ἥρως

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 2 December 2015

Etymology

According to Beekes, from Pre-Greek. The traditional derivation from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to watch over, protect”) (whence Latin servō (“to maintain, protect”)) has become far less tenable after the discovery of the cognate Mycenaean Greek [script needed] (ti-ri-se-ro-e), whose initial ti- cannot be regularly derived from *ser-. Compare perhaps Ἥρα (Hḗra).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /hɛ̌ː.rɔːs/ → /ˈi.ros/ → /ˈi.ros/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hɛ̌ː.rɔːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)e̝.ros/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈi.ros/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈi.ros/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈi.ros/

Noun

ἥρως • (hḗrōs) m (genitive ἥρωος); third declension

1. (Homeric) a hero of the Trojan War: any of the major combatants of the Greek or Trojan forces
2. (classical) a hero or heroine of the ancient Greek religion: a human or demigod whose shrine was celebrated with chthonic rituals organized by local governments

Usage notes

Because the root of ἥρως (hḗrōs) ends with a vowel instead of a consonant, shortenings are common, such as ἥρως (hḗrōs) for the genitive singular and ἥρῳ (hḗrōi) for the dative singular.

Declension

Third declension of ὁ ἥρως; τοῦ ἥρωος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ἥρως ho hḗrōs	τὼ ἥρωε tṑ hḗrōe	οἱ ἥρωες hoi hḗrōes
Genitive	τοῦ ἥρωος toû hḗrōos	τοῖν ἡρώοιν toîn hērṓoin	τῶν ἡρώων tôn hērṓōn
Dative	τῷ ἥρῳ / ἥρωῐ̈ tôi hḗrōi / hḗrōï	τοῖν ἡρώοιν toîn hērṓoin	τοῖς ἥρωσῐ / ἥρωσῐν toîs hḗrōsi(n)
Accusative	τὸν ἥρω / ἥρωᾰ tòn hḗrō / hḗrōa	τὼ ἥρωε tṑ hḗrōe	τοὺς ἥρωᾰς toùs hḗrōas
Vocative	ἥρως hḗrōs	ἥρωε hḗrōe	ἥρωες hḗrōes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ἥρως; ἥρωος (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἥρως hḗrōs	ἥρωε hḗrōe	ἥρωες hḗrōes
Genitive	ἥρωος hḗrōos	ἡρώοιῐν hērṓoiin	ἡρώων hērṓōn
Dative	ἥρῳ / ἥρωῐ̈ hḗrōi / hḗrōï	ἡρώοιῐν hērṓoiin	ἥρωσῐ / ἥρωσῐν / ἡρώεσσῐ / ἡρώεσσῐν / ἡρώεσῐ / ἡρώεσῐν hḗrōsi(n) / hērṓessi(n) / hērṓesi(n)
Accusative	ἥρω / ἥρωᾰ hḗrō / hḗrōa	ἥρωε hḗrōe	ἥρωᾰς hḗrōas
Vocative	ἥρως hḗrōs	ἥρωε hḗrōe	ἥρωες hḗrōes
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• ἡρωίζω (hērōízō)
• ἡρωϊκός (hērōïkós)
• ἡρωίνη (hērōínē)
• ἡρώϊος (hērṓïos)
• ἡρωίς (hērōís)
• ἡρωϊσμός (hērōïsmós)
• ἡρωϊστής (hērōïstḗs)
• ἡρῷον (hērôion)

 

Descendants

• Greek: ήρωας (íroas)
• → Armenian: հերոս (heros)
• → Latin: hērōs
  • Italian: eroe
  • → Old French: heroes
    • French: héros
    • → English: hero
      • Esperanto: heroo
      • Japanese: ヒーロー (hīrō)
      • → Thai: ฮีโร่ (hii-rôo)
  • → Portuguese: herói
  • → Sicilian: iroi
  • → Spanish: héroe
  • → Russian: геро́й (gerój)
    • → Kildin Sami: геройй (gjerojj)
  • → Serbo-Croatian: heroj

Further reading

• “ἥρως”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἥρως”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἥρως”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἥρως in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἥρως in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ἥρως”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • demigod idem, page 209.
  • hero idem, page 397.
  • patron idem, page 599.
  • saint idem, page 731.
• The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2000)