Myth & LegendGreek → English
Herculean
/ˌhɜːrkjʊˈliːən/adjective
Requiring enormous strength or effort.
The Greek roots
Ἡρακλῆς
Hēraklês
Heracles, the hero
Literally: “of Heracles”
Follow a root:Ἡρακλῆς1 word
The story of the word
Ἡρακλῆς parses as the glory of Hera, an odd name for the man Hera spent a lifetime trying to destroy; she sent the madness that made him kill his own children, and the twelve labours were his penance. The Romans renamed him Hercules and English built the adjective in the 1590s. The labours are why an impossible job is Herculean and a filthy one is an Augean stable.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
HerculesHeracleanHera
In a sentence
Getting the accounts into shape by Friday was a Herculean effort and nobody thanked her for it.