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I wonder if there's a term, possibly a name, relating to a god, mythological creature or such, that is used in English to describe a person, software or organization that manages cases, runs errands and takes care of issue resolutions.

For instance, I've hear people call a guy by the name of Argus and for a very long time I believed that it was his actual name. Turns out, they only meant that the person in question keeps an eye on all the details, is never ambushed and knows what's going on around in the office.

There's a software related solution called Kerberos, which refers to the doggie watching at the door of a rather hot place. The software is used for security and protection in the digital environment.

I'd like to know if there's anything equivalent (possibly extremely rarely used in, or at the very least applicable to, English language) for a case managing and/or issue resolution instance, person or software.

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    @Stephie Are you referring to the other English language related site in the network? I got the impression lately that one gets bashed more heavily lately there if a question is isn't sophisticated enough, according to their quite rather acquired taste. Personally I fell that they take the lower limit of acceptable questions too high but I prefer not to contribute to an (yet another and equally pointless) infected discussion. Commented Jan 22, 2015 at 8:46
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    @Konrad - You are not the poser; the question is. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I meant poser in the sense of "a very difficult question." I assure you, my comment was meant to be 100% complimentary, though it's easy to see how you might have been confused.
    – J.R.
    Commented Jan 22, 2015 at 12:58
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about literary or religious personae, not about the use of the English language.
    – choster
    Commented Jan 22, 2015 at 14:48
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    @choster I'd claim that it's precisely about usage of English language, because I'm looking for a word that describes a certain properties or is associated with a certain perception of qualities. For instance - "Achilletic" has a certain connotation and it's related to the Greek dude but it usage is linguistical. Also - c.f. "Freudian touch" - it's not about Mr. Freud. It's about, probably, having sex with your mom. Or butt touching. (Kind of narrow spectrum on Sigmund, there.) Commented Jan 22, 2015 at 15:36
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    You could use one of the Fates - maybe Lachesis or Atropos who measure and cut the thread of life. I'm not very familiar with the mythology of the fates in other cultures - there may be others that are closer to what you're looking for.
    – ColleenV
    Commented Jan 22, 2015 at 19:17

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The closest I can think of is wizard. It's not a proper name like Argus, but it does denote a mythological profession. As Macmillan says:

wizard (n.) a man in stories who has magic powers

but the second definition reads:

wizard someone who is very good at something

I like the meaning listed in Collins even better:

wizard (n.) a person who is outstandingly clever in some specified field; expert

The meaning listed in the Online Slang Dictionary seems even closer to what you are seeking:

wizard (noun) used with a subject matter to refer to a person with deep, expert knowledge of that subject matter : We're looking to hire a Unix wizard.


If you're looking for a proper name, there's always Hercules, who was known for his twelve labors, and who gave us the word herculean to describe something that is tremendously arduous or difficult. Out of curiosity, I entered software herculean task into a search engine, and found no small number of business articles, tech columns, and blogs, that mentioned things such as:

With that in mind, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to hang the nickname Hercules on someone who keeps a software organization running smoothly. (I've never heard that used, though, so I suppose it falls under the category of "possibly extremely rarely used".)

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    I'll consider Hercules. However, the name makes me associate to a person actually carrying out assigned tasks. I'm rather aiming at the person running the show, i.e. assigning, creating and accepting the tasks to be carried out. You might have given me a great lead here, after all. Hercules hasn't been running around sweating just for the fun of it. Someone made him. (+1 for the help-to-self-help) Commented Jan 22, 2015 at 10:59
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You probably want the name of an ancient king.

If you want to be snarky, a possibility is:

  • Herod, the infamous "pointy haired boss".

If you want to honor the manager, a possibility is:

  • Cyrus (a.k.a. Koresh), the Persian who established a cosmopolitan empire under the rule of law. He defeated the Assyrian empire, which had boasted of its looting.

Another possibility is a "messenger of the Gods":

  • Iris
  • Hermes
  • Mercury
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The best nickname would probably be Zeus the highest god in Greek mythology.

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