Hercules, constellation in the northern sky at about 17 hours right ascension and 30° north in declination. Its brightest star is Beta Herculis, with a magnitude of 2.8. Hercules contains the solar apex, the point on the sky toward which the Sun is moving as it orbits in the Milky Way Galaxy, and

Heracles, one of the most famous Greco-Roman legendary heroes. Traditionally, Heracles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene (see Amphitryon), granddaughter of Perseus. Zeus swore that the next son born of the Perseid house should become ruler of Greece, but—by a trick of Zeus’s jealous wife,

Steve Reeves: …Le fatiche di Ercole (1957; Hercules, 1959). Hercules was a box-office success in America and set the stage for a series of swashbuckling “sword-and-sandal” epics that showcased Reeves as a heroic strongman. Although Reeves had other Italian-American hits—Agi Murad il diavolo bianco (1959; The White Warrior, 1961), Gli ultimi giorni…

Jan Gossart: …and Amphitrite (1516) and the Hercules and Deianira (1517), in which his early, complex designs have given way to a comparatively simple and direct conception.

Albrecht Dürer: First journey to Italy: …of Deianira for his painting Hercules and the Birds of Stymphalis. A purely mythological painting in the Renaissance tradition, Hercules is exceptional among Dürer’s works. The centre panel from the Dresden Altarpiece, which Dürer painted in about 1498, is stylistically similar to Hercules and betrays influences of Mantegna. In most…

Antoine Bourdelle: …triumph in the Salon with Herakles (also called Hercules Archer), which again owes much to Archaic art, although the pose is far more sinuous and the musculature more exaggerated; he made several sculptures of this subject. Also in 1910 he created the full-length portrait Rodin at Work, the head of…

rhinoceros beetle: Some species, such as the Hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules), can grow to more than 18 cm (7 inches) long, of which 10 cm (4 inches) may be horn. The Hercules beetle and rhinoceros beetle (D. neptunus) are spectacular, resembling an enormous pair of pincers. Found in American tropical forests, these…

rhinoceros beetle, (subfamily Dynastinae), any of numerous species of beetles, some of which are among the largest beetles on Earth, named for the impressive hornlike structures on the frontal portions of males. These beetles have rounded, convex backs, and their coloration varies from black to

Adriaen de Vries: …and well-known works are the Hercules Fountain (1596–1602) and the Mercury Fountain (1599), monumental Italianate bronze works created in Augsburg. His Psyche with Pandora’s Box is a characteristic example of his style—shimmering satin finish, spiraling complexity, and a soaring grace.

The Madness of Heracles, drama by Euripides, performed about 416 bce. The action of the play occurs after Heracles performed the 12 labours. Temporarily driven mad by the goddess Hera, Heracles kills his wife and children. When he recovers his reason, he fights suicidal despair and then is taken to

Hendrik Goltzius: … and the chiaroscuro woodcut of Hercules Killing Cacus. His miniature portraits are distinguished both by their finish and as studies of character.

knot: A square knot is composed of two overhand knots turned in opposite ways. It flattens when pulled tight, making it useful in first aid and for tying packages. A surgeon’s knot is an elaborated form of the square knot; it is composed of two overhand knots…

saturniid moth: Physical description: …cm (6 inches), but the hercules moth (Coscinocera hercules) from the tropical forests of Australia has a wing area that reportedly exceeds that of any other insect. This moth, sometimes mistaken for a bird, has broad, dark-brown wings with tails on the hind pair and a wingspan of about 28…

angelica tree, (species Aralia spinosa), prickly-stemmed shrub or tree, of the ginseng family (Araliaceae), that can reach a height of 15 m (about 50 feet). Its leaves are large, with leaflets arranged feather-fashion and often prickly. The angelica tree is native to low-lying areas from Delaware

prickly ash: clava-herculis, variously called the Hercules’-club, the sea ash, or the pepperwood. West Indian satinwood, or yellowheart (Z. flavum), produces shiny golden brown timber for cabinetwork. Some species are cultivated as bonsai.

Tower of Hercules, probably the only ancient Roman lighthouse still in use, named for one of the most famous heroes of Greek and Roman mythology. The tower stands at the entrance of A Coruña harbour in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. A Phoenician tower may have occupied

Lucy Lawless: …appearance on the hit show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Her portrayal of Xena, a female warrior, inspired a spinoff program, Xena: Warrior Princess, in 1995. As the statuesque warrior, Lawless combined toughness and femininity to redefine television’s version of the female action hero. The show attracted a widespread audience that…

Strait of Gibraltar, channel connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, lying between southernmost Spain and northwesternmost Africa. It is 36 miles (58 km) long and narrows to 8 miles (13 km) in width between Point Marroquí (Spain) and Point Cires (Morocco). The strait’s western

ancient Rome: Diocletian of ancient Rome: …hero Hercules, formed the “Herculii.” This “Epiphany of the Tetrarchs” served as the divine foundation of the regime. The ideological recourse to two traditional Roman divinities represented a break with the Orientalizing attempts of Elagabalus and Aurelian. Even though he honoured Mithra equally, Diocletian wanted to be seen as…

Variscan orogenic belt, series of mountain ranges that developed during a span of time extending from 370 million to 290 million years ago—during the Devonian Period (which occurred about 419 million to 359 million years ago), the Carboniferous Period (359 million to 299 million years ago), and the

Carboniferous Period: Paleogeography: …Gondwana became fused by the Appalachian-Hercynian orogeny (mountain-building event), which continued into the Permian Period. The position of the landmass that would become the eastern United States and northern Europe remained equatorial, while the China and Siberia cratons continued to reside at high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.

hercynite, the mineral iron aluminum oxide, a member of the spinel (q.v.)

Ferenc Herczeg was a novelist and playwright, the leading literary exponent of conservative-nationalist opinion in early 20th-century Hungary. Herczeg was born into a well-to-do family of German origin. Although he studied law, he chose a literary career, which was successful from the publication

animal social behaviour: The range of social behaviour in animals: herds that form during migration and coalitions that form due to group advantages in holding or acquiring a reproductive vacancy. Coalitions of male African lions (Panthera leo) that compete for control of groups of females (called prides) are a classic example of the latter. Migration…

herd immunity, state in which a large proportion of a population is able to repel an infectious disease, thereby limiting the extent to which the disease can spread from person to person. Herd immunity can be conferred through natural immunity, previous exposure to the disease, or vaccination. An

animal social behaviour: The range of social behaviour in animals: herds that form during migration and coalitions that form due to group advantages in holding or acquiring a reproductive vacancy. Coalitions of male African lions (Panthera leo) that compete for control of groups of females (called prides) are a classic example of the latter. Migration…

timothy, (Phleum pratense), perennial grass of the family Poaceae. Timothy is native to most of mainland Europe and is widely cultivated as a hay and a pasture grass in North America and the United Kingdom. The plant is named after American farmer Timothy Hanson, who promoted its use outside New

herdbook, official record of individuals and pedigrees of a recognized breed of livestock, especially cattle or swine. When development of purebred livestock for use in breeding began in Britain in the 18th century, it became necessary to maintain a pedigree of each animal. Records of new breeds

ant: Food: …number of ants, known as herder ants (Lasius niger and others), protect and carefully tend to herds of aphids, from which the ants collect honeydew (a by-product of digestion secreted by certain aphids). The honey ants (Myrmecocystus, Camponotus, and others) store honeydew in the distended abdomens of specialized workers.

Weimar: … (1724–32), Tiefurt Castle, and the Church of Saints Peter and Paul (with an altarpiece by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his son), sometimes called the Herder Church for its association with the critic and theologian Johann Gottfried von Herder. Between 1919 and 1925 Weimar was the seat of the Bauhaus…

encyclopaedia: Special interests: And Johann Gottfried von Herder, in the heart of Roman Catholic Germany, produced a counterweight to the Protestant Brockhaus in his Konversations-Lexikon (1853–57)—soon called, simply, Herder—which adopted a distinctive Catholic viewpoint. This excellent encyclopaedia was early recognized for its general impartiality, scholarship, and accuracy. In the…

Johann Gottfried von Herder was a German critic, theologian, and philosopher, who was the leading figure of the Sturm und Drang literary movement and an innovator in the philosophy of history and culture. His influence, augmented by his contacts with the young J.W. von Goethe, made him a harbinger

herding dog, any of several breeds of dogs that herd livestock. They also typically make fine family pets or obedience competitors. The rise of herding dogs is closely tied to the domestication of sheep and other livestock during the Neolithic Period. Herding breeds are intelligent, quick and

primitive culture: Herding societies: Herding societies are in many respects the direct opposite of forest horticulturalists. They are usually the most nomadic of primitive societies, they occupy arid grasslands rather than rainforests, they have a nearly total commitment to their animals, and their sociopolitical system is nearly…

dog sports: Herding and treibball: Herding contests test a dog’s ability to control, separate, and move animals (often cattle, but even ducks) across a field, through gates, and into pens, all under the guidance of its handler’s commands, whistles, and hand signals. Dogs are timed and scored on their efficiency,…

Sir William Abbott Herdman was an oceanographer and a specialist on the marine organisms Tunicata. In 1881 Herdman became professor of natural history at the University of Liverpool and devoted much time to scientific research and the fishing industry. He founded the Liverpool Marine Biology

Alicia Keys: Musical success: The socially conscious Here (2016) was less popular, however. On Alicia (2020), which was released during the COVID-19 pandemic, Keys continued to explore topical issues, though many of the songs were infused with optimism. The double album Keys appeared in 2021. The following year she released the holiday…

Holly Hunter: …television for the HBO series Here and Now (2018), a drama about a multiracial family, and in 2019 she had a recurring role in another HBO show, Succession, about a family that owns a global media empire. The following year she appeared in the Showtime miniseries The Comey Rule, which…

Kenny Chesney: …for the Saints (2018) and Here and Now (2020).

children’s literature: Peaks and plateaus (1865–1940): The Here and Now Story Book, by Lucy Sprague Mitchell, published in the 1920s, was the first real example of the “direct experience” school of writing, but it is more properly part of the chronicle of pedagogy than of literature. The small child was far better…

Paul Auster: Here and Now: Letters 2008–2011 (2013) is a compilation of correspondence between Auster and South African novelist J.M. Coetzee.

Brian Eno: Eno’s next album, Here Come the Warm Jets (1973), was soon followed by the proto-punk single “Seven Deadly Finns.” In the mid-1970s Eno began developing his theory of ambient music, creating subtle instrumentals to affect mood through sound. Albums such as Discrete Music (1975), Music for Films (1978),…

Mark Sandrich: Here Come the Waves (1944) was a return to the more familiar territory of musical comedy; it featured Crosby and Betty Hutton. Sandrich’s other 1944 film was I Love a Soldier, a wartime soap opera starring Goddard and Tufts. In 1945 the director began working…

Norman Z. McLeod: Middle years: …with Burns and Allen on Here Comes Cookie, and it fared little better than their previous effort; Allen played a flighty heiress who turns her father’s Fifth Avenue mansion into a boardinghouse for unemployed vaudeville performers. Better was Early to Bed (1936), which featured the team of Charlie Ruggles and…

Here Comes Mr. Jordan, American romantic comedy film, released in 1941, that involves a boxer who is taken to heaven before his time but is given a second chance at life. (Read Martin Scorsese’s Britannica essay on film preservation.) Robert Montgomery played prize-fighter and amateur pilot Joe

Salma Hayek: …martial artist in the comedy Here Comes the Boom (2012). Hayek then controversially played a woman who must use violence to extract herself from sexual enslavement in the sanguinary action film Everly (2014). In Il racconto dei racconti (2015; Tale of Tales), an adaptation of a book of fairy tales…

Peter Arno: …1931 he was co-author of Here Comes the Bride, a musical satire produced in October of that year. A good-looking, sophisticated man, Arno played an active part in the world he satirized. Lecherous clubmen and sabled dowagers appeared frequently in his cartoons, collections of which include Man in the Shower…

George Harrison: …Guitar Gently Weeps” (1968), “Here Comes the Sun” (1969), and “Something” (1969). In 1965 Harrison studied the sitar with Ravi Shankar and first featured his skills in “Norwegian Wood” (1965). Harrison’s interest in Indian culture grew, and in 1968 he and the Beatles, as well as a number of…

Emmanuel Héré de Corny was a French court architect to Stanisław Leszczyński, duke of Lorraine, best known for laying out the town centre of Nancy, a principal example of urban design in the 18th century. Little is known of Héré’s training. Stanisław, the former king of Poland and father-in-law to

Max Ernst: >Here Everything Is Still Floating (1920), a startlingly illogical composition made from cutout photographs of insects, fish, and anatomical drawings ingeniously arranged to suggest the multiple identity of the things depicted.

Usher: Here I Stand, Raymond v. Raymond, and Coming Home: …Usher returned to recording with Here I Stand (2008), a soulful album that saw the brash lothario of 8701 and Confessions settle into the routine of family life. The follow-up album, Raymond v. Raymond (2010), continued to serve as a window into Usher’s private life, but it was a dark…

David Byrne: …deejay Fatboy Slim to create Here Lies Love, a disco musical about the life of Filipina political icon Imelda Marcos. During the show’s development, its songs were recorded and released as an album (2010); it premiered onstage in 2013. Throughout his career Byrne produced and exhibited art, and he published…

Tim McGraw: His 15th studio album, Here on Earth, appeared in 2020.

Billy Crystal: …directed, cowrote, and starred in Here Today (2021), about the friendship between a comedy writer, who is in the early stages of dementia, and a much-younger singer (Tiffany Hadish). In 2015 Crystal cocreated and starred in the TV sitcom The Comedians, which was canceled after one season. He also wrote…

Björk: …over the next five years, Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week! and Stick Around for Joy, the band broke up, and Björk embarked on a solo career.

Graham Swift: In Here We Are (2020), Swift focused on three performers at a seaside variety show and their love triangle.

the Kingston Trio: …Kingston Trio at Large (1959), Here We Go Again (1959), and String Along (1960)—before breaking up in 1967.

Larry Kramer: Film and stage work: …role of associate producer on Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1968), the script for which he helped to adapt from Hunter Davies’ novel of teenage sexual experimentation. Kramer then produced and wrote the screenplay for Women in Love (1969), an adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence novel directed by…

Dolly Parton: Music career: …Award for her song “Here You Come Again” and was named entertainer of the year by the CMA. As her career developed, Parton received more Grammys, both for her songs, including “9 to 5” (1980) and “Shine” (2001), and for her albums, including Trio (1987; with Linda Ronstadt and…

Television in the United States: The new cultural landscape: Other CBS hits such as Here’s Lucy (1968–74) and Gunsmoke seemed products of a bygone era and were of little interest to younger viewers. CBS executives also noticed that the few youth-oriented shows that were on the air were doing very well at the end of the decade. In the…

Alec Baldwin: Personal life, activism, and other work: …2011, he hosted a podcast, Here’s the Thing, on which he interviewed artists, entertainers, and other notable figures. In October 2013 the weekly talk show Up Late with Alec Baldwin debuted on the cable television channel MSNBC. After just five episodes, however, Baldwin was suspended for calling a paparazzo a…

Sir Osbert Lancaster: …American architecture and design, in Here, of All Places (1958).

Michael Frayn: Years (1977), Benefactors (1984), Here: A Play in Two Acts (1993), Copenhagen (1998), Democracy (2003), and Afterlife (2008).

Clint Eastwood: 2000 and beyond: Hereafter (2010) was an oddity in the Eastwood canon—a measured, quiet drama about three characters whose widely divergent life experiences have left them convinced of the reality of an afterlife. The anguish experienced by each is etched expertly by Eastwood, but the story is told…

Olympic Games: Women and the Olympic Games: At Olympia, however, the Herean festival, held every four years in honor of the goddess Hera, included a race for young women, who were divided into three age groups. Yet the Herean race was not part of the Olympics (they took place at another time of the year) and…

Heredia, city, central Costa Rica. It is located in the Valle Central at an elevation of 3,729 feet (1,137 metres) above sea level, just northwest of San José, the national capital, via the Inter-American (Pan-American) Highway. Probably founded in the 1570s, the city was originally called

José Maria de Heredia was a Cuban-born French poet, brilliant master of the sonnet. The son of a wealthy Spanish coffee plantation owner and a French mother, Heredia was educated at Senlis, near Paris. He claimed France as “the country of my mind and heart”; and, although he went home after

Colombia: Conquest: In 1533 Pedro de Heredia founded Cartagena, which became one of the major naval and merchant marine bases of the Spanish empire. Bogotá was founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada in 1538. By the end of 1539 all but one of the major inland colonial cities had…

A24: Films: In 2018 A24 released Hereditary, a chilling suspense film directed by filmmaker Ari Aster. The film was a box office hit when it was released, earning more than $80 million worldwide. The horror film, while retaining many traditional supernatural elements, was described by Aster as being a film about…

antithrombin: Hereditary AT deficiency is associated with an excessive tendency toward clot formation, and manifestations of this defect are recurrent thrombophlebitis and pulmonary embolism.

antithrombin: Hereditary AT deficiency is associated with an excessive tendency toward clot formation, and manifestations of this defect are recurrent thrombophlebitis and pulmonary embolism.

connective tissue disease: Hereditary disorders of connective tissue: Hereditary disorders of connective tissue are a heterogeneous group of generalized single-gene-determined disorders that affect one or another of the primary elements of the connective tissues (collagen, elastin, or ground substance [glycosaminoglycans]). Many cause skeletal and

childhood disease and disorder: Blood disorders: Hereditary spherocytosis and hereditary elliptocytosis cause hemolytic anemia because of abnormalities in the structure of the red blood cell. A number of abnormalities in red-blood-cell enzymes also can lead to increased red-cell destruction.

metabolic disease: Galactose and fructose disorders: Hereditary fructose intolerance (HFI) is caused by a deficiency of the liver enzyme fructose-1-phosphate aldolase. Symptoms of HFI appear after the ingestion of fructose and thus present later in life than do those of galactosemia. Fructose is present in fruits, table sugar (sucrose), and infant…

Francis Galton: Advocacy of eugenics: In his Hereditary Genius (1869), in which he used the word genius to denote “an ability that was exceptionally high and at the same time inborn,” his main argument was that mental and physical features are equally inherited—a proposition that was not accepted at the time. It…

Osler-Rendu-Weber disease, hereditary disorder characterized by bleeding from local capillary malformations. In Osler-Rendu-Weber disease, capillaries in the fingertips and around the oral and nasal cavities are enlarged and have unusually thin walls; they are easily broken by accidental bumping or

rickets: Causes of rickets: In hereditary hypophosphatemic rickets, for example, an increased rate of phosphate clearance from the body by the renal tubules of the kidneys results in loss of bone mineral and, in severe cases, in rickets-type deformities and dwarfism. The disease, which is rare and is most commonly…

thalassemia, group of blood disorders characterized by a deficiency of hemoglobin, the blood protein that transports oxygen to the tissues. Thalassemia (Greek: “sea blood”) is so called because it was first discovered among peoples around the Mediterranean Sea, among whom its incidence is high.

methemoglobinemia: Hereditary methemoglobinemia occurs when there is an inborn defect in this enzyme system or when the hemoglobin molecule is abnormally structured (hemoglobin M) and is thereby more susceptible to oxidation of the iron component. Acquired methemoglobinemia may arise as a result of contact with certain…

nervous system disease: Hereditary motor neuropathies: Hereditary motor neuropathies (also known as spinal muscular atrophies and as Werdnig-Hoffman or Kugelberg-Welander diseases) are a diverse group of genetic disorders in which signs of ventral-horn disease occur in babies or young people. The usual symptoms of muscle atrophy and weakness…

osteochondroma: Osteochondromatosis (also called hereditary multiple exostosis or diaphyseal aclasis) is a relatively common disorder of skeletal development in children in which bony protrusions develop on the long bones, ribs, and vertebrae. If severe, the lesions may halt bone growth, and dwarfing will result. Pressure on…

colorectal cancer: Causes and symptoms: …polyposis (FAP), Gardner syndrome, and hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC)—can predispose an individual to developing colorectal cancer. Each of these conditions is caused in part by a known genetic mutation. In addition, Ashkenazi Jews have a slightly higher incidence of colorectal cancer due to a mutated gene, and there exists…

colorectal cancer: Causes and symptoms: …polyposis (FAP), Gardner syndrome, and hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC)—can predispose an individual to developing colorectal cancer. Each of these conditions is caused in part by a known genetic mutation. In addition, Ashkenazi Jews have a slightly higher incidence of colorectal cancer due to a mutated gene, and there exists…

hereditary spherocytosis, congenital blood disorder characterized by an enlarged spleen, spherical (rather than disk-shaped) red blood cells of variable size and increased fragility of cell membrane, and a chronic, mild hemolytic anemia punctuated by episodes of severe aplastic anemia (failure of

heredity, the sum of all biological processes by which particular characteristics are transmitted from parents to their offspring. The concept of heredity encompasses two seemingly paradoxical observations about organisms: the constancy of a species from generation to generation and the variation

race: Hereditary statuses versus the rise of individualism: Inheritance as the basis of individual social position is an ancient tenet of human history, extending to some point after the beginnings of agriculture (about 10,000 bce). Expressions of it are found throughout the world in kinship-based societies where genealogical links determine an individual’s status,…

Charles Benedict Davenport: In Heredity in Relation to Eugenics (1911), he compiled evidence concerning the inheritance of human traits, on the basis of which he argued that the application of genetic principles would improve the human race.

heredity: Heredity and environment: A notion that was widespread among pioneer biologists in the 18th century was that the fetus, and hence the adult organism that develops from it, is preformed in the sex cells. Some early microscopists even imagined that they saw…

Hereford, city, unitary authority and historic county of Herefordshire, west-central England, on the River Wye. Hereford was founded as a settlement near the Welsh March—the politically unstable belt of territory flanking Wales on the east in medieval times—after the West Saxons had crossed the

Hereford, popular breed of beef cattle, the product of generations of breeding work on the part of landed proprietors and tenant farmers in the county of Herefordshire (now in Hereford and Worcester county), England. Herefordshire was noted for its luxuriant grasses, and in that district for many

Herefordshire, unitary authority and historic county that covers a roughly circular area in the Welsh borderland of west-central England. The city of Hereford, in the centre of the unitary authority, is the administrative centre. The historic county includes three small areas outside the unitary

Wales: Norman infiltration: …earldoms of Chester, Shrewsbury, and Hereford, and from each of these strongpoints advances were made into Wales. Norman progress in southern Wales in the reign of William I (1066–87) was limited to the colonization of Gwent in the southeast. Domesday Book contains evidence suggesting that King William and Rhys ap…

Saint Thomas de Cantelupe ; canonized 1320, feast day October 3) was a reformist, educator, English church prelate, bishop, and defender of episcopal jurisdiction who played an important role in the Barons’ War. Thomas was of noble birth; after being ordained at Lyon, c. 1245, he continued his

Herefordshire, unitary authority and historic county that covers a roughly circular area in the Welsh borderland of west-central England. The city of Hereford, in the centre of the unitary authority, is the administrative centre. The historic county includes three small areas outside the unitary

Spanish literature: The novel: El hereje (1998; The Heretic), perhaps his masterpiece, depicts the abuse of power by the Spanish Inquisition. Elena Quiroga, a conscientious stylist, experimented with varying forms and themes, employing a dead protagonist in Algo pasa en la calle (1954; “Something’s Happening in the Street”) to examine domestic conflict…

Hereke carpet, floor covering handwoven in imperial workshops founded late in the 19th century at Hereke, Turkey, about 40 miles (64 km) east of Istanbul. Large carpets and prayer rugs with pile of wool or silk were made there for palace use and for gifts presented by the sultan. Antique carpets of

Félix d’ Hérelle was a French-Canadian microbiologist generally known as the discoverer of the bacteriophage, a virus that infects bacteria. (The earlier identification of the bacteriophage by the British microbiologist F.W. Twort in about 1915 became obscured by Twort’s disinclination to take

Judaism: In eastern Europe: …a ban of excommunication (ḥerem, “anathema”) against the new movement. The tactic, which involved a complete boycott and cutting off of communication, was widely embraced by non-Hasidic rabbis, who were given the title of Mitnaggedim (“Opponents”) by the Hasidim. In areas where the rabbis had lost the respect of…

Maryse Condé: …the background for her novel Hérémakhonon (1976), about a young West Indian woman’s quest for roots. Un Saison à Rihata (1981; A Season in Rihata) is set in a late 20th-century African land.