gods, and received divine honours. According to the ancients there
were many persons of the same name. Diodorus mentions three, Cicero
six, and some authors extend the number to no less than 43. Of all
these the son of Jupiter and Alcmena, generally called the Theban,
is the most celebrated, and to him, as may easily be imagined, the
actions of the others have been ♦attributed. The birth of Hercules
was attended with many miraculous and supernatural events; and it is
reported that Jupiter, who introduced himself to the bed of Alcmena,
was employed for three nights in forming a child whom he intended to
be the greatest hero the world ever beheld. _See:_ Alcmena. Hercules
was brought up at Tirynthus, or, according to Diodorus, at Thebes,
and before he had completed his eighth month, the jealousy of Juno,
intent upon his destruction, sent two snakes to devour him. The
child, not terrified at the sight of the serpents, boldly seized
them in both his hands and squeezed them to death, while his brother
Iphiclus alarmed the house with his frightful shrieks. _See:_
Iphiclus. He was early instructed in the liberal arts, and Castor
the son of Tyndarus taught him how to fight, Eurytus how to shoot
with a bow and arrows, Autolycus to drive a chariot, Linus to
play on the lyre, and Eumolpus to sing. He, like the rest of his
illustrious contemporaries, soon after became the pupil of the
centaur Chiron, and under him he perfected and rendered himself the
most valiant and accomplished of the age. In the 18th year of his
age he resolved to deliver the neighbourhood of mount Cithæron from
a huge lion which preyed on the flocks of Amphitryon his supposed
father, and which laid waste the adjacent country. He went to the
court of Thespius king of Thespis, who shared the general calamity,
and he received there a tender treatment, and was entertained during
50 days. The 50 daughters of the king became all mothers by Hercules,
during his stay at Thespis, and some say that it was effected in
one night. After he had destroyed the lion of mount Cithæron, he
delivered his country from the annual tribute of 100 oxen which
it paid to Erginus. _See:_ Erginus. Such public services became
universally known, and Creon, who then sat on the throne of Thebes,
rewarded the patriotic deeds of Hercules by giving him his daughter
in marriage, and entrusting him with the government of his kingdom.
As Hercules by the will of Jupiter was subject to the power of
Eurystheus [_See:_ Eurystheus], and obliged to obey him in every
respect, Eurystheus, acquainted with his successes and rising power,
ordered him to appear at Mycenæ and perform the labours which by
priority of birth he was empowered to impose upon him. Hercules
refused, and Juno, to punish his disobedience, rendered him so
delirious that he killed his own children by Megara, supposing them
to be the offspring of Eurystheus. _See:_ Megara. When he recovered
the use of his senses, he was so struck with the misfortunes which
had proceeded from his insanity, that he concealed himself and
retired from the society of men for some time. He afterwards
consulted the oracle of Apollo, and was told that he must be
subservient for 12 years to the will of Eurystheus, in compliance
with the commands of Jupiter; and that after he had achieved the
most celebrated labours, he should be reckoned in the number of
the gods. So plain and expressive an answer determined him to go
to Mycenæ, and to bear with fortitude whatever gods or men imposed
upon him. Eurystheus, seeing so great a man totally subjected to him,
and apprehensive of so powerful an enemy, commanded him to achieve
a number of enterprises the most difficult and arduous ever known,
generally called the 12 labours of Hercules. The favours of the
gods had completely armed him when he undertook his labours. He
had received a coat of arms and helmet from Minerva, a sword from
Mercury, a horse from Neptune, a shield from Jupiter, a bow and
arrows from Apollo, and from Vulcan a golden cuirass and brazen
buskins, with a celebrated club of brass according to the opinion
of some writers, but more generally supposed to be of wood, and cut
by the hero himself in the forest of Nemæa. The first labour imposed
upon Hercules by Eurystheus, was to kill the lion of Nemæa, which
ravaged the country near Mycenæ. The hero, unable to destroy him
with his arrows, boldly attacked him with his club, pursued him
to his den, and after a close and sharp engagement he choked him
to death. He carried the dead beast on his shoulders to Mycenæ,
and ever after clothed himself with the skin. Eurystheus was so
astonished at the sight of the beast, and at the courage of Hercules,
that he ordered him never to enter the gates of the city when he
returned from his expeditions, but to wait for his orders without
the walls. He even made himself a brazen vessel, into which he
retired whenever Hercules returned. The second labour of Hercules
was to destroy the Lernæan hydra, which had seven heads according
to Apollodorus, 50 according to Simonides, 100 according to Diodorus.
This celebrated monster he attacked with his arrows, and soon after
he came to a close engagement, and by means of his heavy club he
destroyed the heads of his enemy. But this was productive of no
advantage, for as soon as one head was beaten to pieces by the club,
immediately two sprang up, and the labour of Hercules would have
remained unfinished had he not commanded his friend Iolus to burn,
with a hot iron, the root of the head which he had crushed to pieces.
This succeeded [_See:_ Hydra], and Hercules became victorious,
opened the belly of the monster, and dipped his arrows in the gall
to render the wounds which he gave fatal and incurable. He was
ordered in his third labour to bring alive and unhurt into the
presence of Eurystheus a stag, famous for its incredible swiftness,
its golden horns, and brazen feet. This celebrated animal frequented
the neighbourhood of Œnoe, and Hercules was employed for a whole
year in continually pursuing it, and at last he caught it in a trap,
or when tired, or according to others, by slightly wounding it and
lessening its swiftness. As he returned victorious, Diana snatched
the goat from him, and severely reprimanded him for molesting an
animal which was sacred to her. Hercules pleaded necessity, and by
representing the commands of Eurystheus, he appeased the goddess
and obtained the beast. The fourth labour was to bring alive to
Eurystheus a wild boar which ravaged the neighbourhood of Erymanthus.
In this expedition he destroyed the centaurs [_See:_ ♣Centauri],
and caught the boar by closely pursuing him through the deep
snow. Eurystheus was so frightened at the sight of the boar, that,
according to Diodorus, he hid himself in his brazen vessel for some
days. In his fifth labour Hercules was ordered to clean the stables
of Augias, where 3000 oxen had been confined for many years. _See:_
Augias. For his sixth labour he was ordered to kill the carnivorous
birds which ravaged the country near the lake Stymphalis in Arcadia.
_See:_ Stymphalis. In his seventh labour he brought alive into
Peloponnesus a prodigious wild bull which laid waste the island of
Crete. In his eighth labour he was employed in obtaining the mares
of Diomedes, which fed upon human flesh. He killed Diomedes, and
gave him to be eaten by his mares, which he brought to Eurystheus.
They were sent to mount Olympus by the king of Mycenæ, where they
were devoured by the wild beasts; or, according to others, they were
consecrated to Jupiter, and their breed still existed in the age
of Alexander the Great. For his ninth labour, he was commanded to
obtain the girdle of the queen of the Amazons. _See:_ Hippolyte.
In his tenth labour he killed the monster Geryon king of Gades,
and brought to Argos his numerous flocks, which fed upon human
flesh. _See:_ Geryon. The eleventh labour was to obtain apples from
the garden of the Hesperides. _See:_ Hesperides. The twelfth and
last, and most dangerous of his labours, was to bring upon earth
the three-headed dog Cerberus. This was cheerfully undertaken by
Hercules, and he descended into hell by a cave on mount Tænarus.
He was permitted by Pluto to carry away his friends Theseus and
Pirithous, who were condemned to punishment in hell: and Cerberus
also was granted to his prayers, provided he made use of no arms,
but only force, to drag him away. Hercules, as some report, carried
him back to hell, after he had brought him before Eurystheus.
Besides these arduous labours, which the jealousy of ♥Eurystheus
imposed upon him, he also achieved others of his own accord, equally
great and celebrated. _See:_ Cacus, Antæus, Busiris, Eryx, &c. He
accompanied the Argonauts to Colchis before he delivered himself up
to the king of Mycenæ. He assisted the gods in their wars against
the giants, and it was through him alone that Jupiter obtained a
victory. _See:_ Gigantes. He conquered Laomedon, and pillaged Troy.
_See:_ Laomedon. When Iole, the daughter of Eurytus king of Œchalia,
of whom he was deeply enamoured, was refused to his entreaties, he
became the prey of a second fit of insanity, and he murdered Iphitus,
the only one of the sons of Eurytus who favoured his addresses to
Iole. _See:_ Iphitus. He was some time after purified of the murder,
and his insanity ceased; but the gods persecuted him more, and he
was visited by a disorder which obliged him to apply to the oracle
of Delphi for relief. The boldness with which the Pythia received
him irritated him, and he resolved to plunder Apollo’s temple,
and carry away the sacred tripod. Apollo opposed him, and a severe
conflict was begun, which nothing but the interference of Jupiter
with his thunderbolts could have prevented. He was upon this told
by the oracle that he must be sold as a slave, and remain three
years in the most abject servitude to recover from his disorder. He
complied; and Mercury, by order of Jupiter, conducted him to Omphale
queen of Lydia, to whom he was sold as a slave. Here he cleared all
the country from robbers; and Omphale, who was astonished at the
greatness of his exploits, restored him to liberty, and married him.
Hercules had Agelaus, and Lamon according to others, by Omphale,
from whom Crœsus king of Lydia was descended. He became also
enamoured of one of Omphale’s female servants, by whom he had
Alceus. After he had completed the years of his slavery, he returned
to Peloponnesus, where he re-established on the throne of Sparta
Tyndarus, who had been expelled by Hippocoon. He became one of
Dejanira’s suitors, and married her, after he had overcome all
his rivals. _See:_ Achelous. He was obliged to leave Calydon, his
father-in-law’s kingdom, because he had inadvertently killed a man
with a blow of his fist, and it was on account of this expulsion
that he was not present at the hunting of the Calydonian boar.
From Calydon he retired to the court of Ceyx king of Trachinia. In
his way he was stopped by the swollen streams of the Evenus, where
the centaur Nessus attempted to offer violence to Dejanira, under
the perfidious pretence of conveying her over the river. Hercules
perceived the distress of Dejanira, and killed the centaur, who, as
he expired, gave her a tunic, which, as he observed, had the power
of recalling a husband from unlawful love. _See:_ Dejanira. Ceyx
king of Trachinia received him and his wife with great marks of
friendship, and purified him of the murder which he had committed
at Calydon. Hercules was still mindful that he had once been refused
the hand of Iole, he therefore made war against her father Eurytus,
and killed him with three of his sons. Iole fell into the hands of
her father’s murderer, and found that she was loved by Hercules as
much as before. She accompanied him to mount Œta, where he was going
to raise an altar and offer a solemn sacrifice to Jupiter. As he had
not then the tunic in which he arrayed himself to offer a sacrifice,
he sent Lichas to Dejanira in order to provide himself a proper
dress. Dejanira, informed of her husband’s tender attachment to
Iole, sent him a philter, or more probably the tunic which she had
received from Nessus, and Hercules, as soon as he had put it on,
fell into a desperate distemper, and found the poison of the Lernæan
hydra penetrate through his bones. He attempted to pull off the
fatal dress, but it was too late, and in the midst of his pains
and tortures he inveighed in the most bitter imprecations against
the credulous Dejanira, the cruelty of Eurystheus, and the jealousy
and hatred of Juno. As the distemper was incurable, he implored the
protection of Jupiter, and gave his bow and arrows to Philoctetes,
and erected a large burning pile on the top of mount Œta. He spread
on the pile the skin of the Nemæan lion, and laid himself down
upon it as on a bed, leaning his head on his club. Philoctetes,
or according to others, Pæan or Hyllus, was ordered to set fire to
the pile, and the hero saw himself on a sudden surrounded with the
flames, without betraying any marks of fear or astonishment. Jupiter
saw him from heaven, and told to the surrounding gods that he would
raise to the skies the immortal parts of a hero who had cleared
the earth from so many monsters and tyrants. The gods applauded
Jupiter’s resolution; the burning pile was suddenly surrounded with
a dark smoke, and after the mortal parts of Hercules were consumed,
he was carried up to heaven in a chariot drawn by four horses. Some
loud claps of thunder accompanied his elevation, and his friends,
unable to find either his bones or ashes, showed their gratitude
to his memory by raising an altar where the burning pile had stood.
Menœtius the son of Actor offered him the sacrifice of a bull, a
wild boar, and a goat, and enjoined the people of Opus yearly to
observe the same religious ceremonies. His worship soon became
as universal as his fame, and Juno, who had once persecuted him
with such inveterate fury, forgot her resentment, and gave him her
daughter Hebe in marriage. Hercules has received many surnames and
epithets, either from the place where his worship was established,
or from the labours which he achieved. His temples were numerous and
magnificent, and his divinity revered. No dogs or flies ever entered
his temple at Rome, and that of Gades, according to Strabo, was
always forbidden to women and pigs. The Phœnicians offered quails
on his altars, and as it was supposed that he presided over dreams,
the sick and infirm were sent to sleep in his temples, that they
might receive in their dreams the agreeable presages of their
approaching recovery. The white poplar was particularly dedicated
to his service. Hercules is generally represented naked, with strong
and well-proportioned limbs; he is sometimes covered with the skin
of the Nemæan lion, and holds a knotted club in his hand, on which
he often leans. Sometimes he appears crowned with the leaves of
the poplar, and holding the horn of plenty under his arm. At other
times he is represented standing with Cupid, who instantly breaks to
pieces his arrows and his club, to intimate the passion of love in
the hero, who suffered himself to be beaten and ridiculed by Omphale,
who dressed herself in his armour while he was sitting to spin with
her female servants. The children of Hercules are as numerous as the
labours and difficulties which he underwent, and indeed they became
so powerful soon after his death, that they alone had the courage to
invade all Peloponnesus. _See:_ Heraclidæ. He was father of Deicoon
and Therimachus by Megara, of Ctesippus by Astydamia, of Palemon
by Autonoe, of Everes by Parthenope, of Glycisonetes, Gyneus, and
Odites by Dejanira, of Thessalus by Chalciope, of Thestalus by
Epicaste, of Tlepolemus by Astyoche, of Agathyrsus, Gelon, and
Scytha by Echidna, &c. Such are the most striking characteristics
of the life of Hercules, who is said to have supported for a while
the weight of the heavens upon his shoulders [_See:_ Atlas], and
to have separated by the force of his arm the celebrated mountains
which were afterwards called the boundaries of his labours. _See:_
Abyla. He is held out by the ancients as a true pattern of virtue
and piety, and as his whole life had been employed for the common
benefit of mankind, he was deservedly rewarded with immortality. His
judicious choice of virtue in preference to pleasure, as described
by Xenophon, is well known. _Diodorus_, bks. 1 & 4.――_Cicero_, _de
Natura Deorum_, bk. 1, &c.――_Apollodorus_, bks. 1 & 2.――_Pausanias_,
bks. 3, 5, 9, & 10.――_Hesiod_, _Shield of Heracles_, &c.――_Hyginus_,
fables 29, 32, &c.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 9, li. 236, &c.;
_Heroides_, poem 9; _Amores_; _Tristia_, &c.――_Homer_, _Iliad_,
bk. 8, &c.――_Theocritus_, poem 24.――_Euripides_, _Hercules
furens_.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 8, li. 294.――_Lucan_, bks. 3
& 6.――_Apollonius_, bk. 2.――_Dionysius of Halicarnassus_, bk. 1.
――_Sophocles_, _Trachiniæ_.――♠_Plautus_, _Amphitryon_.――_Seneca_,
_Hercules Furens_ & _Hercules Œtaeus_.――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 6;
bk. 11, &c.――_Philostratus_, _Imagines_, bk. 2, ch. 5.――_Herodotus_,
bk. 1, ch. 7; bk. 2, ch. 42, &c.――_Quintus Smyrnæus_, bk. 6, li.
207, &c.――_Callimachus_, _Hymn to Artemis_.――_Pindar_, _Olympian_,
ode 3.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 1, li. 438.――_Statius_, bk. 2,
_Thebiad_, li. 564.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 1.――_Lucian_, _Dialogi
Deorum_.――_Lactantius_, _De Falsa Religione_.――_Strabo_, bk. 3, &c.
――_Horace_, _Odes_, _Satires_, &c.――――A son of Alexander the Great.
――――A surname of the emperor Commodus, &c.
♦ ‘atrributed’ replaced with ‘attributed’
♣ ‘Centaur’ replaced with ‘Centauri’
♥ ‘Eurytheus’ replaced with ‘Eurystheus’
♠ ‘Plutarch’ replaced with ‘Plautus’
=Hercŭleum=, a promontory in the country of the Brutii.――――Fretum,
a name given to the strait which forms a communication between the
Atlantic and Mediterranean.
=Hercŭleus=, one of Agrippina’s murderers. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 14,
ch. 8.
=Hercŭleus Lacis=, a lake of Sicily.
=Hercŭlis Columnæ=, two lofty mountains, situate one on the most
southern extremities of Spain, and the other on the opposite part
of Africa. They were called by the ancients _Abyla_ and _Calpe_.
They are reckoned the boundaries of the labours of Hercules, and
according to ancient tradition they were joined together till they
were severed by the arm of the hero, and a communication opened
between the Mediterranean and Atlantic seas. _Dionysius Periegetes._
――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 1, li. 142.――_Mela_, bk. 1, ch. 5; bk. 2,
ch. 6.――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 1.――――Monœci Portus, now _Monaco_,
a port town of Genoa. _Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 3, ch. 52.
――_Lucan_, bk. 1, li. 405.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 830.
――――Labronis _vel_ Liburni Portus, a seaport town, now _Leghorn_.
――――Promontorium, a cape at the bottom of Italy, on the Ionian sea,
now _Spartivento_.――――Insulæ, two islands near Sardinia. _Pliny_,
bk. 3, ch. 7.――――Portus, a seaport of the Brutii, on the western
coast.――――Lucus, a wood in Germany sacred to Hercules. _Tacitus_,
_Annals_, bk. 2, ch. 12.――――A small island on the coast of Spain,
called also _Scombraria_, from the tunny fish (_Scombres_) caught
there. _Strabo_, bk. 3.
=Hercy̆na=, a nymph who accompanied Ceres as she travelled over the
world. A river of Bœotia bore her name. _Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 39.
=Hercy̆nia=, a celebrated forest of Germany, which, according to Cæsar,
required nine days’ journey to cross it; and which on some parts
was found without any boundaries, though travelled over for 60 days
successively. It contained the modern countries of Switzerland,
Basil, Spires, Transylvania, and a great part of Russia. In length
of time the trees were rooted up, and when population increased the
greatest part of it was made inhabitable. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk.
6, ch. 24.――_Mela._――_Livy_, bk. 5, ch. 54.――_Tacitus_, _Germania_,
ch. 30.
=Herdonia=, a small town of Apulia between the rivers Aufidus and
Cerbalus. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 1, li. 568.
=Herdonius=, a man put to death by Tarquin, because he had boldly
spoken against him in an assembly, &c.
=Herea=, a town of Arcadia on an eminence, the bottom of which
was watered by the Alpheus. It was built by Hereus the son of
Lycaon, and was said to produce a wine possessed of such unusual
properties, as to give fecundity to women, and cause madness in men.
_Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 13, ch. 6.――_Pliny_, bk. 14, ch. 18.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 24.――_Ptolemy_, bk. 3, ch. 16.
=Herennius Senecio=, a Roman historian under Domitian. _Tacitus_,
_Agricola_, ch. 2, &c.――――An officer of Sertorius defeated by Pompey,
&c. _Plutarch._――――A centurion sent in pursuit of Cicero by Antony.
He cut off the orator’s head. _Plutarch_, _Cicero_.――――Caius, a man
to whom Cicero dedicates his book _de Rhetoricâ_, a work attributed
by some to Cornificius.――――A Samnite general, &c.――――Philo, a
Phœnician who wrote a book on Adrian’s reign. He also composed a
treatise divided into 12 parts, concerning the choice of books, &c.
=Hereus=, a son of Lyacon, who founded a city in Arcadia, called Herea.
_Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 24.
=Herillus=, a philosopher of Chalcedon, disciple to Zeno. _Diogenes
Laërtius._
=Herĭlus=, a king of Præneste, son of the nymph Feronia. As he had
three lives, he was killed three times by Evander. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 8, li. 563.
=Hermăchus=, a native of Mitylene, successor and disciple of Epicurus,
B.C. 267.
=Hermæ=, statues of Mercury in the city of Athens. _Cicero_, _Letters
to Atticus_, bk. 1, ltrs. 4 & 8.――_Cornelius Nepos_, _Alcibiades_.
――――Two youths who attended those who consulted the oracle of
Trophonius. _Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 39.
=Hermæa=, a festival in Crete, when the masters waited upon the
servants. It was also observed at Athens and Babylon. _Pausanias_,
bk. 8, ch. 14.
=Hermæum=, a town of Arcadia.――――A promontory at the east of Carthage,
the most northern point of all Africa, now cape _Bon_. _Livy_,
bk. 29, ch. 27.――_Strabo_, bk. 17.
=Hermagŏras Æolĭdes=, a famous rhetorician, who came to Rome in the
age of Augustus.――――A philosopher of Amphipolis.――――A famous orator
and philosopher.
=Hermandica=, a town of the Vaccæi in Spain. _Livy_, bk. 21, ch. 5.
――_Polybius_, bk. 3.
=Hermandūri=, a people of Germany, called also Hermunduri.
=Hermanni=, a people of Germany.
=Hermaphrŏdītus=, a son of Venus and Mercury, educated on mount Ida
by the Naiades. At the age of 15 he began to travel to gratify his
curiosity. When he came to Caria, he bathed himself in a fountain,
and Salmacis, the nymph who presided over it, became enamoured of
him and attempted to seduce him. Hermaphroditus continued deaf to
all entreaties and offers; and Salmacis, endeavouring to obtain
by force what was denied by prayers, closely embraced him, and
entreated the gods to make them two, but one body. Her prayers were
heard, and Salmacis and Hermaphroditus, now two in one body, still
preserved the characteristics of both their sexes. Hermaphroditus
begged the gods that all who bathed in that fountain might become
effeminate. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 4, li. 347.――_Hyginus_,
fable 271.
=Hermas=, an ancient father of the church, in or near the age of the
apostles.
=Hermathēna=, a statue which represented Mercury and Minerva in
the same body. This statue was generally placed in schools where
eloquence and philosophy were taught, because these two deities
presided over the arts and sciences.
=Hermēas=, a tyrant of Mysia who revolted from Artaxerxes Ochus,
B.C. 350.――――A general of Antiochus, &c.
=Hermeias=, a native of Methymna who wrote a history of Sicily.
=Hermes=, the name of Mercury among the Greeks. _See:_ Mercurius.
――――A famous gladiator. _Martial_, bk. 5, ltr. 25.――――An Egyptian
philosopher. _See:_ Mercurius Trismegistus.
=Hermesiănax=, an elegiac poet of Colophon, son of Agoneus. He was
publicly honoured with a statue. _Pausanias_, bk. 6, ch. 17.――――A
native of Cyprus, who wrote a history of Phrygia. _Plutarch._
=Hermias=, a Galatian philosopher in the second century. His _irrisio
philosophorum gentilium_ was printed with Justin Martyr’s works,
folio, Paris, 1615 & 1636, and with the Oxford edition of Tatian,
8vo, 1700.
=Hermĭnius=, a general of the Hermanni, &c.――――A Roman who defended
a bridge with Cocles against the army of Porsenna. _Livy_, bk. 2,
ch. 10.――――A Trojan killed by Catillus in the Rutulian war. _Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 11, li. 642.
=Hermiŏne=, a daughter of Mars and Venus, who married Cadmus. The
gods, except Juno, honoured her nuptials with their presence, and
she received, as a present, a rich veil and a splendid necklace
which had been made by Vulcan. She was changed into a serpent
with her husband Cadmus, and placed in the Elysian fields. _See:_
Harmonia. _Apollodorus_, bk. 3.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 4,
fable 13.――――A daughter of Menelaus and Helen. She was privately
promised in marriage to Orestes the son of Agamemnon; but her father,
ignorant of this pre-engagement, gave her hand to Pyrrhus the son
of Achilles, whose services he had experienced in the Trojan war.
Pyrrhus, at his return from Troy, carried home Hermione and married
her. Hermione, tenderly attached to her cousin Orestes, looked upon
Pyrrhus with horror and indignation. According to others, however,
Hermione received the addresses of Pyrrhus with pleasure, and even
reproached Andromache his concubine with stealing his affections
from her. Her jealousy for Andromache, according to some, induced
her to unite herself to Orestes, and to destroy Pyrrhus. She gave
herself to Orestes after this murder, and received the kingdom
of Sparta as a dowry. _Homer_, _Odyssey_, bk. 4.――_Euripides_,
_Andromache_ & _Orestes_.――_Ovid_, _Heroides_, poem 8.――_Propertius_,
bk. 1.――――A town of Argolis, where Ceres had a famous temple. The
inhabitants lived by fishing. The descent to hell from their country
was considered so short that no money, according to the usual right
of burial, was put into the mouth of the dead to be paid to Charon
for their passage. The sea on the neighbouring coast was called
_Hermionicus sinus_. _Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 5.――_Virgil_, _Ciris_,
li. 472.――_Strabo_, bk. 8.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 3.――_Ptolemy_, bk. 3,
ch. 16.――_Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 34.
=Hermiŏniæ=, a city near the Riphæan mountains. _Orpheus_, _Argonauts_.
=Hermiŏnĭcus sinus=, a bay on the coast of Argolis near Hermione.
_Strabo_, bks. 1 & 8.
=Hermippus=, a freedman, disciple of Philo, in the reign of Adrian, by
whom he was greatly esteemed. He wrote five books upon dreams.――――A
man who accused Aspasia the mistress of Pericles of impiety and
prostitution. He was son of Lysis, and distinguished himself as a
poet by 40 theatrical pieces and other compositions, some of which
are quoted by Athenæus. _Plutarch._――――A peripatetic philosopher of
Smyrna, who flourished B.C. 210.
=Hermŏcrătes=, a general of Syracuse, against Nicias the Athenian. His
lenity towards the Athenian prisoners was looked upon as treacherous.
He was banished from Sicily without even a trial, and he was
murdered as he attempted to return back to his country, B.C. 408.
――――_Plutarch_, _Nicias_, &c.――――A sophist celebrated for his rising
talents. He died in the 28th year of his age, in the reign of the
emperor Severus.――――The father-in-law of Dionysius tyrant of Sicily.
――――A Rhodian employed by Artaxerxes to corrupt the Grecian states,
&c.――――A sophist, preceptor to Pausanias the murderer of Philip.
_Diodorus_, bk. 16.
=Hermodōrus=, a Sicilian, pupil to Plato.――――A philosopher of Ephesus,
who is said to have assisted, as interpreter, the Roman decemvirs in
the composition of the 10 tables of laws, which had been collected
in Greece. _Cicero_, _Tusculanæ Disputationes_, bk. 5, ch. 36.
――_Pliny_, bk. 34, ch. 5.――――A native of Salamis, contemporary with
Philo the Athenian architect. _Cicero_, _Orator_, bk. 1, ch. 14.
――――A poet who wrote a book called Νομιμα on the laws of different
nations.
=Hermŏgĕnes=, an architect of Alabanda in Caria, employed in building
the temple of Diana at Magnesia. He wrote a book upon his profession.
――――A rhetorician in the second century, the best editions of whose
_rhetorica_ are that of Sturmius, 3 vols., 12mo, Strasbourg, 1571,
and of Laurentius, Geneva, 1614. He died A.D. 161, and it is said
that his body was opened, and his heart found hairy and of an
extraordinary size. At the age of 25, as is reported, he totally
lost his memory.――――A lawyer in the age of Diocletian.――――A musician.
_Horace_, bk. 1, satire 3, li. 129.――――A sophist of Tarsus, of such
brilliant talents, that at the age of 15 he excited the attention
and gained the patronage of the emperor Marcus Antoninus.
=Hermolāus=, a young Macedonian among the attendants of Alexander.
As he was one day hunting with the king he killed a wild boar which
was coming towards him. Alexander, who followed close behind him,
was so disappointed because the beast had been killed before he
could dart at it, that he ordered Hermolaus to be severely whipped.
This treatment irritated Hermolaus, and he conspired to take away
the king’s life, with others who were displeased with the cruel
treatment he had received. The plot was discovered by one of
the conspirators, and Alexander seized them, and asked what had
compelled them to conspire to take his life. Hermolaus answered for
the rest, and observed that it was unworthy of Alexander to treat
his most faithful and attached friends like slaves, and to shed
their blood without the least mercy. Alexander ordered him to be put
to death. _Curtius_, bk. 8, ch. 6.
=Hermopŏlis=, two towns of Egypt, now _Ashmunein_ and _Demenhur_.
_Pliny_, bk. 5, ch. 9.
=Hermotīmus=, a famous prophet of Clazomenæ. It is said that his
soul separated itself from his body and wandered in every part of
the earth to explain futurity, after which it returned again and
animated his frame. His wife, who was acquainted with the frequent
absence of his soul, took advantage of it and burnt his body, as
if totally dead, and deprived the soul of its natural receptacle.
Hermotimus received divine honours in a temple at Clazomenæ, into
which it was unlawful for women to enter. _Pliny_, bk. 7, ch. 51,
&c.――_Lucian._
=Hermundūri=, a people of Germany, subdued by Aurelius. They were at
the north of the Danube, and were considered by Tacitus as a tribe
of the Suevi, but called, together with the Suevi, Hermiones by
Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 14.――_Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 13, _extra_.
――_Velleius Paterculus_, bk. 2, ch. 106.
=Hermus=, a river of Asia Minor, whose sands, according to the poets,
were covered with gold. It flows near Sardes, and receives the
waters of the Pactolus and Hyllus, after which it falls into
the Ægean sea. It is now called _Kedous_ or _Sarabat_. _Virgil_,
_Georgics_, bk. 2, li. 137.――_Lucan_, bk. 3, li. 210.――_Martial_,
bk. 8, ltr. 78.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 1, li. 159.――_Pliny_, bk. 5,
ch. 29.
=Hernĭci=, a people of Campania celebrated for their inveterate
enmity to the rising power of Rome. _Livy_, bk. 9, chs. 43 & 44.
――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 4, li. 226.――_Juvenal_, satire 14, li. 183.
――_Dionysius of Halicarnassus_, bk. 8, ch. 10.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 7, li. 684.