Heracleid, -id
(ˈhɛrəklaɪd, -ɪd)
Also Heraklide.
[ad. Gr. Ἡρακλείδης (pl. -αι), L. Heraclīdēs (pl. -æ), a descendant of Ἡρακλῆς or Hercules.]
a. One of the descendants of Heracles from whom the Dorian aristocracy of the Peloponnesus claimed descent. (Chiefly in pl.)
| 1835 Thirlwall Greece vii. I. 273 heading, Return of the Heracleids. a 1873 Lytton Pausanias 203 The heart of the Heracleid beats under the robe of the Mede. 1892 Athenæum 16 July 92/1 An ode composed by a Theban in honour of a Heracleid. |
b. A ‘strong man’. humorous nonce-use.
| 1871 M. Collins Mrq. & Merch. II. i. 17 The Heraklide showed symptoms of becoming confidential. |
c. A poem describing the exploits of Heracles.
| 1725 [see Theseid s.v. Thesean a.]. 1904 T. R. Glover Stud. Virgil iii. 75 Poets who have composed a Herakleid, a Theseid, or other poems of the kind. |
Hence Heraˈcleidan a., of or pertaining to a Heracleid.
| 1821 Byron Juan iii. Isles of Greece xiii, And there, perhaps, some seed is sown, The Heracleidan blood might own. |