Heracli'dæ

Heracli'dæ means, in its widest sense, all 'the descendants of Heracles' (Hercules), but is specially applied to those adventurers who, founding their claims on their supposed descent from the great hero (to whom Zeus had promised a portion of the land), were said to have joined the Dorians in the conquest of the Peloponnesus. Several expeditions were undertaken for this purpose, the last and greatest occurring eighty years after the Trojan war. The chiefs of the invaders defeated Tisamenus, son of Orestes, and grandson of Agamemnon, and took possession of the Peloponnesus. See GREECE.