hēros, ōis, m., = ἥρως, a demi-god, hero.
I Lit.: heroum veteres casus imitari, Cic. de Or. 2, 47, 194: ille deum vitam accipiet divisque videbit Permixtos heroas, Verg. E. 4, 16: magnanimi heroes, id. A. 6, 649: incipit Aeneas heros, id. ib. 6, 103; called also: Troius heros, id. ib. 451: Laertius heros, i. e. Ulysses , Ov. Tr. 5, 5, 3: quem virum aut heroa lyra vel acri Tibia sumis celebrare, Clio? Hor. C. 1, 12, 1: Ajax heros, id. S. 2, 3, 193: intererit multum, divusne loquatur an heros, id. A. P. 114.—Adj., of or belonging to a hero or heroes , heroic : ecce modo heroas sensus efferre videmus Nugari solitos Graece (for heroicos or heroos), heroic thoughts or deeds , Pers. 1, 69.—
II Transf., in Cicero of illustrious men: heros ille noster Cato, Cic. Att. 1, 17, 9: Antonii colloquium cum heroibus nostris (i. e. Bruto et Cassio), id. ib. 14, 6, 1: illorum fuit heroum (i. e. Platonis et Aristotelis), id. Rep. 3, 8; and ironically of Clodius: ignari, quantum in illo heroe esset animi, id. Att. 4, 3, 5.