Androcles

Androcles
/an"dreuh kleez'/, n. Rom. Legend.
a slave who was spared in the arena by a lion from whose foot he had long before extracted a thorn.
Also, Androclus /an"dreuh kleuhs/.

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▪ Roman legendary figure
also spelled  Androclus,  

      Roman slave who allegedly lived about the time of the emperor Tiberius or Caligula and who became the hero of a story told by Aulus Gellius (Gellius, Aulus). The story, taken originally from a work by Apion (1st century AD) and also found in Aelian's De natura animalium (On the Nature of Animals) and Seneca (Seneca, Lucius Annaeus)'s De beneficiis (On Benefits), tells that Androcles had taken refuge from the cruelties of his master in a cave in Africa, when a lion entered the cave and showed him his swollen paw, from which Androcles extracted a large thorn. Later, the grateful animal recognized him when Androcles had been captured and thrown to the wild beasts in the circus and, instead of attacking him, began to caress him; both were then set free. The story is the subject of the play Androcles and the Lion by George Bernard Shaw.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Androcles — (or Androclus), is a character, who may not have been entirely fictional, in tales that describe him as a slave in the Roman Empire in the early 1st century CE, about the time of Tiberius but possibly in the reign of Caligula. The classic tale… …   Wikipedia

  • Androcles — Androclès Androclès fut un esclave romain. On raconte qu ayant été livré aux bêtes dans le Grand cirque de Rome pour s être enfui de chez son maître, proconsul d Afrique, il fut reconnu et épargné par un lion dont il avait guéri une blessure dans …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Androcles — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Androcles fue un rey de Mesenia, asesinado en el 756 a. C. Androcles fue un rey de Mesenia durante el siglo VIII a. C. Se le considera hijo y sucesor del rey Fintas, si bien éste podría… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Androclès — ANDROCLÈS: Citer le lion d Androclès à propos de dompteurs …   Dictionnaire des idées reçues

  • Andrócles — ANDRÓCLES, is, (⇒ Tab. XI.) einer von des Aeolus Söhnen, der einen Theil von Sicilien beherrschete. Diod. Sic. lib. V. c. 8. p. 202 …   Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon

  • Androclès — (Ier s.) esclave romain qui, jeté dans l arène, fut épargné par un lion qu il avait jadis soigné …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Androcles — [an′drəkləsan′drə klēz΄] n. [L < Gr Androklēs] Rom. Legend a slave who escapes death when thrown into the arena with a lion because the lion recognizes him as the man who once extracted a thorn from its foot: also Androclus [an′drəkləs] …   English World dictionary

  • Androclès — fut un esclave romain. On raconte qu ayant été livré aux bêtes dans le Grand cirque de Rome pour s être enfui de chez son maître, proconsul d Afrique, il fut reconnu et épargné par u …   Wikipédia en Français

  • ANDROCLES — I. ANDROCLES fil. Phintae, Messeniorum Rex cum fratre Antiocho, praefuit: successore Euphae. Pausan. l. 4. Item Ioviae Rex qui Ephesum exornavit. l. 7. II. ANDROCLES fuit servus et mendicus et cinaedus; ut Cratinus eum notat in σερίφοις… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Androcles — n. legendary Roman slave who was forced to fight a lion but was saved by the lion that recognized and remembered Androcles as the one who in the past removed a thorn from its paw …   English contemporary dictionary

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