Helōtæ and Helōtes, the public slaves of Sparta, &c. See: Helos.

Helvetia, a vestal virgin struck dead with lightning in Trajan’s reign.

Helvetii, an ancient nation of Gaul, conquered by Julius Cæsar. Their country is the modern Switzerland. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, &c.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, chs. 67 & 69.

Helvia, the mother of Cicero.——Ricina, a town of Picenum.

Helvidia, the name of a Roman family.

Helvii, now Viviers, a people of Gaul, along the Rhone. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 4.

Helvillum, a town of Umbria, supposed to be the same as Sullium, now Sigillo. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 14.

Helvīna, a fountain of Aquinum where Ceres had a temple. Juvenal, satire 3, li. 320.

Helvius Cinna, proposed a law, which, however, was not passed, to permit Cæsar to marry whatever woman he chose. Suetonius, Cæsar, bk. 52.——A poet. See: Cinna.

Helum, a river of Scythia.

Helymus and Panopes, two hunters at the court of Acestes in Sicily. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 73, &c.

Hemathion, a son of Aurora and Cephalus, or Tithonus. Apollodorus, bk. 3.

Hemĭthea, a daughter of Cycnus and Proclea. She was so attached to her brother Tenes, that she refused to abandon him when his father Cycnus exposed him on the sea. They were carried by the wind to Tenedos, where Hemithea long enjoyed tranquillity, till Achilles, captivated by her charms, offered her violence. She was rescued from his embrace by her brother Tenes, who was instantly slaughtered by the offended hero. Hemithea could not have been rescued from the attempts of Achilles, had not the earth opened and swallowed her, after she had fervently entreated the assistance of the gods. See: Tenes. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 14.—Diodorus, bk. 4.

Hemon. See: Hæmon.

Hemus. See: Hæmus.——A Roman. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 197.

Henĕti, a people of Paphlagonia, who are said to have settled in Italy near the Adriatic, where they gave the name of Venetia to their habitation. Livy, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Euripides.

Heniŏchi, a people of Asiatic Sarmatia, near Colchis, descended from Amphytus and Telechius, the charioteers (μνιοχοι) of Castor and Pollux, and thence called Lacedæmonii. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 21.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 40.—Flaccus, bk. 3, li. 270; bk. 6, li. 42.

Henna. See: Enna.

Hephæstia, the capital town of Lemnos.——A festival in honour of Vulcan (Ἡφαιστος) at Athens. There was then a race with torches between three young men. Each in his turn ran a race with a lighted torch in his hand, and whoever could carry it to the end of the course before it was extinguished, obtained the prize. They delivered it one to the other after they finished their course, and from that circumstance we see many allusions in ancient authors who compare the vicissitudes of human affairs to this delivering of the torch, particularly in these lines of Lucretius bk. 2:

Hephæstiădes, a name applied to the Lipari isles as sacred to Vulcan.

Hephæstii, mountains in Lycia which are set on fire by the lightest touch of a burning torch. Their very stones burnt in the middle of water, according to Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 106.

Hephæstio, a Greek grammarian of Alexandria in the age of the emperor Verus. There remains of his compositions a treatise entitled Enchiridion de metris & poemate, the best edition of which is that of Pauw, 4to, Utrecht, 1726.

Hephæstion, a Macedonian famous for his intimacy with Alexander. He accompanied the conqueror in his Asiatic conquests, and was so faithful and attached to him, that Alexander often observed that Craterus was the friend of the king, but Hephæstion the friend of Alexander. He died at Ecbatana 325 years before the christian era, according to some from excess of drinking, or eating. Alexander was so inconsolable at the death of this faithful subject, that he shed tears at the intelligence, and ordered the sacred fire to be extinguished, which was never done but at the death of a Persian monarch. The physician who attended Hephæstion in his illness was accused of negligence, and by the king’s order inhumanly put to death, and the games were interrupted. His body was entrusted to the care of Perdiccas, and honoured with the most magnificent funeral at Babylon. He was so like the king in features and stature, that he was often saluted by the name of Alexander. Curtius.—Arrian, bk. 7, &c.—Plutarch, Alexander.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 7, ch. 8.

Heptaphōnos, a portico, which received this name, because the voice was re-echoed seven times in it. Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 15.

Heptapŏlis, a country of Egypt, which contained seven cities.

Heptapy̆los, a surname of Thebes in Bœotia, from its seven gates.

Hera, the name of Juno among the Greeks.——A daughter of Neptune and Ceres when transformed into a mare. Apollodorus, bk. 3.——A town of Æolia and of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 7.——A town of Sicily, called also Hybla. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 2, ltr. 1.

Herăclēa, an ancient town of Sicily, near Agrigentum. Minos planted a colony there when he pursued Dædalus; and the town, anciently known by the name of Macara, was called from him Minoa. It was called Heraclea after Hercules, when he obtained a victory over Eryx.——A town of Macedonia.——Another in Pontus, celebrated for its naval power and its consequence among the Asiatic states. The inhabitants conveyed home in their ships the 10,000 at their return.——Another in Crete.——Another in Parthia.——Another in Bithynia.——Another in Phthiotis, near Thermopylæ, called also Trachinea, to distinguish it from others.——Another in Lucania. Cicero, For Archias, ch. 4.——Another in Syria.——Another in Chersonesus Taurica.——Another in Thrace, and three in Egypt, &c.——There were no less than 40 cities of that name in different parts of the world, all built in honour of Hercules, whence the name is derived.——A daughter of Hiero tyrant of Sicily, &c.

Heraclēia, a festival at Athens celebrated every fifth year, in honour of Hercules. The ♦Thespians and Thebans in Bœotia observed a festival of the same name, in which they offered apples to the god. This custom of offering apples arose from this: It was always usual to offer sheep, but the overflowing of the river Asopus prevented the votaries of the god from observing it with the ancient ceremony; and as the word μηλον signifies both an apple and a sheep, some youths, acquainted with the ambiguity of the word, offered apples to the god, with much sport and festivity. To represent the sheep, they raised an apple upon four sticks as the legs, and two more were placed at the top to represent the horns of the victim. Hercules was delighted at the ingenuity of the youths, and the festivals were ever continued with the offering of apples. Pollux, bk. 8, ch. 9. There was also a festival at Sicyon in honour of Hercules. It continued two days; the first was called ὀνοματας, the second ἡρακλεια.——At a festival of the same name at Cos, the priest officiated with a mitre on his head, and in woman’s apparel.——At Lindus, a solemnity of the same name was also observed, and at the celebration nothing was heard but execrations and profane words, and whosoever accidentally dropped any other words, was accused of having profaned the sacred rites.

♦ ‘Thisbians’ replaced with ‘Thespians’

Heracleum, a promontory of Cappadocia.——A town of Egypt near Canopus, on the western mouth of the Nile, to which it gave its name. Diodorus, bk. 1.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 60.—Strabo, bks. 2 & 17.——The port town of Gnossus in Crete.

Heracleōtes, a surname of Dionysius the philosopher.——A philosopher of Heraclea, who, like his master Zeno, and all the Stoics, firmly believed that pain was not an evil. A severe illness, attended with the most acute pains, obliged him to renounce his principles, and at the same time the philosophy of the Stoics, about 264 years before the christian era. He became afterwards one of the Cyrenaic sect, which placed the summum bonum in pleasure. He wrote some poetry, and chiefly treatises of philosophy. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.

Heraclīdæ, the descendants of Hercules, greatly celebrated in ancient history. Hercules at his death left to his son Hyllus all the rights and claims which he had upon the Peloponnesus, and permitted him to marry Iole, as soon as he came of age. The posterity of Hercules were not more kindly treated by Eurystheus than their father had been, and they were obliged to retire for protection to the court of Ceyx king of Trachinia. Eurystheus pursued them thither; and Ceyx, afraid of his resentment, begged the Heraclidæ to depart from his dominions. From Trachinia they came to Athens, where Theseus the king of the country, who had accompanied their father in some of his expeditions, received them with great humanity, and assisted them against their common enemy Eurystheus. Eurystheus was killed by the hand of Hyllus himself, and his children perished with him, and all the cities of the Peloponnesus became the undisputed property of the Heraclidæ. Their triumph, however, was short; their numbers were lessened by a pestilence, and the oracle informed them that they had taken possession of the Peloponnesus, before the gods permitted their return. Upon this they abandoned Peloponnesus, and came to settle in the territories of the Athenians, where Hyllus, obedient to his father’s commands, married Iole the daughter of Eurytus. Soon after he consulted the oracle, anxious to recover the Peloponnesus, and the ambiguity of the answer determined him to make a second attempt. He challenged to single combat Atreus the successor of Eurystheus on the throne of Mycenæ, and it was mutually agreed that the undisturbed possession of the Peloponnesus should be ceded to whosoever defeated his adversary. Echemus accepted the challenge for Atreus, and Hyllus was killed, and the Heraclidæ a second time departed from Peloponnesus. Cleodæus the son of Hyllus made a third attempt, and was equally unsuccessful, and his son Aristomachus some time after met with the same unfavourable reception, and perished in the field of battle. Aristodemus, Temenus, and Chresphontes, the three sons of Aristomachus, encouraged by the more expressive and less ambiguous word of an oracle, and desirous to revenge the death of their progenitors, assembled a numerous force, and with a fleet invaded all Peloponnesus. Their expedition was attended with success, and after some ♦decisive battles they became masters of all the peninsula, which they divided among themselves two years after. The recovery of the Peloponnesus by the descendants of Hercules forms an interesting epoch in ancient history, which is universally believed to have happened 80 years after the Trojan war, or 1104 years before the christian era. This conquest was totally achieved about 120 years after the first attempt of Hyllus. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7, &c.—Herodotus, bk. 9, ch. 26.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 17.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 2.—Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, bk. 1.—Thucydides, bk. 1, ch. 12, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 1, &c.—Aristotle, Politics, bk. 7, ch. 26.

♦ ‘deicsive’ replaced with ‘decisive’

Herăclīdes, a philosopher of Heraclea in Pontus, for some time disciple of Seusippus and Aristotle. He wished it to be believed that he was carried into heaven the very day of his death, and the more firmly to render it credible, he begged one of his friends to put a serpent in his bed. The serpent disappointed him, and the noise which the number of visitors occasioned, frightened him from the bed before the philosopher had expired. He lived about 335 years before the christian era. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 5; Letters to his brother Quintus, bk. 3.—Diogenes Laërtius, Pythagoras.——An historian of Pontus surnamed Lembus, who flourished B.C. 177.——A man who, after the retreat of Dionysius the younger from Sicily, raised cabals against Dion, in whose hands the sovereign power was lodged. He was put to death by Dion’s order. Cornelius Nepos, Dion.——A youth of Syracuse, in the battle in which Nicias was defeated.——A son of Agathocles.——A man placed over a garrison at Athens by Demetrius.——A sophist of Lycia, who opened a school at Smyrna in the age of the emperor Severus.——A painter of Macedonia in the reign of king Perseus.——An architect of Tarentum, intimate with Philip king of Macedonia. He fled to Rhodes on pretence of a quarrel with Philip, and set fire to the Rhodian fleet. Polyænus.——A man of Alexandria.

Heraclītus, a celebrated Greek philosopher of Ephesus, who flourished about 500 years before the christian era. His father’s name was Hyson, or Heracion. Naturally of a melancholy disposition, he passed his time in a solitary and unsocial manner, and received the appellation of the obscure philosopher, and the mourner, from his unconquerable custom of weeping at the follies, frailty, and vicissitudes of human affairs. He employed his time in writing different treatises, and one particularly, in which he supported that there was a fatal necessity, and that the world was created from fire, which he deemed a god omnipotent and omniscient. His opinions about the origin of things were adopted by the Stoics, and Hippocrates entertained the same notions of a supreme power. Heraclitus deserves the appellation of man-hater, for the rusticity with which he answered the polite invitations of Darius king of Persia. To remove himself totally from the society of mankind, he retired to the mountains, where for some time he fed on grass in common with the wild inhabitants of the place. Such a diet was soon productive of a dropsical complaint, and the philosopher condescended to revisit the town. The enigmatical manner in which he consulted the physicians made his applications unintelligible, and he was left to depend for cure only upon himself. He fixed his residence on a dunghill, in hopes that the continual warmth which proceeded from it might dissipate the watery accumulation and restore him to the enjoyment of his former health. Such a remedy proved ineffectual, and the philosopher, despairing of a cure by the application of ox-dung, suffered himself to die in the 60th year of his age. Some say that he was torn to pieces by dogs. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.—Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, bk. 5.——A lyric poet.——A writer of Halicarnassus, intimate with Callimachus. He was remarkable for the elegance of his style.——A native of Lesbos, who wrote a history of Macedonia.——A writer of Sicyon, &c. Plutarch.

Heraclius, a river of Greece. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 37.——A brother of Constantine, &c.——A Roman emperor, &c.

Heræa, a town of Arcadia.——Festivals at Argos in honour of Juno, who was the patroness of that city. They were also observed by the colonies of the Argives which had been planted at Samos and Ægina. There were always two processions to the temple of the goddess without the city walls. The first was of the men in armour, the second of the women, among whom the priestess, a woman of the first quality, was drawn in a chariot by white oxen. The Argives always reckoned their years from her priesthood, as the Athenians from their archons, and the Romans from their consuls. When they came to the temple of the goddess they offered a hecatomb of oxen. Hence the sacrifice is often called ἑκατομβια, and sometimes λεχερνα, from λεχος, a bed, because Juno presided over marriages, births, &c. There was a festival of the same name in Elis, celebrated every fifth year, in which 16 matrons wove a garment for the goddess.——There were also others instituted by Hippodamia, who had received assistance from Juno when she married Pelops. Sixteen matrons, each attended by a maid, presided at the celebration. The contenders were young virgins, who being divided in classes, according to their age, ran races each in their order, beginning with the youngest. The habit of all was exactly the same; their hair was dishevelled, and their right shoulder bare to the breast, with coats reaching no lower than the knee. She who obtained the victory was rewarded with crowns of olives, and obtained a part of the ox that was offered in sacrifice, and was permitted to dedicate her picture to the goddess.——There was also a solemn day of mourning at Corinth which bore the same name, in commemoration of Medea’s children, who were buried in Juno’s temple. They had been slain by the Corinthians; who, as it is reported, to avert the scandal which accompanied so barbarous a murder, presented Euripides with a large sum of money to write a play, in which Medea is represented as the murderer of her children.——Another festival of the same name at Pallene, with games in which the victor was rewarded with a garment.

Heræi montes, a chain of mountains at the north of Sicily. Diodorus, bk. 14.

Heræum, a temple and grove of Juno, situate between Argos and Mycenæ.——A town of Thrace.

Herbessus, a town of Sicily at the north of ♦Agrigentum, built by a Phœnician or Carthaginian colony. Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 265.

♦ ‘Arigentum’ replaced with ‘Agrigentum’

Herbita, an inland town of Sicily. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 2, ch. 64; bk. 3, ch. 32.

Herceius, an epithet given to Jupiter. Ovid, Ibis, li. 286.—Lucan, bk. 9, li. 979.

Herculanea via, a mound raised between the Lucrine lake and the sea, called also Herculeum iter. Silius Italicus, bk. 12, li. 118.

Herculāneum, a town of Campania, swallowed up, with Pompeii, by an earthquake, produced from an eruption of mount Vesuvius, August 24th, A.D. 79, in the reign of Titus. After being buried under the lava for more than 1600 years, these famous cities were discovered in the beginning of the 18th century; Herculaneum in 1713, about 24 feet underground, by labourers digging for a well, and Pompeii 40 years after, about 12 feet below the surface, and from the houses and the streets, which in a great measure remain still perfect, have been drawn busts, statues, manuscripts, paintings, and utensils, which do not a little contribute to enlarge our notions concerning the ancients, and develop many classical obscurities. The valuable antiquities, so miraculously recovered, are preserved in the museum of Portici, a small town in the neighbourhood, and the engravings, &c., ably taken from them have been munificently presented to the different learned bodies of Europe. Seneca, Quæstiones naturales, bk. 6, chs. 1 & 26.—Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 7, ltr. 3.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 16.

Hercŭles, a celebrated hero, who, after death, was ranked among the 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.

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.

Hero, a beautiful priestess of Venus at Sestus, greatly enamoured of Leander, a youth of Abydos. These two lovers were so faithful to one another, that Leander in the night escaped from the vigilance of his family, and swam across the Hellespont, while Hero in Sestos directed his course by holding a burning torch on the top of a high tower. After many interviews of mutual affection and tenderness, Leander was drowned in a tempestuous night as he attempted his usual course, and Hero in despair threw herself down from her tower and perished in the sea.—Musæus Grammaticus, Leander & Hero.—Ovid, Heroides, poems 17 & 18.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 258.

Herōdes, surnamed the Great and Ascalonita, followed the interest of Brutus and Cassius, and afterwards that of Antony. He was made king of Judæa by means of Antony, and after the battle of Actium he was continued in his power by his flattery and submission to Augustus. He rendered himself odious by his cruelty, and as he knew that the day of his death would become a day of mirth and festivity, he ordered the most illustrious of his subjects to be confined and murdered the very moment that he expired, that every eye in the kingdom might seem to shed tears at the death of Herod. He died in the 70th year of his age, after a reign of 40 years. Josephus.——Antipas, a son of Herod the Great, governor of Galileæ, &c.——Agrippa, a Jew intimate with the emperor Caligula, &c.——This name was common to many of the Jews. Josephus.——Atticus. See: Atticus.

Herodiānus, a Greek historian, who flourished A.D. 247. He was born at Alexander, and he was employed among the officers of the Roman emperors. He wrote a Roman history in eight books, from the death of Marcus Aurelius to Maximinus. His style is peculiarly elegant, but it wants precision, and the work too plainly betrays that the author was not a perfect master of geography. He is accused of being too partial to Maximinus, and too severe upon Alexander Severus. His book comprehends the history of 68 or 70 years, and he asserts that he has been an eye-witness of whatever he has written. The best editions of his history are that of Politian, 4to, Dovan, 1525, who afterwards published a very valuable Latin translation, and that of Oxford, 8vo, 1708.

Herodicus, a physician surnamed Gymnastic, who flourished B.C. 443.——A grammarian surnamed Crateleus, B.C. 123.

Hērŏdŏtus, a celebrated historian of Halicarnassus, whose father’s name was Lyxes, and that of his mother Dryo. He fled to Samos when his country laboured under the oppressive tyranny of Lygdamis, and travelled over Egypt, Italy, and all Greece. He afterwards returned to Halicarnassus, and expelled the tyrant; which patriotic deed, far from gaining the esteem and admiration of the populace, displeased and irritated them, so that Herodotus was obliged to fly to Greece from the public resentment. To procure a lasting fame he publicly repeated at the Olympic games the history which he had composed, in his 39th year, B.C. 445. It was received with such universal applause, that the names of the nine Muses were unanimously given to the nine books into which it is divided. This celebrated composition, which has procured its author the title of father of history, is written in the Ionic dialect. Herodotus is among the historians what Homer is among the poets, and Demosthenes among the orators. His style abounds with elegance, ease, and sweetness; and if there is any of the fabulous or incredible, the author candidly informs the reader that it is introduced upon the narration of others. The work is a history of the wars of the Persians against the Greeks, from the age of Cyrus to the battle of Mycale in the reign of Xerxes, and besides this, it gives an account of the most celebrated nations in the world. Herodotus had written another history of Assyria and Arabia, which is not extant. The life of Homer, generally attributed to him, is supposed by some not to be the production of his pen. Plutarch has accused him of malevolence towards the Greeks, an imputation which can easily be refuted. The two best editions of this great historian are that of Wesseling, folio, Amsterdam, 1763; and that of Glasgow, 9 vols., 12mo, 1761. Cicero, de Legibus, ch. 1; On Oratory, ch. 2.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1.—Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.—Plutarch, de Herodoti Malignitate.——A man who wrote a treatise concerning Epicurus. Diogenes Laërtius.——A Theban wrestler of Megara, in the age of Demetrius son of Antigonus. He was six feet and a half in height, and he ate generally 20 pounds of flesh, with bread in proportion, at each of his meals. Athenæus, bk. 16.——Another, whose victories are celebrated by Pindar.

Heroes, a name which was given by the ancients to such as were born from a god, or to such as had signalized themselves by their actions, and seemed to deserve immortality by the services which they had rendered their country. The heroes which Homer describes, such as Ajax, Achilles, &c., were of such prodigious strength, that they could lift up and throw stones which the united force of four or five men of his age could not have moved. The heroes were supposed to be interested in the affairs of mankind after death, and they were invoked with much solemnity. As the altars of the gods were crowded with sacrifices and libations, so the heroes were often honoured with a funeral solemnity, in which their great exploits were enumerated. The origin of heroism might proceed from the opinions of some philosophers, who taught that the souls of great men were often raised to the stars, and introduced among the immortal gods. According to the notions of the stoics, the ancient heroes inhabited a pure and serene climate, situate above the moon.

Herōis, a festival, celebrated every ninth year by the Delphians, in honour of a heroine. There were in the celebration a great number of mysterious rites, with a representation of something like Semele’s resurrection.

Heron, two mathematicians, one of whom is called the ancient and the other the younger. The former, who lived about 100 years before Christ, was disciple to Ctesibius, and wrote a curious book translated into Latin, under the title of Spiritualium Liber; the only edition of which is that of Baldus, Aug. Vind. 1616.

Heroopŏlis, a town of Egypt on the Arabic gulf.

Herŏphĭla, a Sibyl, who, as some suppose, came to Rome in the reign of Tarquin. See: Sibyllæ. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 12.

Herophĭlus, an impostor in the reign of Julius Cæsar, who pretended to be the grandson of Marius. He was banished from Rome by Cæsar for his seditions, and was afterwards strangled in prison.——A Greek physician, about 570 years before the christian era. He was one of the first who dissected bodies. Pliny, Cicero, and Plutarch have greatly commended him.

Herostrătus. See: Erostratus.

Herpa, a town of Cappadocia.

Herse, a daughter of Cecrops king of Athens, beloved by Mercury. The god disclosed his love to Aglauros, Herse’s sister, in hopes of procuring an easy admission to Herse; but Aglauros, through jealousy, discovered the amour. Mercury was so offended at her behaviour, that he struck her with his caduceus and changed her into a stone. Herse became mother of Cephalus by Mercury, and after death she received divine honours at Athens. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 559, &c.——A wife of Danaus. Apollodorus.

Hersephoria, festivals of Athens in honour of Minerva, or more probably of Herse.

Hersĭlia, one of the Sabines, carried away by the Romans at the celebration of the Consualia. She was given and married to Romulus, though, according to some, she married Hostus, a youth of Latium, by whom she had Hostus Hostilius. After death she was presented with immortality by Juno, and received divine honours under the name of Ora. Livy, bk. 1, ch. 11.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 832.