an illustrious man, supposed to be exalted, after death, to a place among the gods; a demigod, as hercules.-a man of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger, or fortitude in suffering; a prominent or central personage in any remarkable action or event; hence, a great or illustrious person.-the principal personage in a poem, story, and the like, or the person who has the principal share in the transactions related; as achilles in the iliad, ulysses in the odyssey, and aeneas in the aeneid.