Habis, a king of Spain, who first taught his subjects agriculture, &c. Justin, bk. 44, ch. 4.
Hadrianopŏlis, a town of Thrace, on the Hebrus.
Hadriānus, a Roman emperor. See: Adrianus.——Caeso Fabius, a pretor in Africa, who was burnt by the people of Utica for conspiring with the slaves. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 1, ch. 27; bk. 5, ch. 26.
Hadriatĭcum mare. See: Adriaticum.
Hædui. See: Ædui.
Hæmon, a Theban youth, son of Creon, who was so captivated with the beauty of Antigone, that he killed himself on her tomb, when he heard that she had been put to death by his father’s orders. Propertius, bk. 2, poem 8, li. 21.——A Rutulian engaged in the wars of Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 685.——A friend of Æneas against Turnus. He was a native of Lycia. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 126.
Hæmŏnia. See: Æmonia.
Hæmus, a mountain which separates Thrace from Thessaly, so high that from its top are visible the Euxine and Adriatic seas, though this, however, is denied by Strabo. It receives its name from Hæmus son of Boreas and Orithyia, who married Rhodope, and was changed into this mountain for aspiring to divine honours. Strabo, bk. 7, p. 313.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 11.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 87.——A stage-player. Juvenal, satire 3, li. 99.
Hages, a brother of king Porus, who opposed Alexander, &c. Curtius, bk. 8, chs. 5 & 14.——One of Alexander’s flatterers.——A man of Cyzicus, killed by Pollux. Flaccus, bk. 3, li. 191.
Hagno, a nymph.——A fountain of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 38.
Hagnagora, a sister of Aristomenes. Pausanias.
Halæsus and Halēsus, a son of Agamemnon by Briseis or Clytemnestra. When he was driven from home, he came to Italy, and settled on mount Massicus in Campania, where he built Falisci, and afterwards assisted Turnus against Æneas. He was killed by Pallas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 724; bk. 10, li. 352.——A river near Colophon in Asia Minor. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 29.
Halala, a village at the foot of mount Taurus.
Halcyŏne. See: Alcyone.
Halentum, a town at the north of Sicily. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 3, ch. 43; bk. 4, ch. 23.
Halesa, a town of Sicily. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 2, ch. 7; Letters to his Friends, bk. 13, ltr. 32.
Halesius, a mountain and river near Ætna, where Proserpine was gathering flowers when she was carried away by Pluto. Columella.
Halia, one of the Nereides. Apollodorus.——A festival at Rhodes in honour of the sun.
Haliacmon, a river which separates Thessaly from Macedonia, and falls into the Sinus Thermaicus. Cæsar, Civil War, bk. 3, ch. 36.—Pliny, bk. 31, ch. 2.—Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 127.
Haliartus, a town of Bœotia, founded by Haliartus the son of Thersander. The monuments of Pandion king of Athens, and of Lysander the Lacedæmonian general, were seen in that town. Livy, bk. 42, chs. 44 & 63.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 32.——A town of Peloponnesus.
Halicarnassus, now Bodroun, a maritime city of Caria, in Asia Minor, where the mausoleum, one of the seven wonders of the world, was erected. It was the residence of the sovereigns of Caria, and was celebrated for having given birth to Herodotus, Dionysius, Heraclitus, &c. Maximus Tyrius, bk. 35.—Vitruvius, On Architecture.—Diodorus, bk. 17.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 178.—Strabo, bk. 14.—Livy, bk. 27, chs. 10 & 16; bk. 33, ch. 20.
Halicyæ, a town of Sicily, near Lilybæum, now Saleme. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 8.—Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 2, ch. 33.—Diodorus, bk. 14.
Halieis, a town of Argolis.
Halimede, a Nereid.
Halirrhotius, a son of Neptune and Euryte, who ravished Alcippe daughter of Mars, because she slighted his addresses. This violence offended Mars, and he killed the ravisher. Neptune cited Mars to appear before the tribunal of justice to answer for the murder of his son. The cause was tried at Athens, in a place which has been called from thence Areopagus (ἀρης Mars, and παγος village), and the murderer was acquitted. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 14.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 21.
Halithersus, an old man, who foretold Penelope’s suitors the return of Ulysses, and their own destruction. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 1.
Halius, a son of Alcinous, famous for his skill in dancing. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 8, lis. 120 & 360.——A Trojan, who came with Æneas into Italy, where he was killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 767.
Halizōnes, a people of Paphlagonia. Strabo, bk. 14.
Halmus, a son of Sisyphus, father to Chrysogone. He ♦reigned in Orchomenos. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 35.
♦ ‘regined’ replaced with ‘reigned’
Halmydessus, a town of Thrace. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2.
Halocrătes, a son of Hercules and Olympusa. Apollodorus.
Halōne, an island of Propontis, opposite Cyzicus. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 31.
Halonnēsus, an island on the coast of Macedonia, at the bottom of the Sinus Thermiacus. It was inhabited only by women, who had slaughtered all the males, and they defended themselves against an invasion. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.
Halōtia, a festival in Tegea. Pausanias.
Halōtus, a eunuch, who used to taste the meat of Claudius. He poisoned the emperor’s food by order of Agrippina. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 66.
Halus, a city of Achaia,——of Thessaly,——of Parthia.
Hălyæetus, a man changed into a bird of the same name. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 176.
Halyattes. See: Alyattes.
Halycus, now Platani, a river at the south of Sicily.
Halys, now Kizil-ermark, a river of Asia Minor, rising in Cappadocia, and falling into the Euxine sea. It received its name ἀπο του ἁλος from salt, because its waters are of a salt and bitter taste, from the nature of the soil over which they flow. It is famous for the defeat of Crœsus king of Lydia, who was mistaken by the ambiguous words of this oracle:
Χροισος Ἁλυν διαβας μεγαλην ἀρχην διαλυσει.
If Crœsus passes over the Halys, he shall destroy a great empire.
That empire was his own. Cicero, de Divinatione, bk. 2, ch. 56.—Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 11.—Strabo, bk. 12.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 272.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 28.——A man of Cyzicus, killed by Pollux. Valerius Flaccus, bk. 3, li. 157.
Halyzia, a town of Epirus near the Achelous, where the Athenians obtained a naval victory over the Lacedæmonians.
Hamadryădes, nymphs who lived in the country, and presided over trees, with which they were said to live and die. The word is derived from ἁμα simul, and δρυς quercus. Virgil, Eclogues, poem 10.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 647.
Hamæ, a town of Campania near Cumæ. Livy, bk. 23, ch. 25.
Hamaxia, a city of Cilicia.
Hamilcar, the name of some celebrated generals of Carthage. See: Amilcar.
Hammon, the Jupiter of the Africans. See: Ammon.
Hannibal. See: Annibal.
Hanno. See: Anno.
Harcălo, a man famous for his knowledge of poisonous herbs, &c. He touched the most venomous serpents and reptiles without receiving the smallest injury. Silius Italicus, bk. 1, li. 406.
Harmatelia, a town of the Brachmanes in India, taken by Alexander. Diodorus, bk. 17.
Harmatris, a town of Æolia.
Hămillus, an infamous debauchee. Juvenal, satire 10, li. 224.
Harmodius, a friend of Aristogiton, who delivered his country from the tyranny of the Pisistratidæ, B.C. 510. See: Aristogiton. The Athenians, to reward the patriotism of these illustrious citizens, made a law that no one should ever bear the name of Aristogiton and Harmodius. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 35.—Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 8.—Seneca, de Ira, bk. 2.
Harmŏnia, or Hermionea [See: Hermione], a daughter of Mars ♦and Venus, who married Cadmus. It is said that Vulcan, to avenge the infidelity of her mother, made her a present of a vestment dyed in all sorts of crimes, which, in some measure, inspired all the children of Cadmus with wickedness and impiety. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 16, &c.
♦ ‘aad’ replaced with ‘and’
Harmŏnĭdes, a Trojan beloved by Minerva. He built the ships in which Paris carried away Helen. Homer, Iliad, bk. 5.
Harpăgus, a general of Cyrus. He conquered Asia Minor after he had revolted from Astyages, who had cruelly forced him to eat the flesh of his son, because he had disobeyed his orders in not putting to death the infant Cyrus. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 108.—Justin, bk. 1, chs. 5 & 6.——A river near Colchis. Diodorus, bk. 14.
Harpălice. See: Harpalyce.
Harpălion, a son of Pylæmenes king of Paphlagonia, who assisted Priam during the Trojan war, and was killed by Merion. Homer, Iliad, bk. 13, li. 643.
Harpălus, a man entrusted with the treasures of Babylon by Alexander. His hopes that Alexander would perish in his expedition rendered him dissipate, negligent, and vicious. When he heard that the conqueror was returning with great resentment, he fled to Athens, where, with his money, he corrupted the orators, among whom was Demosthenes. When brought to justice, he escaped with impunity to Crete, where he was at last assassinated by Thimbron, B.C. 325. Plutarch, Phocion.—Diodorus, bk. 17.——A robber who scorned the gods. Cicero, bk. 3, de Natura Deorum.——A celebrated astronomer of Greece, 480 years B.C.
Harpăly̆ce, the daughter of Harpalycus king of Thrace. Her mother died when she was but a child, and her father fed her with the milk of cows and mares, and inured her early to sustain the fatigues of hunting. When her father’s kingdom was invaded by Neoptolemus the son of Achilles, she repelled and defeated the enemy with manly courage. The death of her father, which happened soon after in a sedition, rendered her disconsolate; she fled the society of mankind, and lived in the forests upon plunder and rapine. Every attempt to secure her proved fruitless, till her great swiftness was overcome by intercepting her with a net. After her death the people of the country disputed their respective right to the possessions which she acquired by rapine, and they soon after appeased her manes, by proper oblations on her tomb. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 321.—Hyginus, fables 193 & 252.——A beautiful virgin, daughter of Clymenus and Epicaste of Argos. Her father became enamoured of her, and gained her confidence, and enjoyed her company by means of her nurse, who introduced him as a stranger. Some time after she married Alastor; but the father’s passion became more violent and uncontrollable in his daughter’s absence, and he murdered her husband to bring her back to Argos. Harpalyce, inconsolable for the death of her husband, and ashamed of her father’s passion, which was then made public, resolved to revenge her wrongs. She killed her younger brother, or, according to some, the fruit of her incest, and served it before her father. She begged the gods to remove her from the world, and she was changed into an owl, and Clymenus killed himself. Hyginus, fable 253, &c.—Parthenius, Narrationes Amatoriæ.——A mistress of Iphiclus son of Thestius. She died through despair on seeing herself despised by her lover. This mournful story was composed in poetry, in the form of a dialogue called Harpalyce. Athenæus, bk. 14.
Harpăly̆cus, one of the companions of Æneas, killed by Camilla. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 675.——The father of Harpalyce, king of part of Thrace.
Harpăsa, a town of Caria.
Harpăsus, a river of Caria. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 13.
Harpŏcrătes, a divinity, supposed to be the same as Orus the son of Isis among the Egyptians. He is represented as holding one of his fingers on his mouth, and from thence he is called the god of silence, and intimates that the mysteries of religion and philosophy ought never to be revealed to the people. The Romans placed his statues at the entrance of their temples. Catullus, poem 75.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 10.
Harpocration, a Platonic philosopher of Argos, from whom Stobæus compiled his eclogues.——A sophist, called also Ælius.——Valerius, a rhetorician of Alexandria, author of a Lexicon on 10 orators.——Another, surnamed Caius.
Harpylæ, winged monsters, who had the face of a woman, with the body of a vulture, and had their feet and fingers armed with sharp claws. They were three in number, Aello, Ocypete, and Celeno, daughters of Neptune and Terra. They were sent by Juno to plunder the tables of Phineus, whence they were driven to the islands called Strophades by Zethes and Calais. They emitted an infectious smell, and spoiled whatever they touched by their filth and excrements. They plundered Æneas during his voyage towards Italy, and predicted many of the calamities which attended him. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 212; bk. 6, li. 289.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 265.
Harudes, a people of Germany. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, ch. 31.
Haruspex, a soothsayer at Rome, who drew omens by consulting the entrails of beasts that were sacrificed. He received the name of Aruspex, ab aris aspiciendis, and that of Extispex, ab extis inspiciendis. The order of Aruspices was first established at Rome by Romulus, and the first Haruspices were Tuscans by origin, as they were particularly famous in that branch of divination. They had received all their knowledge from a boy named Tages, who, as was commonly reported, sprung from a clod of earth. See: Tages. They were originally three, but the Roman senate yearly sent six noble youths, or, according to others, 12, to Etruria, to be instructed in all the mysteries of the art. The office of the Haruspices consisted in observing these four particulars: the beast before it was sacrificed; its entrails; the flames which consumed the sacrifice; and the flour, frankincense, &c., which was used. If the beast was led up to the altar with difficulty, if it escaped from the conductor’s hands, roared when it received the blow, or died in agonies, the omen was unfortunate. But, on the contrary, if it followed without compulsion, received the blow without resistance, and died without groaning, and after much effusion of blood, the Haruspex foretold prosperity. When the body of the victim was opened, each part was scrupulously examined. If anything was wanting, if it had a double liver, or a lean heart, the omen was unfortunate. If the entrails fell from the hands of the Haruspex, or seemed besmeared with too much blood, or if no heart appeared, as for instance it happened in the two victims which Julius Cæsar offered a little before his death, the omen was equally unlucky. When the flame was quickly kindled, and when it violently consumed the sacrifice, and arose pure and bright, and like a pyramid, without any paleness, smoke, sparkling, or crackling, the omen was favourable. But the contrary augury was drawn when the fire was kindled with difficulty, and was extinguished before the sacrifice was totally consumed, or when it rolled in circles round the victim with intermediate spaces between the flames. In regard to the frankincense, meal, water, and wine, if there was any deficiency in the quantity, if the colour was different, or the quality was changed, or if anything was done with irregularity, it was deemed inauspicious. This custom of consulting the entrails of victims did not originate in Tuscany, but it was in use among the Chaldeans, Greeks, Egyptians, &c., and the more enlightened part of mankind well knew how to render it subservient to their wishes or tyranny. Agesilaus, when in Egypt, raised the drooping spirits of his soldiers by a superstitious artifice. He secretly wrote in his hand the word νεκη, victory, in large characters, and holding the entrails of a victim in his hand till the impression was communicated to the flesh, he showed it to the soldiers, and animated them by observing that the gods signified their approaching victories even by marking it in the body of the sacrificed animals. Cicero, de Divinatione.
Hasdrubal. See: Asdrubal.
Quintus Haterius, a patrician and orator at Rome under the first emperors. He died in the 90th year of his age. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 61.——Agrippa, a senator in the age of Tiberius, hated by the tyrant for his independence. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 4.——Antoninus, a dissipated senator, whose extravagance was supported by Nero. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13, ch. 34.
Haustanes, a man who conspired with Bessus against Darius, &c. Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 5.
Hebdŏle. See: Ebdome.
Hebe, a daughter of Jupiter and Juno. According to some she was the daughter of Juno only, who conceived her after eating lettuces. As she was fair, and always in the bloom of youth, she was called the goddess of youth, and made by her mother cup-bearer to all the gods. She was dismissed from her office by Jupiter, because she fell down in an indecent posture as she was pouring nectar to the gods at a grand festival, and Ganymedes the favourite of Jupiter succeeded her as cup-bearer. She was employed by her mother to prepare her chariot, and to harness her peacocks whenever requisite. When Hercules was raised to the rank of a god he was reconciled to Juno by marrying her daughter Hebe, by whom he had two sons, Alexiares and Anicetus. As Hebe had the power of restoring gods and men to the vigour of youth, she, at the instance of her husband, performed that kind office to Iolas his friend. Hebe was worshipped at Sicyon, under the name of Dia, and at Rome under the name of Juventas. She is represented as a young virgin crowned with flowers, and arrayed in a variegated garment. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 19; bk. 2, ch. 12.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 400; Fasti, bk. 9, li. 76.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 3; bk. 2, ch. 7.
Hēbēsus, a Rutulian, killed in the night by Euryalus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 344.
Hebrus, now Marissa, a river of Thrace, which was supposed to roll its waters upon golden sands. It falls into the Ægean sea. The head of Orpheus was thrown into it, after it had been cut off by the Ciconian women. It received its name from Hebrus son of Cassandra, a king of Thrace, who was said to have drowned himself there. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 463.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 50.——A youth of Lipara, beloved by Neobule. Horace, bk. 3, ode 12.——A man of Cyzicus, killed by Pollux. Flaccus, bk. 3, li. 149.——A friend of Æneas son of Dolichaon, killed by Mezentius in the Rutulian war. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 696.
Hecăle, a poor old woman who kindly received Theseus as he was going against the bull of Marathon, &c. Plutarch, Theseus.——A town of Attica.
Hecalēsia, a festival in honour of Jupiter of Hecale, instituted by Theseus, or in commemoration of the kindness of Hecale, which Theseus had experienced when he went against the bull of Marathon, &c.
Hecamēde, a daughter of Arsinous, who fell to the lot of Nestor after the plunder of Tenedos by the Greeks. Homer, Iliad, bk. 11, li. 623.
Hecătæ fanum, a celebrated temple sacred to Hecate at Stratonice in Caria. Strabo, bk. 14.
Hecatæus, an historian of Miletus, born 549 years before Christ, in the reign of Darius Hystaspes. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 143.——A Macedonian intimate with Alexander. Diodorus, bk. 17.——A Macedonian brought to the army against his will by Amyntas, &c. Curtius, bk. 7, ch. 1.
Hecăte, a daughter of Perses and Asteria, the same as Proserpine or Diana. She was called Luna in heaven, Diana on earth, and Hecate or Proserpine in hell, whence her name of Diva triformis, tergemina, triceps. She was supposed to preside over magic and enchantments, and was generally represented like a woman with three heads, that of a horse, a dog, or a boar; and sometimes she appeared with three different bodies, and three different faces only with one neck. Dogs, lambs, and honey were generally offered to her, especially in highways and cross-roads, whence she obtained the name of Trivia. Her power was extended over heaven, the earth, sea, and hell; and to her kings and nations supposed themselves indebted for their prosperity. Ovid, bk. 7, Metamorphoses, li. 94.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 22.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 22.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 511.
Hecatēsia, a yearly festival observed by the Stratonicensians in honour of Hecate. The Athenians paid also particular worship to this goddess, who was deemed the patroness of families and of children. From this circumstance, the statues of the goddess were erected before the doors of the houses, and upon every new moon a public supper was always provided at the expense of the richest people, and set in the streets, where the poorest of the citizens were permitted to retire and feast upon it, while they reported that Hecate had devoured it. There were also expiatory offerings to supplicate the goddess to remove whatever evils might impend on the head of the public, &c.
Hecăto, a native of Rhodes, pupil to Pænætius. He wrote on the duties of man, &c. Cicero, bk. 3, De Officiis, ch. 15.
Hecatomboia, a festival celebrated in honour of Juno by the Argians and people of Ægina. It receives its name from ἑκατον, and βους, a sacrifice of 100 bulls, which were always offered to the goddess, and the flesh distributed amongst the poorest citizens. There were also public games, first instituted by Archinus, a king of Argos, in which the prize was a shield of brass with a crown of myrtle.
Hecatomphŏnia, a solemn sacrifice offered by the Messenians to Jupiter, when any of them had killed 100 enemies. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 19.
Hecatompŏlis, an epithet applied to Crete, from the 100 cities which it once contained.
Hecatompy̆los, an epithet applied to Thebes in Egypt on account of its 100 gates. Ammianus, bk. 22, ch. 16.——Also the capital of Parthia, in the reign of the Arsacidæ. Ptolemy, bk. 6, ch. 5.—Strabo, bk. 11.—Pliny, bk. 6, chs. 15 & 25.
Hecatonnēsi, small islands between Lesbos and Asia. Strabo, bk. 13.
Hector, son of king Priam and Hecuba, was the most valiant of all the Trojan chiefs that fought against the Greeks. He married Andromache the daughter of Eetion, by whom he had Astyanax. He was appointed captain of all the Trojan forces, when Troy was besieged by the Greeks; and the valour with which he behaved, showed how well qualified he was to discharge that important office. He engaged with the bravest of the Greeks, and according to Hyginus, no less than 31 of the most valiant of the enemy perished by his hand. When Achilles had driven back the Trojans towards the city, Hector, too great to fly, waited the approach of his enemy near the Scean gates, though his father and mother, with tears in their eyes, blamed his rashness, and entreated him to retire. The sight of Achilles terrified him, and he fled before him in the plain. The Greek pursued, and Hector was killed, and his body was dragged in cruel triumph by the conqueror round the tomb of Patroclus, whom Hector had killed. The body, after it had received the grossest of insults, was ransomed by old Priam, and the Trojans obtained from the Greeks a truce of some days to pay the last offices to the greatest of their leaders. The Thebans boasted in the age of the geographer Pausanias, that they had the ashes of Hector preserved in an urn, by order of an oracle; which promised them undisturbed felicity if they were in possession of that hero’s remains. The epithet of Hectoreus is applied by the poets to the Trojans, as best expressive of valour and intrepidity. Homer, Iliad, bk. 1, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bks. 12 & 13.—Dictys Cretensis.—Dares Phrygius.—Hyginus, fables 90 & 112.—Pausanias, bk. 3 & bk. 9, ch. 18.—Quintus Smyrnæus, bks. 1 & 3.——A son of Parmenio drowned in the Nile. Alexander honoured his remains with a magnificent funeral. Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 8; bk. 6, ch. 9.
Hecŭba, daughter of Dymas, a Phrygian prince, or, according to others, of Cisseus, a Thracian king, was the second wife of Priam king of Troy, and proved the chastest of women, and the most tender and unfortunate of mothers. When she was pregnant of Paris, she dreamed that she had brought into the world a burning torch which had reduced her husband’s palace and all Troy to ashes. So alarming a dream was explained by the soothsayers, who declared that the son she should bring into the world would prove the ruin of his country. When Paris was born she exposed him on mount Ida to avert the calamities which threatened her family; but her attempts to destroy him were fruitless, and the prediction of the soothsayers was fulfilled. See: Paris. During the Trojan war she saw the greatest part of her children perish by the hands of the enemy, and like a mother she confessed her grief by her tears and lamentations, particularly at the death of Hector her eldest son. When Troy was taken, Hecuba, as one of the captives, fell to the lot of Ulysses, a man whom she hated for his perfidy and avarice, and she embarked with the conquerors for Greece. The Greeks landed in the Thracian Chersonesus, to load with fresh honours the grave of Achilles. During their stay the hero’s ghost appeared to them, and demanded, to ensure the safety of their return, the sacrifice of Polyxena, Hecuba’s daughter. They complied, and Polyxena was torn from her mother to be sacrificed. Hecuba was inconsolable, and her grief was still more increased at the sight of the body of her son Polydorus washed on the shore, who had been recommended by his father to the care and humanity of Polymnestor king of the country. See: Polydorus. She determined to revenge the death of her son, and with the greatest indignation went to the house of his murderer and tore his eyes, and attempted to deprive him of his life. She was hindered from executing her bloody purpose by the arrival of some Thracians, and she fled with the female companions of her captivity. She was pursued, and when she ran after the stones that were thrown at her, she found herself suddenly changed into a bitch, and when she attempted to speak, found that she could only bark. After this metamorphosis she threw herself into the sea, according to Hyginus, and that place was, from that circumstance, called Cyneum. Hecuba had a great number of children by Priam, among whom were Hector, Paris, Deiphobus, Pammon, Helenus, Polytes, Antiphon, Hipponous, Polydorus, Troilus, and among the daughters, Creusa, Ilione, Laodice, Polyxena, and Cassandra. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 761; bk. 13, li. 515.—Hyginus, fable 111.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 44.—Juvenal, satire 10, li. 271.—Strabo, bk. 13.—Dictys Cretensis, bks. 4 & 5.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.
Hecŭbæ Sepulchrum, a promontory of Thrace.
Hedĭla, a poetess of Samos.
Hedonæum, a village of Bœotia. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 31.
Hedui. See: Ædui.
Hedymēles, an admired musician in Domitian’s age. The word signifies sweet music. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 381.
Hegelŏchus, a general of 6000 Athenians sent to Mantinea to stop the progress of Epaminondas. Diodorus, bk. 15.——An Egyptian general who flourished B.C. 128.
Hegēmon, a Thrasian poet in the age of Alcibiades. He wrote a poem called Gigantomachia, besides other works. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 4, ch. 11.——Another poet, who wrote a poem on the battle of Leuctra, &c. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 8, ch. 11.
Hegesiănax, an historian of Alexandria, who wrote an account of the Trojan war.
Hegesias, a tyrant of Ephesus under the patronage of Alexander. Polyænus, bk. 6.——A philosopher who so eloquently convinced his auditors of their failings and follies, and persuaded them that there were no dangers after death, that many were guilty of suicide. Ptolemy forbade him to continue his doctrines. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 1, ch. 34.——An historian.——A famous orator of Magnesia, who corrupted the elegant diction of Attica by the introduction of Asiatic idioms. Cicero, Orator, chs. 67, 69; Brutus, ch. 83.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Plutarch, Alexander.
Hegesilŏchus, one of the chief magistrates of Rhodes in the reign of Alexander and his father Philip.——Another native of Rhodes, 171 years before the christian era. He engaged his countrymen to prepare a fleet of 40 ships to assist the Romans against Perseus king of Macedonia.
Hegesinous, a man who wrote a poem on Attica. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 29.
Hegesinus, a philosopher of Pergamus, of the second academy. He flourished B.C. 193.
Hegesippus, an historian who wrote some things upon Pallene, &c.
Hegesipy̆le, a daughter of Olorus king of Thrace, who married Miltiades and became mother of Cimon. Plutarch.
Hegesistrătus, an Ephesian who consulted the oracle to know in what particular place he should fix his residence. He was directed to settle where he found peasants dancing with crowns of olives. This was in Asia, where he founded Elea, &c.
Hegetorĭdes, a Thasian, who, upon seeing his country besieged by the Athenians, and a law forbidding any one on pain of death to speak of peace, went to the market-place with a rope about his neck, and boldly told his countrymen to treat him as they pleased, provided they saved the city from the calamities which the continuation of the war seemed to threaten. The Thasians were awakened, the law was abrogated, and Hegetorides pardoned, &c. Polyænus.
Helĕna, the most beautiful woman of her age, sprung from one of the eggs which Leda the wife of king Tyndarus brought forth after her amour with Jupiter metamorphosed into a swan. See: Leda. According to some authors, Helen was daughter of Nemesis by Jupiter, and Leda was only her nurse; and to reconcile this variety of opinions, some imagine that Nemesis and Leda are the same persons. Her beauty was so universally admired, even in her infancy, that Theseus, with his friend Pirithous, carried her away before she had attained her 10th year, and concealed her at Aphidnæ, under the care of his mother Æthra. Her brothers Castor and Pollux recovered her by force of arms, and she returned safe and unpolluted to Sparta, her native country. There existed, however, a tradition recorded by Pausanius, that Helen was of nubile years when carried away by Theseus, and that she had a daughter by her ravisher, who was entrusted to the care of Clytemnestra. This violence offered to her virtue did not in the least diminish, but it rather augmented, her fame, and her hand was eagerly solicited by the young princes of Greece. The most celebrated of her suitors were Ulysses son of Laertes, Antilochus son of Nestor, Sthenelus son of Capaneus, Diomedes son of Tydeus, Amphilochus son of Cteatus, Meges son of Phileus, Agapenor son of Ancæus, Thalpius son of Eurytus, Mnestheus son of Peteus, Schedius son of Epistrophus, Polyxenus son of Agasthenes, Amphilochus son of Amphiaraus, Ascalaphus and Ialmus sons of the god Mars, Ajax son of Oileus, Eumelus son of Admetus, Polypœtes son of Pirithous, Elphenor son of Chalcodon, Podalirius and Machaon sons of Æsculapius, Leonteus son of Coronus, Philoctetes son of Pœan, Protesilaus son of Iphiclus, Eurypilus son of Evemon, Ajax and Teucer sons of Telamon, Patroclus son of Menœtius, Menelaus son of Atreus, Thoas, Idomeneus, and Merion. Tyndarus was rather alarmed than pleased at the sight of such a number of illustrious princes who eagerly solicited each to become his son-in-law. He knew that he could not prefer one without displeasing all the rest, and from this perplexity he was at last drawn by the artifice of Ulysses, who began to be already known in Greece by his prudence and sagacity. This prince, who clearly saw that his pretensions to Helen would not probably meet with success in opposition to so many rivals, proposed to extricate Tyndarus from all his difficulties if he would promise him his niece Penelope in marriage. Tyndarus consented, and Ulysses advised the king to bind, by a solemn oath, all the suitors, that they would approve of the uninfluenced choice which Helen should make of one among them; and engage to unite together to defend her person and character, if ever any attempts were made to ravish her from the arms of her husband. The advice of Ulysses was followed, the princes consented, and Helen fixed her choice upon Menelaus and married him. Hermione was the early fruit of this union, which continued for three years with mutual happiness. After this, Paris, son of Priam king of Troy, came to Lacedæmon on pretence of sacrificing to Apollo. He was kindly received by Menelaus, but shamefully abused his favours, and in his absence in Crete he corrupted the fidelity of his wife Helen, and persuaded her to follow him to Troy, B.C. 1198. At his return Menelaus, highly sensible of the injury which he had received, assembled the Grecian princes, and reminded them of their solemn promises. They resolved to make war against the Trojans, but they previously sent ambassadors to Priam to demand the restitution of Helen. The influence of Paris at his father’s court prevented the restoration, and the Greeks returned home without receiving the satisfaction they required. Soon after their return their combined forces assembled and sailed for the coast of Asia. The behaviour of Helen during the Trojan war is not clearly known. Some assert that she had willingly followed Paris, and that she warmly supported the cause of the Trojans; while others believe that she always sighed after her husband, and cursed the day in which she had proved faithless to his bed. Homer represents her as in the last instance, and some have added that she often betrayed the schemes and resolutions of the Trojans, and secretly favoured the cause of Greece. When Paris was killed in the ninth year of the war, she voluntarily married Deiphobus, one of Priam’s sons, and when Troy was taken she made no scruple to betray him, and to introduce the Greeks into his chamber, to ingratiate herself with Menelaus. She returned to Sparta, and the love of Menelaus forgave the errors which she had committed. Some, however, say that she obtained her life even with difficulty from her husband, whose resentment she had kindled by her infidelity. After she had lived for some years in Sparta, Menelaus died, and she was driven from Peloponnesus by Megapenthes and Nicostratus, the illegitimate sons of her husband, and she retired to Rhodes, where at that time Polyxo, a native of Argos, reigned over the country. Polyxo remembered that her widowhood originated in Helen, and that her husband Tlepolemus had been killed in the Trojan war, which had been caused by the debaucheries of Helen, therefore she meditated revenge. While Helen retired one day to bathe in the river, Polyxo disguised her attendants in the habits of furies, and sent them with orders to murder her enemy. Helen was tied to a tree and strangled, and her misfortunes were afterwards remembered, and the crimes of Polyxo expiated by the temple which the Rhodians raised to Helen Dendritis, or tied to a tree. There is a tradition mentioned by Herodotus, which says that Paris was driven, as he returned from Sparta, upon the coast of Egypt, where Proteus king of the country expelled him from his dominions for his ingratitude to Menelaus, and confined Helen. From that circumstance, therefore, Priam informed the Grecian ambassadors that neither Helen nor her possessions were in Troy, but in the hands of the king of Egypt. In spite of this assertion the Greeks besieged the town and took it after 10 years’ siege, and Menelaus by visiting Egypt, as he returned home, recovered Helen at the court of Proteus, and was convinced that the Trojan war had been undertaken on very unjust and unpardonable grounds. Helen was honoured after death as a goddess, and the Spartans built her a temple at Therapne, which had the power of giving beauty to all the deformed women that entered it. Helen, according to some, was carried into the island of Leuce after death, where she married Achilles, who had been one of her warmest admirers. The age of Helen has been a matter of deep inquiry among the chronologists. If she was born of the same eggs as Castor and Pollux, who accompanied the Argonauts in their expedition against Colchis about 35 years before the Trojan war, according to some, she was no less than 60 years old when Troy was reduced to ashes, supposing that her brothers were only 15 when they embarked with the Argonauts. But she is represented by Homer so incomparably beautiful during the siege of Troy, that though seen at a ♦distance she influenced the counsellors of Priam by the brightness of her charms; therefore we must suppose, with others, that her beauty remained long undiminished, and was extinguished only at her death. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 19, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10, &c.—Hyginus, fable 77.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 112.—Plutarch, Theseus, &c.—Cicero, de Officiis, bk. 3.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 3.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 1, &c.—Quintus Smyrnæus, chs. 10, 13, &c.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, & Odyssey, bks. 4 & 15.——A young woman of Sparta, often confounded with the daughter of Leda. As she was going to be sacrificed, because the lot had fallen upon her, an eagle came and carried away the knife of the priest, upon which she was released, and the barbarous custom of offering human victims was abolished.——An island on the coast of Attica, where Helen came after the siege of Troy. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.——A daughter of the emperor Constantine, who married Julian.——The mother of Constantine. She died in her 80th year, A.D. 328.
♦ ‘distane’ replaced with ‘distance’
Helĕnia, a festival in Laconia, in honour of Helen, who received there divine honours. It was celebrated by virgins riding upon mules, and in chariots made of reeds and bulrushes.
Hĕlēnor, a Lydian prince who accompanied Æneas to Italy, and was killed by the Rutulians. His mother’s name was Licymnia. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 444, &c.
Hĕlĕnus, a celebrated soothsayer, son of Priam and Hecuba, greatly respected by all the Trojans. When Deiphobus was given in marriage to Helen in preference to himself, he resolved to leave his country, and he retired to mount Ida, where Ulysses took him prisoner by the advice of Calchas. As he was well acquainted with futurity, the Greeks made use of prayers, threats, and promises, to induce him to reveal the secrets of the Trojans, and either the fear of death or gratification of resentment seduced him to disclose to the enemies of his country, that Troy could not be taken whilst it was in possession of the Palladium, nor before Philoctetes came from his retreat at Lemnos and assisted to support the siege. After the ruin of his country, he fell to the share of Pyrrhus the son of Achilles, and saved his life by warning him to avoid the dangerous tempest which in reality proved fatal to all those who set sail. This endeared him to Pyrrhus, and he received from his hand Andromache the widow of his brother Hector, by whom he had a son called Cestrinus. This marriage, according to some, was consummated after the death of Pyrrhus, who lived with Andromache as his wife. Helenus was the only one of Priam’s sons who survived the ruin of his country. After the death of Pyrrhus, he reigned over part of the Epirus, which he called Chaonia, in memory of his brother Chaon, whom he had inadvertently killed. Helenus received Æneas as he voyaged towards Italy, and foretold him some of the calamities which attended his fleet. The manner in which he received the gift of prophecy is doubtful. See: Cassandra. Homer, Iliad, bk. 6, li. 76; bk. 7, li. 47.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 295, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 11; bk. 2, ch. 33.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, lis. 99 & 723; bk. 15, li. 437.——A Rutulian killed by Pallas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 388.
Helerni Lucus, a place near Rome. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 105.
Heles, or Hales, a river of Lucania near Velia. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 16, ltr. 7; Letters to his Friends, bk. 7, ltr. 20.
Hēliădes, the daughters of the sun and Clymene. They were three in number, Lampetie, Phaetusa, and Lampethusa, or seven, according to Hyginus: Merope, Helie, Ægle, Lampetie, Phœbe, Ætheria, and Dioxippe. They were so afflicted at the death of their brother Phaeton [See: Phaeton], that they were changed by the gods into poplars, and their tears into precious amber, on the banks of the river Po. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 340.—Hyginus, fable 154.——The first inhabitants of Rhodes. This island being covered with mud when the world was first created, was warmed by the cherishing beams of the sun, and from thence sprang seven men, which were called Heliades, ἀπο του ἡλιου, from the sun. The eldest of these, called Ochimus, married Hegetoria, one of the nymphs of the island, and his brothers fled from the country for having put to death, through jealousy, one of their number. Diodorus, bk. 5.
Heliastæ, a name given to the judges of the most numerous tribunal at Athens. They consisted of 1000, and sometimes of 1500, they were seldom assembled, and only upon matters of the greatest importance. Demosthenes, Against Timocrates.—Diogenes Laërtius, Solon.
Helicāon, a Trojan prince, son of Antenor. He married Laodice the daughter of Priam, whose form Iris assumed to inform Helen of the state of the rival armies before Troy. Helicaon was wounded in a night engagement, but his life was spared by Ulysses, who remembered the hospitality which he had received from his father Antenor. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, li. 123.
Hĕlĭce, a star near the north pole, generally called Ursa Major. It is supposed to receive its name from the town of Helice, of which Calisto, who was changed into the Great Bear, was an inhabitant. Lucan, bk. 2, li. 237.——A town of Achaia, on the bay of Corinth, overwhelmed by the inundation of the sea. Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 92.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 293.——A daughter of Silenus king of Ægiale. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 24.——A daughter of Lycaon king of Arcadia.
Hĕlīcon, now Zagaro-Vouni, a mountain of Bœotia, on the borders of Phocis. It was sacred to the muses, who had there a temple. The fountain Hippocrene flowed from this mountain. Strabo, bk. 8.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 219.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 28, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 641.——A river of Macedonia near Dium. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 30.
Hĕlīcŏniădes, a name given to the Muses because they lived upon mount Helicon, which was sacred to them.
Helĭcōnis, a daughter of Thespius. Apollodorus.
Heliodōrus, one of the favourites of Seleucus Philopator king of Syria. He attempted to plunder the temple of the Jews, about 176 years before Christ, by order of his master, &c.——A Greek mathematician of Larissa.——A famous sophist, the best editions of whose entertaining romance, called Æthiopica, are by Commelin, 8vo, 1596, and Bourdelot, 8vo, Paris, 1619.——A learned Greek rhetorician in the age of Horace.——A man who wrote a treatise on tombs.——A poet.——A geographer.——A surgeon at Rome in Juvenal’s age. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 372.
Heliogabālus, a deity among the Phœnicians.——Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, a Roman emperor, son of Varius Marcellus, called Heliogabalus, because he had been priest of that divinity in Phœnicia. After the death of Macrinus he was invested with the imperial purple, and the senate, however unwilling to submit to a youth only 14 years of age, approved of his election, and bestowed upon him the title of Augustus. Heliogabalus made his grandmother Mœsa and his mother Sœmias his colleagues on the throne; and to bestow more dignity upon the sex, he chose a senate of women, over which his mother presided, and prescribed all the modes and fashions which prevailed in the empire. Rome, however, soon displayed a scene of cruelty and debauchery; the imperial palace was full of prostitution, and the most infamous of the populace became the favourites of the prince. He raised his horse to the honours of the consulship, and obliged his subjects to pay adoration to the god Heliogabalus, which was no other than a large black stone, whose figure resembled that of a cone. To this ridiculous deity temples were raised at Rome, and the altars of the gods plundered to deck those of the new divinity. In the midst of his extravagances Heliogabalus married four wives, and not satisfied with following the plain laws of nature, he professed himself to be a woman, and gave himself up to one of his officers, called Hierocles. In this ridiculous farce he suffered the greatest indignities from his pretended husband without dissatisfaction, and Hierocles, by stooping to infamy, became the most powerful of the favourites, and enriched himself by selling favours and offices to the people. Such licentiousness soon displeased the populace, and Heliogabalus, unable to appease the seditions of his soldiers, whom his rapacity and debaucheries had irritated, hid himself in the filth and excrements of the camp, where he was found in the arms of his mother. His head was severed from his body the 10th of March, A.D. 222, in the 18th year of his age, after a reign of three years, nine months, and four days. He was succeeded by Alexander Severus. His cruelties were as conspicuous as his licentiousness. He burdened his subjects with the most oppressive taxes; his halls were covered with carpets of gold and silver tissue, and his mats were made with the down of hares, and with the soft feathers which were found under the wings of partridges. He was fond of covering his shoes with precious stones, to draw the admiration of the people as he walked along the streets, and he was the first Roman who ever wore a dress of silk. He often invited the most common of the people to share his banquets, and made them sit down on large bellows full of wind, which, by suddenly emptying themselves, threw the guests on the ground, and left them a prey to wild beasts. He often tied some of his favourites on a large wheel, and was particularly delighted to see them whirled round like Ixions, and sometimes suspended in the air, or sunk beneath the water.
Heliŏpŏlis, now Matarea, a famous city of Lower Egypt, in which was a temple sacred to the sun. The inhabitants worshipped a bull called Mnevis, with the same ceremonies as the Apis of Memphis. Apollo had an oracle there. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 21.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 26.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Diodorus, bk. 1.——There was a small village of the same name without the Delta, near Babylon.——A town of Syria, now Balbeck. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 22.
Helisson, a town and river of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 29.
Helium, a name given to the mouth of the Maese in Germany. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 15.
Helius, a celebrated favourite of the emperor Nero, put to death by order of Galba, for his cruelties.——The Greek name of the sun, or Apollo.
Helixus, a river of Cos.
Hellanĭce, a sister of Clitus, who was nurse to Alexander. Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 1.
Hellanĭcus, a celebrated Greek historian, born at Mitylene. He wrote a history of the ancient kings of the earth, with an account of the founders of the most famous towns in every kingdom, and died B.C. 411, in the 85th year of his age. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 2, ch. 53.—Aulus Gellius, bk. 15, ch. 23.——A brave officer rewarded by Alexander. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 2.——An historian of Miletus, who wrote a description of the earth.
Hellanocrătes, a man of Larissa, &c. Aristotle, Politics, bk. 5, ch. 10.
Hellas, an ancient name of Thessaly, more generally applied to the territories of Acarnania, Attica, Ætolia, Doris, Locris, Bœotia, and Phocis, and also to all Greece. It received this name from Deucalion, and now forms a part of Livadia. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 7.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 20.——A beautiful woman, mentioned by Horace as beloved by Marius: the lover killed her in a fit of passion, and afterwards destroyed himself. Horace, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 277.
Helle, a daughter of Athamas and Nephele, sister of Phryxus. She fled from her father’s house, with her brother, to avoid the cruel oppression of her mother-in-law Ino. According to some accounts she was carried through the air on a golden ram, which her mother had received from Neptune, and in her passage she became giddy, and fell from her seat into that part of the sea which from her received the name of Hellespont. Others say that she was carried on a cloud, or rather upon a ship, from which she fell into the sea and was drowned. Phryxus, after he had given his sister a burial on the neighbouring coasts, pursued his journey and arrived safe in Colchus. See: Phryxus. Ovid, Heroides, poem 13, &c. Metamorphoses, bk. 4, fable 14.—Pindar, bk. 4, Pythian.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 34.
Hellen, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, reigned in Phthiotis about 1495 years before the christian era, and gave the name of Hellenians to his subjects. He had by his wife Orseis three sons, Æolus, Dorus, and Xuthus, who gave their names to the three different nations known under the name of Æolians, Dorians, and Ionians. These last derive their name from Ion son of Xuthus, and from the difference either of expression or pronunciation in their respective languages, arose the different dialects well known in the Greek language. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 20; bk. 7, ch. 1.—Diodorus, bk. 5.
Hellēnes, the inhabitants of Greece. See: Hellen.
Hellespontias, a wind blowing from the north-east. Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 47.
Hellespontus, now the Dardanelles, a narrow strait between Asia and Europe, near the Propontis, which received its name from Helle, who was drowned there in her voyage to Colchis. See: Helle. It is about 60 miles long, and in the broadest parts, the Asiatic coast is about three miles distant from the European, and only half a mile in the narrowest, according to modern investigation; so that people can converse one with the other from the opposite shores. It was celebrated for the love and death of Leander [See: Hero], and for the bridge of boats which Xerxes built over it when he invaded Greece. The folly of this great prince is well known in beating and fettering the waves of the sea, whose impetuosity destroyed his ships, and rendered all his labours ineffectual. Strabo, bk. 13.—Pliny, bk. 8, ch. 32.—Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 34.—Polybius.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Ptolemy, bk. 5, ch. 2.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 407.—Livy, bk. 31, ch. 15; bk. 33, ch. 33.——The country along the Hellespont on the Asiatic coast bears the same name. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 1, ch. 24; Letters to his Friends, bk. 13, ltr. 53.—Strabo, bk. 12.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 30.
Hellopia, a small country of Eubœa. The people were called Hellopes. The whole island bore the same name, according to Strabo, bk. 10.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.
Hellōtia, two festivals, one of which was observed in Crete, in honour of Europa, whose bones were then carried in solemn procession, with a myrtle garland no less than 20 cubits in circumference, called ἑλλωτις. The other festival was celebrated at Corinth with games and races, where young men entered the lists and generally ran with burning torches in their hands. It was instituted in honour of Minerva, surnamed Hellotis, ἀπο του ἑλους, from a certain pond of Marathon, where one of her statues was erected, or ἀπο του ἑλειν τον ἱππον τον Πεγασον, because by her assistance Bellerophon took and managed the horse Pegasus, which was the original cause of the institution of the festival. Others derive the name from Hellotis, a Corinthian woman, from the following circumstance: When the Dorians and the Heraclidæ invaded Peloponnesus, they took and burnt Corinth; the inhabitants, and particularly the women, escaped by flight, except Hellotis and her sister Eurytione, who took shelter in Minerva’s temple, relying for safety upon the sanctity of the place. When this was known, the Dorians set fire to the temple, and the two sisters perished in the flames. This wanton cruelty was followed by a dreadful plague; and the Dorians, to alleviate the misfortunes which they suffered, were directed by the oracle to appease the manes of the two sisters, and therefore they raised a new temple to the goddess Minerva, and established the festivals which bore the name of one of the unfortunate women.
Helnes, an ancient king of Arcadia, &c. Polyænus, bk. 1.
Helōris, a general of the people of Rhegium, sent to besiege Messana, which Dionysius the tyrant defended. He fell in battle, and his troops were defeated. Diodorus, bk. 14.
Helōrum and Helōrus, now Muri Ucci, a town and river of Sicily, whose swollen waters generally inundate the neighbouring country. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 698.—Silius Italicus, bk. 11, li. 270.——A river of Magna Græcia.
Helos, a place of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 36.——A town of Laconia, taken and destroyed by the Lacedæmonians under Agis III., of the race of the Heraclidæ, because they refused to pay the tribute which was imposed upon them. The Lacedæmonians carried their resentment so far, that, not satisfied with the ruin of the city, they reduced the inhabitants to the lowest and most miserable slavery, and made a law which forbade their masters either to give them their liberty, or to sell them in any other country. To complete their infamy, all the slaves of the state and the prisoners of war were called by the mean appellation of Helotæ. Not only the servile offices in which they were employed denoted their misery and slavery, but they were obliged to wear peculiar garments, which exposed them to greater contempt and ridicule. They never were instructed in the liberal arts, and their cruel masters often obliged them to drink to excess, to show the free-born citizens of Sparta the beastliness and disgrace of intoxication. They once every year received a number of stripes, that by this wanton flagellation they might recollect that they were born and died slaves. The Spartans even declared war against them; but Plutarch, who, from interested motives, endeavours to palliate the guilt and cruelty of the people of Lacedæmon, declares that it was because they had assisted the Messenians in their war against Sparta, after it had been overthrown by a violent earthquake. This earthquake was supposed by all the Greeks to be a punishment from heaven for the cruelties which the Lacedæmonians had exercised against the Helots. In the Peloponnesian war, these miserable slaves behaved with uncommon bravery, and were rewarded with their liberty by the Lacedæmonians, and appeared in the temples and at public shows crowned with garlands, and with every mark of festivity and triumph. This exultation did not continue long, and the sudden disappearance of these 2000 manumitted slaves was attributed to the inhumanity of the Lacedæmonians. Thucydides, bk. 4.—Pollux, bk. 3, ch. 8.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Plutarch, Lycurgus, &c.—Aristotle, Politics, bk. 2.—Pausanias, Laconia, &c.