#Hercules

• Abyla — The classical name, of Phoenician origin, attributed in Greco-Roman antiquity to the mountainous promontory in North Africa (identified today with Mount Hacho or Jebel Musa near the enclave of Ceuta). Together with Mount Calpe (Gibraltar) on the opposite, European shore, it formed the legendary assembly known as the 'Pillars of Hercules', marking the ultimate limit of the known and navigable world in ancient collective thought.
• Achelous — The name of the largest and most important river in ancient Greece, personified in mythology as the supreme god of all fresh waters and the eldest son of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. In legends, he was a powerful river deity capable of changing his shape into a bull or a serpent, famous for his struggle with Hercules over the hand of Deianira, during which the hero broke off his horn, later turned into the Cornucopia.
• Alcides — The original Greek name (Alkeides) and patronymic of the mythological hero Heracles (Hercules), given to him in his youth in honor of his grandfather, Alcaeus, the Myeconian king. The name is etymologically linked to the Greek root 'alke', meaning strength, prowess, or protection, symbolizing the exceptional physical vigor and protective destiny of this demigod in classical legends.
• Alcmene — A heroine in Greek mythology, daughter of King Electryon of Mycenae, wife of Amphitryon, and mother of the legendary demigod Heracles (Hercules). According to legend, Zeus fell in love with her and assumed the form of her husband to seduce her while he was away at war, prolonging their night of love; Alcmena represents the symbol of maternal dignity in the face of Hera's jealousy, her figure being portrayed and adapted in numerous classical plays.
• Alcmene — An archaic or regional phonetic variant used in old Romanian texts for Alcmene, a character in Greek mythology, the wife of Amphitryon and mother of the hero Heracles (Hercules). In an extended or contextual sense, the term may refer to early literary representations or folk names of celestial bodies inspired by ancient legends.
• Alpheus — A proper noun with multiple meanings: 1. The longest river in the Peloponnese (Greece), linked to Hercules cleaning the Augean stables. 2. The river god associated with this river, in love with Arethusa. 3. A biblical figure in the New Testament, father of James and Levi. The term carries deep historical symbolism evoking continuous flow or spiritual purification.
• Amphitryoniad — The articulated form (or rare poetic derivative) referring to the lineage or mythological cycle of Amphitryon; in a literary sense, the term can evoke the patronymic used to designate a son or direct descendant of Amphitryon (as Hercules / Heracles was sometimes called in ancient epic poems) or the collective dramatic works inspired by the famous identity confusion surrounding this character.
• Amphitryoniades — A rare patronymic noun of Greek origin attributed to the legendary hero Heracles (Hercules), derived from the name of his foster father, King Amphitryon, because his mother, Alcmene, was married to him at the time of the hero's divine conception by Zeus; the term is utilized in epic poetry and classical Greek and Latin texts (such as the works of Ovid or Virgil) as a solemn formula of address or structural identification of the hero's lineage.
• Aralia spinosa — The scientific binomial name for Hercules' club or devil's walking stick, a large deciduous shrub or small tree in the Araliaceae family, native to the eastern United States. It is recognized in botany by stems and branches armed with very sharp prickles, exceptionally large bipinnate compound leaves (among the largest in North American flora), and massive terminal paniculate inflorescences of white flowers followed by dark purple berries favored by wildlife.
• Augeas — The name of a legendary king of Elis in Greek mythology, famous for his massive stables housing thousands of cattle that had not been cleaned for over thirty years. Cleaning these stables in a single day by diverting two rivers constituted one of the twelve labors of Hercules.
• Augias — A secondary orthographic variant for the mythological king 'Augeas' (master of the legendary stables cleaned by Hercules in a single day). Although older text and 19th-century translations preferred this structural variant, modern encyclopedic standards recommend using Augeas.