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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...

Hesperides

(Encyclopedia)Hesperides hĕspĕrˈĭdēz [key], in Greek mythology, daughters of Atlas. They lived in a fabulous garden located at the western extremity of the world. There they guarded (with the aid of the dragon...

Delvaux, Laurent

(Encyclopedia)Delvaux, Laurent lōräNˈ dĕlvōˈ [key], 1695–1778, Flemish sculptor. After studying in Rome, Delvaux developed a style that combined French neoclassic and Italian baroque elements. Ornate in the...

prickly ash

(Encyclopedia)prickly ash, name for two deciduous shrubs or small trees (Zanthoxylum americanum and Z. clava-herculis) of the family Rutaceae (rue family). They are native to E North America and have prickly twigs ...

Le Moyne, François

(Encyclopedia)Le Moyne, Le Moine, or Lemoine, François all: fräNswäˈ lə mwänˈ [key], 1688–1737, French painter. After a stay in Venice in 1723, he developed a colorful, sumptuous manner based on the Veneti...

Oeta

(Encyclopedia)Oeta ēˈtə [key], Gr. Oiti, mountain range, central Greece, stretching c.15 mi (25 km) W from Thermopylae on the Gulf of Lamía. Mt. Oeta (c.7,060 ft/2,150 m) is the highest peak. In legend Hercules...

Erymanthos

(Encyclopedia)Erymanthos, Erímanthos, or Erymanthus all: ĕrˌĭmănˈthəs [key], mountain group, S Greece, in NW Peloponnesus, on the border of Achaea, Arcadia, and Elis. The highest peak (c.7,295 ft/2,220 m) i...

Stymphalian birds

(Encyclopedia)Stymphalian birds stĭmfāˈlēən [key], in Greek mythology, dangerous man-eating birds that infested the woods around Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia. As his fifth labor, Hercules frightened the birds in...

Amphitryon

(Encyclopedia)Amphitryon ămfĭˈtrēən, –ŏnˌ [key], in Greek mythology, son of Alcaeus. While betrothed to Alcmene, he accidentally killed her father, Electryon. Alcmene and Amphitryon fled to Thebes, but she...

Achelous, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Achelous ăkˌəlōˈəs [key], in Greek mythology, river god; son of Oceanus and Tethys. He possessed the power to appear as a bull, a serpent, or a bullheaded man. Hercules defeated him and broke of...