
Upper Sorbian		Herkules
Welsh	Heracles	Ercwlff

References

• “Ἡρακλῆς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Ἡρακλῆς in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,012