A CLASSICAL DICTIONARY, ETC., ETC. (continued 20)

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.

Hertha and Herta, a goddess among the Germans, supposed to be the same as the earth. She had a temple and a chariot dedicated to her service in a remote island, and was supposed to visit the earth at stated times, when her coming was celebrated with the greatest rejoicings and festivity. Tacitus, Germania.

Herŭli, a savage nation in the northern parts of Europe, who attacked the Roman power in its decline.

Hesænus, a mountain near Pæonia.

Hēsiŏdus, a celebrated poet, born at Ascra in Bœotia. His father’s name was Dius, and his mother’s Pycimede. He lived in the age of Homer, and even obtained a poetical prize in competition with him, according to Varro and Plutarch. Quintilian, Philostratus, and others maintain that Hesiod lived before the age of Homer; but Velleius Paterculus and others support that he flourished about 100 years after him. Hesiod is the first who wrote a poem on agriculture. This composition is called The Works and the Days; and besides the instructions which are given to the cultivator of the field, the reader is pleased to find many moral reflections worthy of a refined Socrates or a Plato. His Theogony is a miscellaneous narration executed without art, precision, choice, judgment, or connection, yet it is the more valuable for the faithful account it gives of the gods of antiquity. His Shield of Hercules is but a fragment of a larger poem, in which it is supposed he gave an account of the most celebrated heroines among the ancients. Hesiod, without being master of the fire and sublimity of Homer, is admired for the elegance of his diction, and the sweetness of his poetry. Besides these poems he wrote others, now lost. Pausanias says that, in his age, Hesiod’s verses were still written on tablets in the temple of the Muses, of which the poet was a priest. If we believe Clement of Alexandria, bk. 6, Stromateis, the poet borrowed much from Musæus. One of Lucian’s dialogues bears the name of Hesiod, and in it the poet is introduced as speaking of himself. Virgil, in his Georgics, has imitated the compositions of Hesiod, and taken his opera and dies for model, as he acknowledges. Cicero strongly commends him, and the Greeks were so partial to his poetry and moral instructions, that they ordered their children to learn all by heart. Hesiod was murdered by the sons of Ganyctor of Naupactum, and his body was thrown into the sea. Some dolphins brought back the body to the shore, which was immediately known, and the murderers were discovered by the poet’s dogs, and thrown into the sea. If Hesiod flourished in the age of Homer, he lived 907 B.C. The best editions of this poet are that of Robinson, 4to, Oxford, 1737; that of Loesner, 8vo, Lipscomb, 1778; and that of Parma, 4to, 1785. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 6, ltr. 18.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 3, &c.—Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.—Paterculus.—Varro.—Plutarch, Septem Sapientium Convivium, & De Sollertia Animalium.

Hēsiŏne, a daughter of Laomedon king of Troy, by Strymo the daughter of Scamander. It fell to her lot to be exposed to a sea monster, to whom the Trojans yearly presented a marriageable virgin, to appease the resentment of Apollo and Neptune, whom ♦Laomedon had offended; but Hercules promised to deliver her, provided he received as a reward six beautiful horses. Laomedon consented, and Hercules attacked the monster just as he was going to devour Hesione, and he killed him with his club. Laomedon, however, refused to reward the hero’s services; and Hercules, incensed at his treachery, besieged Troy, and put the king and all his family to the sword, except Podarces, or Priam, who had advised his father to give the promised horses to his sister’s deliverer. The conqueror gave Hesione in marriage to his friend Telamon, who had assisted him during the war, and he established Priam upon his father’s throne. The removal of Hesione to Greece proved at last fatal to the Trojans; and Priam, remembering with indignation that his sister had been forcibly given to a foreigner, sent his son Paris to Greece to reclaim the possessions of Hesione, or more probably to revenge his injuries upon the Greeks by carrying away Helen, which gave rise, soon after, to the Trojan war. Lycophron mentions that Hercules threw himself, armed from head to foot, into the mouth of the monster to which Hesione was exposed, and that he tore his belly to pieces, and came out safe only with the loss of his hair, after a confinement of three days. Homer, Iliad, bk. 5, li. 638.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 212.――The wife of Nauplius.

Hespĕria, a large island of Africa, once the residence of the Amazons. Diodorus, bk. 3.――A name common to both Italy and Spain. It is derived from Hesper or Vesper, the setting sun, or the evening, whence the Greeks called Italy Hesperia, because it was situate at the setting sun, or in the west. The same name, for similar reasons, was applied to Spain by the Latins. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 634, &c.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 34, li. 4; bk. 1, ode 27, li. 28.—Silius Italicus, bk. 7, li. 15.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 258.――A daughter of the Cebrenus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 759.

Hespĕrĭdes, three celebrated nymphs, daughters of Hesperus. Apollodorus mentions four, Ægle, Erythia, Vesta, and Arethusa; and Diodorus confounds them with the Atlantides, and supposes that they were the same number. They were appointed to guard the golden apples which Juno gave to Jupiter on the day of their nuptials; and the place of their residence, placed beyond the ocean by Hesiod, is more universally believed to be near mount Atlas in Africa, according to Apollodorus. This celebrated place or garden abounded with fruits of the most delicious kind, and was carefully guarded by a dreadful dragon, which never slept. It was one of the labours of Hercules to procure some of the golden apples of the Hesperides. The hero, ignorant of the situation of this celebrated garden, applied to the nymphs in the neighbourhood of the Po for information, and was told that Nereus the god of the sea, if properly managed [See: Nereus], would direct him in his pursuits. Hercules seized Nereus as he was asleep, and the sea god, unable to escape from his grasp, answered all the questions which he proposed. Some say that Nereus sent Hercules to Prometheus, and that from him he received all his information. When Hercules came into Africa, he repaired to Atlas, and demanded of him three of the golden apples. Atlas unloaded himself and placed the burden of the heavens on the shoulders of Hercules, while he went in quest of the apples. At his return Hercules expressed his wish to ease the burden by putting something on his head, and when Atlas assisted him to remove his inconvenience, Hercules artfully left the burden, and seized the apples, which Atlas had thrown on the ground. According to other accounts, Hercules gathered the apples himself, without the assistance of Atlas, and he previously killed the watchful dragon which kept the tree. These apples were brought to Eurystheus, and afterwards carried back by Minerva into the garden of the Hesperides, as they could be preserved in no other place. Hercules is sometimes represented gathering the apples, and the dragon which guarded the tree appears bowing down his head, as having received a mortal wound. This monster, as it is supposed, was the offspring of Typhon, and it had 100 heads and as many voices. This number, however, is reduced by some to only one head. Those that attempt to explain mythology, observe that the Hesperides were certain persons who had an immense number of flocks, and that the ambiguous word μηλον, which signifies an apple and a sheep, gave rise to the fable of the golden apples of the Hesperides. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 637, &c.; bk. 9, li. 90.—Hyginus, fable 30.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 215, &c.

Hespĕris. See: Hesperus.――A town of Cyrenaica, now Bernic or Bengazi, where most authors have placed the garden of the Hesperides.

Hesperītis, a country of Africa. Diodorus, bk. 4.

Hespĕrus, a son of Japetus, brother to Atlas. He came to Italy, and the country received the name of Hesperia from him, according to some accounts. He had a daughter called Hesperis, who married Atlas, and became mother of seven daughters, called Atlantides or Hesperides. Diodorus, bk. 4.――The name of Hesperus was also applied to the planet Venus, when it appeared after the setting of the sun. It was called Phosphorus or Lucifer when it preceded the sun. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Seneca, de Hippolytus, li. 749; Medea, li. 71.

Hestia, one of the Hesperides. Apollodorus.

Hestiæa, a town of Eubœa.

Hesus, a deity among the Gauls, the same as the Mars of the Romans. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 445.

Hesychia, a daughter of Thespius. Apollodorus.

Hesychius, the author of a Greek lexicon in the beginning of the third century, a valuable work which has been learnedly edited by Albert, 2 vols., folio, Leiden, 1746.

Hetricŭlum, now Latarico, a town in the country of the Brutii. Livy, bk. 30, ch. 19.

Hetrūria and Etruria, a celebrated country of Italy, at the west of the Tiber. It originally contained 12 different nations, which had each their respective monarch, called Lucumon. Their names were Veientes, Clusini, Perusini, Cortonenses, Arretini, Vetuloni, Volaterrani, Rusellani, Volscinii, Tarquinii, Falisci, and Cæretani. The inhabitants were particularly famous for their superstition, and great confidence in omens, dreams, auguries, &c. They all proved powerful and resolute enemies to the rising empire of the Romans, and were conquered only after much effusion of blood. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Plutarch, Romulus.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Heurippa, a surname of Diana.

Hexapy̆lum, a gate at Syracuse. The adjoining place of the city, or the wall, bore the same name. Diodorus, bks. 11 & 14.—Livy, bk. 24, ch. 21; bk. 25, ch. 24; bk. 32, ch. 39.

Hiarbas, or Iarbas, a king of Gætulia. See: Iarbas.

Hiber, a name applied to a Spaniard, as living near the river Hiberus or Iberus. See: Iberus.

Hibernia and Hybernia, a large island at the west of Britain, now called Ireland. Some of the ancients have called it Ibernia, Juverna, Iris, Hierna, Ogygia, Ivernia. Juvenal, satire 2, li. 160.—Strabo, bk. 4.—Orpheus.—Aristotle.

Hibrildes, an Athenian general. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 7.

Hicetāon, a son of Laomedon, brother to Priam and father of Menalippus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 3.――The father of Thymœtes, who came to Italy with Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 133.

Hicētas, a philosopher of Syracuse, who believed that the earth moved, and that all the heavenly bodies were stationary. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.――A tyrant of Syracuse. See: Icetas.

Hiempsal, a king of Numidia, &c. See: Hyempsal. Plutarch.

Hiera, a woman who married Telephus king of Mysia, and who was said to surpass Helen in beauty.――The mother of Pandarus and Bitias by Alcanor. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 673.――One of the Lipari islands, called also Theresia, now Vulcano. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 11.

Hierapŏlis, a town of Syria, near the Euphrates.――Another of Phrygia, famous for hot baths, now Bambukkalasi.――Another of Crete.

Hiĕrax, a youth who awoke Argus, to inform him that Mercury was stealing Io. Mercury killed him, and changed him into a bird of prey. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 2.――Antiochus, king of Syria and brother to Seleucus, received the surname of Hierax. Justin, bk. 37, ch. 3.――An Egyptian philosopher in the third century.

Hierĭchus (untis), the name of Jericho in the Holy Land, called the city of palm trees, from its abounding in dates. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 14.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 5, ch. 6.

Hiĕro I., a king of Syracuse, after his brother Gelon, who rendered himself odious in the beginning of his reign by his cruelty and avarice. He made war against Theron the tyrant of Agrigentum, and took Himera. He obtained three different crowns at the Olympic games, two in horse-races, and one at a chariot-race. Pindar has celebrated him as being victorious at Olympia. In the latter part of his reign the conversation of Simonides, Epicharmus, Pindar, &c., softened in some measure the roughness of his morals and the severity of his government, and rendered him the patron of learning, genius, and merit. He died, after a reign of 18 years, B.C. 467, leaving the crown to his brother Thrasybulus, who disgraced himself by his vices and tyranny. Diodorus, bk. 11.――The second of that name, king of Syracuse, was descended from Gelon. He was unanimously elected king by all the states of the island of Sicily, and appointed to carry on the war against the Carthaginians. He joined his enemies in besieging Messana, which had surrendered to the Romans, but he was beaten by Appius Claudius the Roman consul, and obliged to retire to Syracuse, where he was soon blocked up. Seeing all hopes of victory lost, he made peace with the Romans, and proved so faithful to his engagements during the 59 years of his reign, that the Romans never had a more firm or more attached ally. He died in the 94th year of his age, about 225 years B.C. He was universally regretted, and all the Sicilians showed by their lamentations that they had lost a common father and a friend. He liberally patronized the learned, and employed the talents of Archimedes for the good of his country. He wrote a book on agriculture, now lost. He was succeeded by Hieronymus. Ælian, Varia Historia, bks. 4, 8.—Justin, bk. 23, ch. 4.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Livy, bk. 16.――An Athenian, intimate with Nicias the general. Plutarch, Nicias.――A Parthian, &c. Tacitus.

Hierocæsarea, a town of Lydia. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 47; bk. 3, ch. 62.

Hierocepia, an island near Paphos in Cyprus.

Hierŏcles, a persecutor of the christians under Diocletian, who pretended to find inconsistencies in Scripture, and preferred the miracles of Thyaneus to those of Christ. His writings were refuted by Lactantius and Eusebius.――A Platonic philosopher, who taught at Alexandria, and wrote a book on providence and fate, fragments of which are preserved by Photius; a commentary on the golden verses of Pythagoras; and facetious moral verses. He flourished A.D. 485. The best edition is that of Asheton and Warren, 8vo, London, 1742.――A general in the interest of Demetrius. Polyænus, bk. 5.――A governor of Bithynia and Alexandria, under Diocletian.――An officer. See: Heliogabalus.

Hierodūlum, a town of Libya.

Hieronĭca lex, by Hiero tyrant of Sicily, to settle the quantity of corn, the price and time of receiving it, between the farmers of Sicily and the collector of the corn tax at Rome. This law, on account of its justice and candour, was continued by the Romans when they became masters of Sicily.

Hierony̆mus, a tyrant of Sicily, who succeeded his father or grandfather Hiero, when only 15 years old. He rendered himself odious by his cruelty, oppression, and debauchery. He abjured the alliance of Rome, which Hiero had observed with so much honour and advantage. He was assassinated, and all his family was overwhelmed in his fall, and totally extirpated, B.C. 214.――An historian of Rhodes, who wrote an account of the actions of Demetrius Poliorcetes, by whom he was appointed over Bœotia, B.C. 254. Plutarch, Demetrius.――An Athenian set over the fleet, while Conon went to the king of Persia.――A christian writer commonly called St. Jerome, born in Pannonia, and distinguished for his zeal against heretics. He wrote commentaries on the prophets, St. Matthew’s gospel, &c., a Latin version known by the name of Vulgate, polemical treatises, and an account of ecclesiastical writers before him. Of his works, which are replete with lively animation, sublimity, and erudition, the best edition is that of Vallersius, folio, Veronæ, 1734 to 1740, 10 vols. Jerome died A.D. 420, in his 91st year.

Hierophĭlus, a Greek physician. He instructed his daughter Agnodice in the art of midwifery, &c. See: Agnodice.

Hierosoly̆ma, a celebrated city of Palestine, the capital of Judæa, taken by Pompey, who, on that account, is surnamed Hierosolymarius. Titus also took it and destroyed it, the 8th of September, A.D. 70, according to Josephus, 2177 years after its foundation. In the siege by Titus, 110,000 persons are said to have perished, and 97,000 to have been made prisoners, and afterwards either sold for slaves, or wantonly exposed, for the sport of their insolent victors, to the fury of wild beasts. Josephus, War of the Jews, bk. 7, ch. 16, &c.—Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 2, ltr. 2.—Flaccus, bk. 28.

Hignatia via, a large road, which led from the Ionian sea to the Hellespont, across Macedonia, about 530 miles. Strabo, bk. 7.

Hilaria, a daughter of Leucippus and Philodice. As she and her sister Phœbe were going to marry their cousins Lynceus and Idas, they were carried away by Castor and Pollux, who married them. Hilaria had Anagon by Castor, and she, as well as her sister, obtained after death the honours which were generally paid to heroes. Apollodorus, bk. 3.—Propertius, bk. 1, poem 2, li. 16.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 22; bk. 3, ch. 19.――Festivals at Rome in honour of the mother of the gods.

Hilarius, a bishop of Poictiers in France, who wrote several treatises, the most famous of which is on the Trinity, in 12 books. The only edition is that of the Benedictine monks, folio, Paris, 1693. Hilary died A.D. 372, in his 80th year.

Hilleviōnes, a people of Scandinavia. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 13.

Himella, now Aia, a small river in the country of the Sabines. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 714.

Himĕra, a city of Sicily built by the people of Zancle, and destroyed by the Carthaginians 240 years after. Strabo, bk. 6.――There were two rivers of Sicily of the same name, the one, now Fiumi de Termini, falling at the east of Panormus into the Tuscan sea, with a town of the same name at its mouth, and also celebrated baths. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 4, ch. 33. The other, now Fiume Salso, running in a southern direction, and dividing the island in almost two parts. Livy, bk. 24, ch. 6; bk. 25, ch. 49.――The ancient name of the Eurotas. Strabo, bk. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Polybius.

Himilco, a Carthaginian sent to explore the western parts of Europe. Festus Avienius.――A son of Amilcar, who succeeded his father in the command of the Carthaginian armies in Sicily. He died with his army by a plague, B.C. 398. Justin, bk. 19, ch. 2.

Hippagŏras, a man who wrote an account of the republic of Carthage. Athenæus, bk. 14.

Hippalcimus, a son of Pelops and Hippodamia, who was among the Argonauts.

Hippalus, the first who sailed in open sea from Arabia to India. Arrian, Periplus Ponti Euxini.

Hipparchia, a woman in Alexander’s age, who became enamoured of Crates the Cynic philosopher, because she heard him discourse. She married him, though he at first disdained her addresses, and represented his poverty and meanness. She was so attached to him that she was his constant companion, and was not ashamed publicly to gratify his impurest desires. She wrote some things, now lost. See: Crates. Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 6.—Suidas.

Hipparchus, a son of Pisistratus, who succeeded his father as tyrant of Athens, with his brother Hippias. He patronized some of the learned men of the age, and distinguished himself by his fondness for literature. The seduction of a sister of Harmodius raised him many enemies, and he was at last assassinated by a desperate band of conspirators, with Harmodius and Aristogiton at their head, 513 years before Christ. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 8, ch. 2.――One of Antony’s freedmen.――The first person who was banished by ostracism at Athens.――The father of Asclepiades.――A mathematician and astronomer of Nicæa. He first discovered that the interval between the vernal and the autumnal equinox is 186 days, seven days longer than between the autumnal and vernal, occasioned by the eccentricity of the earth’s orbit. He divided the heavens into 49 constellations, 12 in the ecliptic, 21 in the northern, and 16 in the southern hemisphere, and gave names to all the stars. He makes no mention of comets. From viewing a tree on a plain from different situations, which changed its apparent position, he was led to the discovery of the parallax of the planets, or the distance between their real or apparent position, viewed from the centre and from the surface of the earth. He determined the longitude and latitude, and fixed the first degree of longitude at the Canaries. He likewise laid the first foundations of trigonometry, so essential to facilitate astronomical studies. He was the first who, after Thales and Sulpicius Gallus, found out the exact time of eclipses, of which he made a calculation for 600 years. After a life of labour in the service of science and astronomy, and after publishing several treatises and valuable observations on the appearance of the heavens, he died 125 years before the christian era. Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 26, &c.――An Athenian who conspired against Heraclides, who kept Athens for Demetrius, &c. Polyænus, bk. 5.

Hipparīnus, a son of Dionysius, who ejected Calippus from Syracuse, and seized the sovereign power for 27 years. Polyænus, bk. 5.――The father of Dion.

Hippărion, one of Dion’s sons.

Hippăsus, a son of Ceyx, who assisted Hercules against Eurytus. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.――A pupil of Pythagoras, born at Metapontum. He supposed that everything was produced from fire. Diogenes Laërtius.――A centaur killed at the nuptials of Pirithous. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 352.――An illegitimate son of Priam. Hyginus, fable 90.

Hippeus, a son of Hercules by Procis, eldest of the 50 daughters of Thestius. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Hippi, four small islands near Erythræ.

Hippia, a lascivious woman, &c. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 82.――A surname of Minerva, and also of Juno. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 15.

Hippias, a philosopher of Elis, who maintained that virtue consisted in not being in want of the assistance of men. At the Olympic games, he boasted that he was master of all the liberal and mechanical arts; and he said that the ring upon his finger, the tunic, cloak, and shoes, which he then wore, were all the work of his own hands. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 3, ch. 32.――A son of Pisistratus, who became tyrant of Athens after the death of his father, with his brother Hipparchus. He was willing to revenge the death of his brother, who had been assassinated, and for this violent measure he was driven from his country. He fled to king Darius in Persia, and was killed at the battle of Marathon, fighting against the Athenians, B.C. 490. He had five children by Myrrhine the daughter of Callias. Herodotus, bk. 6.—Thucydides, bk. 7.

Hippis, an historian and poet of Rhegium, in the reign of Xerxes. Ælian, De Natura Animalium, bk. 8, ch. 33.

Hippius, a surname of Neptune, from his having raised a horse (ἱππος) from the earth in his contest with Minerva concerning the giving a name to Athens.

Hippo, a daughter of Scedasus, who, upon being ravished by the ambassadors of Sparta, killed herself, cursing the city that gave birth to such men. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 13.――A celebrated town of Africa, on the Mediterranean. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 252.――Strabo, bk. 17, says that there are two of the same name in Africa, one of which, by way of distinction, is called Regius. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 3; bk. 9, ch. 8.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 7.—Livy, bk. 29, chs. 3 & 32.――Also a town of Spain. Livy, bk. 39, ch. 30.――Of the Brutii.

Hippobotes, a large meadow near the Caspian sea, where 50,000 horses could graze.

Hippobotus, a Greek historian, who composed a treatise on philosophers. Diogenes Laërtius, Pythagoras.

Hippocentauri, a race of monsters who dwelt in Thessaly. See: Centauri.

Hippocoon, a son of Œbalus, brother to Tyndarus. He was put to death by Hercules, because he had driven his brother from the kingdom of Lacedæmon. He was at the chase of the Calydonian boar. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, &c.; bk. 3, ch. 10.—Pausanias, Laconia.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 314.――A friend of Æneas, son of Hyrtacus, who distinguished himself in the funeral games of Sicily. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 492, &c.

Hippocorystes, a son of Ægyptus,――of Hippocoon. Apollodorus.

Hippocrăte, a daughter of Thespius. Apollodorus.

Hippŏcrătes, a celebrated physician of Cos, one of the Cyclades. He studied physic, in which his grandfather Nebrus was so eminently distinguished; and he improved himself by reading the tablets in the temples of the gods, where each individual had written down the diseases under which he had laboured, and the means by which he had recovered. He delivered Athens from a dreadful pestilence in the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, and he was publicly rewarded with a golden crown, the privileges of a citizen of Athens, and the initiation at the grand festivals. Skilful and diligent in his profession, he openly declared the measures which he had taken to cure a disease, and candidly confesses, that of 42 patients which were entrusted to his care, only 17 had recovered, and the rest had fallen a prey to the distemper in spite of his medical applications. He devoted all his time for the service of his country; and when Artaxerxes invited him, even by force of arms, to come to his court, Hippocrates firmly and modestly answered, that he was born to serve his countrymen, and not a foreigner. He enjoyed the rewards which his well-directed labours claimed, and while he lived in the greatest popularity, he was carefully employed in observing the symptoms and the growth of every disorder, and from his judicious remarks, succeeding physicians have received the most valuable advantages. The experiments which he had tried upon the human frame increased his knowledge, and from his consummate observations, he knew how to moderate his own life as well as to prescribe to others. He died in the 99th year of his age, B.C. 361, free from all disorders of the mind and body; and after death he received, with the name of Great, the same honours which were paid to Hercules. His writings, few of which remain, have procured him the epithet of divine, and show that he was the Homer of his profession. According to Galen, his opinion is as respectable as the voice of an oracle. He wrote in the Ionic dialect, at the advice of Democritus, though he was a Dorian. His memory is still venerated at Cos, and the present inhabitants of the island show a small house, which Hippocrates, as they mention, once inhabited. The best editions of his works are that of Fæsius, Geneva, folio, 1657; of Linden, 2 vols., 8vo, Amsterdam, 1665; and that of Mackius, 2 vols., folio, Viennæ, 1743. His treatises, especially the Aphorisms, have been published separately. Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 37.—Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 3.――An Athenian general in the Peloponnesian war. Plutarch.――A mathematician.――An officer of Chalcedon, killed by Alcibiades. Plutarch, Alcibiades.――A Syracusan defeated by Marcellus.――The father of Pisistratus.――A tyrant of Gela.

Hippocratia, a festival in honour of Neptune, in Arcadia.

Hippocrēne, a fountain of Bœotia, near mount Helicon, sacred to the muses. It first rose from the ground, when struck by the feet of the horse Pegasus, whence the name ἱππου κρηνη, the horse’s fountain. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 256.

Hippŏdămas, a son of the Achelous,――of Priam. Apollodorus.

Hippŏdăme and Hippodamīa, a daughter of Œnomaus king of Pisa, in Elis, who married Pelops son of Tantalus. Her father, who was either enamoured of her himself, or afraid lest he should perish by one of his daughter’s children, according to an oracle, refused to marry her, except to him who could overcome him in a chariot-race. As the beauty of Hippodamia was greatly celebrated, many courted her, and accepted her father’s conditions, though death attended a defeat. Thirteen had already been conquered, and forfeited their lives, when Pelops came from Lydia and entered the lists. Pelops previously bribed Myrtilus the charioteer of Œnomaus, and ensured himself the victory. In the race, Œnomaus mounted on a broken chariot, which the corrupted Myrtilus had purposely provided for him, was easily overcome, and was killed in the course; and Pelops married Hippodamia, and avenged the death of Œnomaus, by throwing into the sea the perfidious Myrtilus, who claimed for the reward of his treachery the favour which Hippodamia could grant only to her husband. Hippodamia became mother of Atreus and Thyestes, and it is said that she died of grief for the death of her father, which her guilty correspondence with Pelops and Myrtilus had occasioned. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 7.—Hyginus, fables 84 & 253.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 14, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Ovid, Heroides, poems 8 & 17.――A daughter of Adrastus king of Argos, who married Pirithous king of the Lapithæ. The festivity which prevailed on the day of her marriage was interrupted by the attempts of Eurytus to offer her violence. See: Pirithous. She is called Ischomache by some, and Deidamia by others. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12.—Plutarch, Theseus.――A daughter of Danaus. Apollodorus.――A mistress of Achilles, daughter of Brises.――A daughter of Anchises, who married Alcathous. Homer, Iliad, bk. 13, li. 429.

Hippŏdămus, a man of Miletus, who settled a republic without any previous knowledge of government. Aristotle, bk. 2, Politics.――A Pythagorean philosopher.――An Athenian who gave his house to his country, when he knew such a concession would improve the port of the Piræus.――An Athenian archon.――A man famous for his voracious appetite.

Hippŏdĭce, one of the Danaides. Apollodorus.

Hippodrŏmus, a son of Hercules. Apollodorus.――A Thessalian, who succeeded in a school at Athens, in the age of Marcus Antony. Philostratus.――A place where horse-races were exhibited. Martial, bk. 12, ltr. 50.

Hippŏla, a town of Peloponnesus. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 25.

Hippŏlŏchus, a son of Bellerophon, father to Glaucus, who commanded the Lycians during the Trojan war.――A son of Glaucus also bore the same name. Homer, Iliad, bk. 6, li. 119.――A son of Antimachus, slain in the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 11, li. 122.

Hippŏly̆te, a queen of the Amazons, given in marriage to Theseus by Hercules, who had conquered her, and taken away her girdle by order of Eurystheus. See: Hercules. She had a son by Theseus, called Hippolytus. Plutarch, Theseus.—Propertius, bk. 4, poem 3.――The wife of Acastus, who fell in love with Peleus, who was in exile at her husband’s court. She accused him of incontinence, and of attempts upon her virtue, before Acastus, only because he refused to gratify her desires. She is also called Astyochia. See: Acastus.――A daughter of Cretheus. Apollodorus.

Hippŏly̆tus, a son of Theseus and Hippolyte, famous for his virtues and his misfortunes. His stepmother Phædra fell in love with him, and when he refused to pollute his father’s bed, she accused him of offering violence to her person before Theseus. Her accusation was readily believed, and Theseus entreated Neptune severely to punish the incontinence of his son. Hippolytus fled from the resentment of his father, and as he pursued his way along the sea-shore, his horses were so frightened at the noise of sea-calves, which Neptune had purposely sent there, that they ran among the rocks till his chariot was broken and his body torn to pieces. Temples were raised to his memory, particularly at Trœzene, where he received divine honours. According to some accounts, Diana restored him to life. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 3, li. 268; Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 469.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 761, &c.――A son of Ropalus king of Sicyon, greatly beloved by Apollo. Plutarch, Numa.――A giant killed by Mercury.――A son of Ægyptus. Apollodorus, bks. 1 & 2.――A christian writer in the third century, whose works have been edited by Fabricius, Hamburg, folio, 1716.

Hippŏmăchus, a musician, who severely rebuked one of his pupils because he was praised by the multitude, and observed that it was the greatest proof of his ignorance. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 2, ch. 6.

Hippŏmĕdon, a son of Nisimachus and Mythidice, who was one of the seven chiefs who went against Thebes. He was killed by Ismarus son of Acastus. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 6.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 36.

Hippomedūsa, a daughter of Danaus. Apollodorus.

Hippŏmĕnes, an Athenian archon, who exposed his daughter Limone to be devoured by horses, because guilty of adultery. Ovid, Ibis, li. 459.――A son of Macareus and Merope, who married Atalanta [See: Atalanta], with the assistance of Venus. These two fond lovers were changed into lions by Cybele, whose temple they had profaned in their impatience to consummate their nuptials. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 585, &c.――The father of Megareus.

Hippomolgi, a people of Scythia, who, as the name implies, lived upon the milk of horses. Hippocrates has given an account of their manner of living, De Aere Aquis et Locis, ♦ch. 18.—Dionysius Periegetes.

Hĭppon and Hippo, a town of Africa.

Hippōna, a goddess who presided over horses. Her statues were placed in horses’ stables. Juvenal, satire 8, li. 157.

Hippōnax, a Greek poet born at Ephesus, 540 years before the christian era. He cultivated the same satirical poetry as Archilochus, and was not inferior to him in the beauty or vigour of his lines. His satirical raillery obliged him to fly from Ephesus. As he was naturally deformed, two brothers, Buphalus and Anthermus, made a statue of him, which, by the deformity of its features, exposed the poet to universal ridicule. Hipponax resolved to avenge the injury, and he wrote such bitter invectives and satirical lampoons against them, that they hanged themselves in despair. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 7, ltr. 24.

Hipponiates, a bay in the country of the Brutii.

Hipponīum, a city in the country of the Brutii, where Agathocles built a dock. Strabo.

Hipponous, the father of Peribœa and Capaneus. He was killed by the thunderbolts of Jupiter before the walls of Thebes. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8; bk. 3, ch. 1.――The first name of Bellerophon.――A son of Priam.

Hippopŏdes, a people of Scythia, who have horses’ feet. Dionysius Periegetes.

Hippostrătus, a favourite of Lais.

Hippŏtădes, the patronymic of Æolus, grandson to Hippotas by Segesta, as also of Amastrus his son, who was killed in the Rutulian war. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 674.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 431.

Hippŏtas, or Hippŏtes, a Trojan prince, changed into a river. See: Crinisus.――The father of Æolus, who from thence is called Hippotades. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 10, li. 2.—Ovid, Heroides, poem 18, li. 46; Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 224.

Hippothoe, a daughter of Mestor and Lysidice, carried away to the islands called Echinades by Neptune, by whom she had a son named Taphius. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 4.――One of the Nereides. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 2.――A daughter of Pelias. Apollodorus.

Hippŏthoon, a son of Neptune and Alope daughter of Cercyon, exposed in the woods by his mother, that her amours with the god might be concealed from her father. Her shame was discovered, and her father ordered her to be put to death. Neptune changed her into a fountain, and the child was preserved by mares, whence his name, and when grown up, placed on his grandfather’s throne by the friendship of Theseus. Hyginus, fable 187.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 38.

Hippothoontis, one of the 12 Athenian tribes, which received its name from Hippothoon.

Hippŏthous, a son of Lethus, killed by Ajax in the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bks. 2 & 17.――A son of Priam. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.――A son of Ægyptus. Apollodorus.――One of the hunters of the Calydonian boar. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 307.

Hippŏtion, a prince who assisted the Trojans, and was killed by Merion. Homer, Iliad, bks. 13 & 14.

Hippūris, one of the Cyclades. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Hippus, a river falling into the Phasis.

Hipsides, a Macedonian, &c. Curtius, bk. 7, ch. 7.

Hira, a maritime town of Peloponnesus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 12.

Hirpīni, a people of the Samnites. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 560.

Quinctius Hirpīnus, a Roman, to whom Horace dedicated his bk. 2, ode 11, and also bk. 1, ltr. 16.

Hirtus, a debauched fellow, &c. Juvenal, satire 10, li. 222.

Hirtia lex, de magistratibus, by Aulus Hirtius. It required that none of Pompey’s adherents should be raised to any office or dignity in the state.

Hirtius Aulus, a consul with Pansa, who assisted Brutus when besieged at Mutina by Antony. They defeated Antony, but were both killed in battle B.C. 43. Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 10.――An historian to whom the eighth book of Cæsar’s history of the Gallic wars, as also that of the Alexandrian and Spanish wars, is attributed. The style is inferior to that of Cæsar’s Commentaries. The author, who was Cæsar’s friend, and Cicero’s pupil, is supposed to be no other than the consul of that name.

Hisbon, a Rutulian, killed by Pallas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 384.

Hispălis, an ancient town of Spain, now called Seville. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 3.—Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 10, ltr. 32.

Hispānia, or Hispāniæ, called by the poets Iberia, Hesperia, and Hesperia Ultima, a large country of Europe, separated from Gaul by the Pyrenean mountains, and bounded on every other side by the sea. Spain was first known to the merchants of Phœnicia, and from them passed to the Carthaginians, to whose power it long continued in subjection. The Romans became sole masters of it at the end of the second Punic war, and divided it at first into citerior and ulterior, which last was afterwards separated into Bætica and Lusitania by Augustus. The Hispania citerior was also called Tarraconensis. The inhabitants were naturally warlike, and they often destroyed a life which was become useless, and even burdensome, by its infirmities. Spain was famous for its rich mines of silver, which employed 40,000 workmen, and daily yielded to the Romans no less than 20,000 drachms. These have long since failed, though, in the flourishing times of Rome, Spain was said to contain more gold, silver, brass, and iron than the rest of the world. It gave birth to Quintilian, Lucan, Martial, Mela, Silius, Seneca, &c. Justin, bk. 44.—Strabo, bk. 3.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Pliny, bk. 3, chs. 1 & 20.

Hispānus, a native of Spain. The word Hispaniensis was also used, but generally applied to a person living in Spain and not born there. Martial, bk. 12, preface.

Hispellum, a town of Umbria.

Hispo, a noted debauchee, &c. Juvenal, satire 2, li. 50.

Hispulla, a lascivious woman. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 74.

Histaspes, a relation of Darius III., killed in a battle, &c. Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 4.

Hister, a river. See: Ister.

Hister Pacuvius, a man distinguished as much by his vices as his immense riches. Juvenal, satire 2, li. 58.

Histiæa, a city of Eubœa, anciently called Talantia. It was near the promontory called Ceneum. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.

Histiæōtis, a country of Thessaly, situate below mount Olympus and mount Ossa, anciently called Doris, from Dorus the son of Deucalion, and inhabited by the Pelasgi. The Pelasgi were driven from the country by the Cadmeans, and these last were also dispossessed by the Perrhæbeans, who gave to their newly acquired possessions the name of Histiæotis, or Estiæotis, from Estiæa, or Histiæa, a town of Eubœa, which they had then lately destroyed, and whose inhabitants they had carried to Thessaly with them. Strabo.—Herodotus, bk. 4.――A small country of Eubœa, of which Histiæa, or Estiæa, was the capital.

Histiæus, a tyrant of Miletus, who excited the Greeks to take up arms against Persia. Herodotus, bk. 5, &c.――An historian of Miletus.

Histria. See: Istria.

Hodius, a herald in the Trojan war.

Holŏcron, a mountain of Macedon.

Homeromastix, a surname given to Zoilus the critic.

Hŏmērus, a celebrated Greek poet, the most ancient of all the profane writers. The age in which he lived is not known, though some suppose it to be about 168 years after the Trojan war, or, according to others, 160 years before the foundation of Rome. According to Paterculus, he flourished 968 years before the christian era, or 884, according to Herodotus, who supposes him to be contemporary with Hesiod. The Arundelian Marbles fix his era 907 years before Christ, and make him also contemporary with Hesiod. This diversity of opinions proves the antiquity of Homer; and the uncertainty prevails also concerning the place of his nativity. No less than seven illustrious cities disputed the right of having given birth to the greatest of poets, as it is well expressed in these lines:

Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Salamis, Rhodos, Argos, Athenæ,

Orbis de patriâ certat, Homere, tuâ.

He was called Melesigenes, because supposed to be born on the borders of the river Meles. There prevailed a report that he had established a school at Chios in the latter part of his life; and, indeed, this opinion is favoured by the present inhabitants of the island, who still glory in showing to travellers the seats where the venerable master and his pupils sat in the hollow of a rock, at the distance of about four miles from the modern capital of the island. These difficulties and doubts have not been removed, though Aristotle, Herodotus, Plutarch, and others have employed their pen in writing his life. In his two celebrated poems, called the Iliad and Odyssey, Homer has displayed the most consummate knowledge of human nature, and rendered himself immortal by the sublimity, the fire, sweetness, and elegance of his poetry. He deserves a greater share of admiration when we consider that he wrote without a model, and that none of his poetical imitators have been able to surpass, or, perhaps, to equal their great master. If there are any faults found in his poetry, they are to be attributed to the age in which he lived, and not to him; and we must observe that the world is indebted to Homer for his happy successor Virgil. In his Iliad, Homer has described the resentment of Achilles, and its fatal consequences in the Grecian army, before the walls of Troy. In the Odyssey, the poet has chosen for his subject the return of Ulysses into his country, with the many misfortunes which attended his voyage after the fall of Troy. These two poems are each divided into 24 books, the same number as the letters of the Greek alphabet, and though the Iliad claims an uncontested superiority over the Odyssey, yet the same force, the same sublimity and elegance, prevail, though divested of its most powerful fire; and Longinus, the most refined of critics, beautifully compares the Iliad to the mid-day, and the Odyssey to the setting sun, and observes, that the latter still preserves its original splendour and majesty, though deprived of its meridian heat. The poetry of Homer was so universally admired, that, in ancient times, every man of learning could repeat with facility any passage in the Iliad or Odyssey; and, indeed, it was a sufficient authority to settle disputed boundaries, or to support any argument. The poems of Homer are the compositions of a man who travelled and examined with the most critical accuracy whatever deserved notice and claimed attention. Modern travellers are astonished to see the different scenes which the pen of Homer described about 3000 years ago still existing in the same unvaried form, and the sailor who steers his course along the Ægean, sees all the promontories and rocks which appeared to Nestor and Menelaus, when they returned victorious from the Trojan war. The ancients had such veneration for Homer, that they not only raised temples and altars to him, but offered sacrifices, and worshipped him as a god. The inhabitants of Chios celebrated festivals every fifth year in his honour, and medals were struck, which represented him sitting on a throne, holding his Iliad and Odyssey. In Egypt his memory was consecrated by Ptolemy Philopator, who erected a magnificent temple, within which was placed a statue of the poet, beautifully surrounded with a representation of the seven cities which contended for the honour of his birth. The inhabitants of Cos, one of the Sporades, boasted that Homer was buried in their island; and the Cyprians claimed the same honour, and said that he was born of Themisto, a female native of Cyprus. Alexander was so fond of Homer, that he generally placed his compositions under his pillow, with his sword; and he carefully deposited the Iliad in one of the richest and most valuable caskets of Darius, observing that the most perfect work of human genius ought to be preserved in a box the most valuable and precious in the world. It is said that Pisistratus tyrant of Athens was the first who collected and arranged the Iliad and Odyssey in the manner in which they now appear to us; and that it is to the well-directed pursuits of Lycurgus that we are indebted for their preservation. Many of the ancients have written the life of Homer, yet their inquiries and labours have not much contributed to prove the native place, the patronage and connections, of a man whom some have represented as deprived of sight. Besides the Iliad and Odyssey, Homer wrote, according to the opinion of some authors, a poem upon Amphiaraus’s expedition against Thebes, besides the Phoceis, the Cercopes, the small Iliad, the Epicichlides, and the Batrachomyomachia, and many hymns to some of the gods. The merit of originality is taken, very improperly perhaps, from Homer, by those who suppose, with Clement of Alexandria, bk. 6 Stromateis, that he borrowed from Orpheus, or that, according to Suidas [voce Corinnus], he took his plan of the Iliad from Corinnus, an epic poet, who wrote on the Trojan war, at the very time the Greeks besieged that famed city. Agathon, an ancient painter, according to Ælian, represented the merit of the poet in a manner as bold as it was indelicate. Homer was represented as vomiting, and all other poets as swallowing what he ejected. Of the numerous commentaries published on Homer, that of Eustathius bishop of Thessalonica is by far the most extensive and erudite. The best editions of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey may, perhaps, be found to be by Barnes, 2 vols., 4to, Cambridge, 1711; that of Glasgow, 2 vols., folio, 1758; that of Berglerus, 2 vols., 12mo, Amsterdam, 1707; that of Dr. Clarke of the Iliad, 2 vols., 4to, 1729, and that of the Odyssey, 1740; and that of Oxford, 5 vols., 8vo, 1780, containing the scholia, hymns, and an index. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 53.—Theocritus, poem 16.—Aristotle, Poetics.—Strabo.— Dio Chrysostom, bk. 33, Orationes.—Pausanias, bks. 2, 9, 10.—Heliodorus, bk. 3.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 13.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 8, ch. 8.—Quintilian, bks. 1, 8, 10, 12.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 5.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus.—Plutarch, Alexander, &c.――One of the Greek poets called Pleiades, born at Hierapolis, B.C. 263. He wrote 45 tragedies, all lost.――There were seven other poets, of inferior note, who bore the name of Homer.

Homŏle, a lofty mountain of Thessaly, once the residence of the Centaurs. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 675.

Homŏlea, a mountain of Magnesia.

Homolippus, a son of Hercules and Xanthis. Apollodorus.

Homoloides, one of the seven gates of Thebes. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 7, li. 252.

Homonadenses, a people of Cilicia.

Honōrius, an emperor of the western empire of Rome, who succeeded his father Theodosius the Great, with his brother Arcadius. He was neither bold nor vicious, but he was of a modest and timid disposition, unfit for enterprise, and fearful of danger. He conquered his enemies by means of his generals, and suffered himself and his people to be governed by ministers who took advantage of their imperial master’s indolence and inactivity. He died of a dropsy in the 39th year of his age, 15th of August, A.D. 423. He left no issue, though he married two wives. Under him and his brother the Roman power was divided into two different empires. The successors of Honorius, who fixed their residence at Rome, were called the emperors of the west, and the successors of Arcadius, who sat on the throne of Constantinople, were distinguished by the name of emperors of the eastern Roman empire. This division of power proved fatal to both empires, and they soon looked upon one another with indifference, contempt, and jealousy.

Honour, a virtue worshipped at Rome. Her first temple was erected by Scipio Africanus, and another was afterwards built by Claudius Marcellus. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 23.

Hora, a goddess at Rome, supposed to be Hersilia, who married Romulus. She was said to preside over beauty. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 851.

Horacitæ, a people near Illyricum.

Horapollo, a Greek writer, whose age is unknown. His Hieroglyphica, a curious and entertaining book, has been edited by Cornelius de Pauw, 4to, Utrecht, 1727.

Horæ, three sisters, daughters of Jupiter and Themis, according to Hesiod called Eunomia, Dice, and Irene. They were the same as the seasons who presided over the spring, summer, and winter, and were represented by the poets as opening the gates of heaven and of Olympus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 5, li. 749.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 11.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 902.

Horātia, the sister of Horatii, killed by her brother for mourning the death of the Curiatii. Cicero, de Inventione, bk. 2, ch. 20.

Hŏrātius Cocles. See: Cocles.――Quintus Flaccus, a celebrated poet, born at Venusia. His father was a freedman, and though poor in his circumstances, he liberally educated his son, and sent him to learn philosophy at Athens, after he had received the lessons of the best masters at Rome. Horace followed Brutus from Athens, and the timidity which he betrayed at the battle of Philippi so effectually discouraged him, that he for ever abandoned the profession of arms, and at his return to Rome he applied himself to cultivate poetry. His rising talents claimed the attention of Virgil and Varius, who recommended him to the care of Mecænas and Augustus, the most celebrated patrons of literature. Under the fostering patronage of the emperor and of his minister, Horace gave himself up to indolence and refined pleasure. He was a follower of Epicurus, and while he liberally indulged his appetites, he neglected the calls of ambition, and never suffered himself to be carried away by the tide of popularity or public employments. He even refused to become the secretary of Augustus, and the emperor was not offended at his refusal. He lived at the table of his illustrious patrons as if he were in his own house; and Augustus, while sitting at his meals with Virgil at his right hand, and Horace at his left, often ridiculed the short breath of the former, and the watery eyes of the latter, by observing that he sat between tears and sighs, Ego sum inter suspiria et lacrymas. Horace was warm in his friendship, and if ever any ill-judged reflection had caused offence, the poet immediately made every concession which could effect a reconciliation, and not destroy the good purposes of friendly society. Horace died in the 57th year of his age, B.C. 8. His gaiety was suitable to the liveliness and dissipation of a court; and his familiar intimacy with Mecænas has induced some to believe that the death of Horace was violent, and that he hastened himself out of the world to accompany his friend. The 17th ode of his second book, which was written during the last illness of Mecænas, is too serious to be considered as a poetical rhapsody or unmeaning effusion, and indeed, the poet survived the patron only three weeks, and ordered his bones to be buried near those of his friend. He left all his possessions to Augustus. The poetry of Horace, so much commended for its elegance and sweetness, is deservedly censured for the licentious expressions and indelicate thoughts which he too frequently introduces. In his odes he has imitated Pindar and Anacreon; and if he has confessed himself to be inferior to the former, he has shown that he bears the palm over the latter by his more ingenious and refined sentiments, by the ease and melody of his expressions, and by the pleasing variety of his numbers. In his satires and epistles, Horace displays much wit, and much satirical humour, without much poetry, and his style, simple and unadorned, differs little from prosaical composition. In his art of poetry he has shown much taste and judgment, and has rendered in Latin hexameters what Aristotle had, some ages before delivered to his pupils in Greek prose. The poet gives judicious rules and useful precepts to the most powerful and opulent citizens of Rome, who, in the midst of peace and enjoyment, wished to cultivate poetry and court the muses. The best editions of Horace will be found to be that of Basil, folio, 1580, illustrated by 80 commentators; that of Baxter’s, edited by Gesner, 8vo, Lipscomb, 1752; and that of Glasgow, 12mo, 1744. Suetonius, Augustus.—Ovid, Tristia, bk. 4, poem 10, li. 49.――Three brave Romans, born at the same birth, who fought against the three Curiatii, about 667 years before Christ. This celebrated fight was fought between the hostile camps of the people of Alba and Rome, and on their success depended the victory. In the first attack two of the Horatii were killed, and the only surviving brother, by joining artifice to valour, obtained an honourable trophy. By ♦pretending to fly from the field of battle, he easily separated his antagonists, and, in attacking them one by one, he was enabled to conquer them all. As he returned victorious to Rome, his sister reproached him with the murder of one of the Curiatii, to whom she was promised in marriage. He was incensed at the rebuke, and killed his sister. This violence raised the indignation of the people; he was tried and capitally condemned. His eminent services, however, pleaded in his favour; the sentence of death was exchanged for a more moderate, but more ignominious punishment, and he was only compelled to pass under the yoke. A trophy was raised in the Roman forum, on which he suspended the spoils of the conquered Curiatii. Cicero, de Inventione, bk. 2, ch. 26.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 24, &c.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 3, ch. 3.――A Roman consul, who defeated the Sabines.――A consul, who dedicated the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. During the ceremony he was informed of the death of his son, but he did not forget the sacred character he then bore for the feelings of a parent, and continued the dedication after ordering the body to be buried. Livy, bk. 2.

Horcias, the general of 3000 Macedonians, who revolted from Antigonus in Cappadocia. Polyænus, bk. 4.

Hormisdas, a name which some of the Persian kings bore in the reign of the Roman emperors.

Horesti, a people of Britain, supposed to be the inhabitants of Eskdale, now in Scotland. Tacitus, Agricola, ch. 38.

Horratus, a Macedonian soldier, who fought with another private soldier in the sight of the whole army of Alexander. Curtius, bk. 9, ch. 7.

Hortensia, a celebrated Roman lady, daughter of the orator Hortensius, whose eloquence she had inherited in the most eminent degree. When the triumvirs had obliged 14,000 women to give upon oath an account of their possessions, to defray the expenses of the state, ♦Hortensia undertook to plead their cause, and was so successful in her attempt, that 1000 of her female fellow-sufferers escaped from the avarice of the triumvirate. Valerius Maximus, bk. 8, ch. 3.

Hortensia lex, by Quintus Hortensius the dictator, A.U.C. 697. It ordered the whole body of the Roman people to pay implicit obedience to whatever was enacted by the commons. The nobility, before this law was enacted, had claimed an absolute exemption.

Horta, a divinity among the Romans, who presided over youth, and patronized all exhortations to virtue and honourable deeds. She is the same as Hersilia.

Horta, or Hortinum, a town of the Sabines, on the confluence of the Nar and the Tiber. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 716.

Quintus Hortensius, a celebrated orator, who began to distinguish himself by his eloquence, in the Roman forum, at the age of 19. His friend and successor Cicero speaks with great eulogium of his oratorical powers, and mentions the uncommon extent of his memory. The affected actions of Hortensius at the bar procured him the ridiculous surname of Dionysia, a celebrated stage-dancer at the time. He was pretor and consul, and died 50 years before Christ, in his 63rd year. His orations are not extant. Quintilian mentions them as undeserving the great commendations which Cicero had so liberally bestowed upon them. Hortensius was very rich, and not less than 10,000 casks of Arvisian wine were found in his cellar after his death. He had written pieces of amorous poetry, and annals, all lost. Cicero, Brutus; Letters to Atticus; On Oratory, &c.—Varro, de Re Rustica, bk. 3, ch. 5.――Corbio, a grandson of the orator of the same name, famous for his lasciviousness.――A rich Roman, who asked the elder Cato his wife, to procreate children. Cato gave his wife to his friend, and took her again after his death. This behaviour of Cato was highly censured at Rome, and it was observed, that Cato’s wife had entered the house of Hortensius very poor, but that she returned to the bed of Cato in the greatest opulence. Plutarch, Cato.――A Roman, slain by Antony on his brother’s tomb. Plutarch.――A pretor, who gave up Macedonia to Brutus. Plutarch.――One of Sylla’s lieutenants. Plutarch.――A Roman, the first who introduced the eating of peacocks at Rome. This was at the feast which he gave when he was created augur.

Hortōna, a town of Italy, on the confines of the Æqui. Livy, bk. 3, ch. 30.

Horus, a son of Isis, one of the deities of the Egyptians.――A king of Assyria.

Hospitālis, a surname of Jupiter among the Romans as the god of hospitality.

Hostilia lex, was enacted A.U.C. 583. By it such as were among the enemies of the republic, or absent when the state required their assistance, were guilty of rapine.

Hostilia, a large town on the Po. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 40.—Pliny, bk. 21, ch. 12.

Hostius Hostilius, a warlike Roman, presented with a crown of boughs by Romulus, for his intrepid behaviour in a battle. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.――A consul.――A Latin poet in the age of Julius Cæsar, who composed a poem on the wars of Istria. Macrobius, satire 6, chs. 3 & 5.

Hunni, a people of Sarmatia, who invaded the empire of Rome in the fifth century, and settled in Pannonia, to which they gave the name of Hungary.

Hyacinthia, an annual solemnity at Amyclæ, in Laconia, in honour of Hyacinthus and Apollo. It continued for three days, during which time the grief of the people was so great for the death of Hyacinthus, that they did not adorn their hair with garlands during their festivals, nor eat bread, but fed only upon sweetmeats. They did not even sing pæans in honour of Apollo, or observe any of the solemnities which were usual at other sacrifices. On the second day of the festival there were a number of different exhibitions. Youths, with their garments girt about them, entertained the spectators, by playing sometimes upon the flute, or upon the harp, and by singing anapestic songs, in loud, echoing voices, in honour of Apollo. Others passed across the theatre mounted upon horses richly adorned, and, at the same time, choirs of young men came upon the stage singing their uncouth rustic songs, and accompanied by persons who danced at the sound of vocal and instrumental music, according to the ancient custom. Some virgins were also introduced in chariots of wood, covered at the top and magnificently adorned. Others appeared in race chariots. The city began then to be filled with joy, and immense numbers of victims were offered on the altars of Apollo, and the votaries liberally entertained their friends and slaves. During this latter part of the festivity, all were eager to be present at the games, and the city was almost left without inhabitants. Athenæus, bk. 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 219.—Pausanias, bk. 3, chs. 1 & 19.

Hyacinthus, a son of Amyclas and Diomede, greatly beloved by Apollo and Zephyrus. He returned the former’s love, and Zephyrus, incensed at his coldness and indifference, resolved to punish his rival. As Apollo, who was entrusted with the education of Hyacinthus, once played at quoit with his pupil, Zephyrus blew the quoit, as soon as it was thrown by Apollo, upon the head of Hyacinthus, and he was killed with the blow. Apollo was so disconsolate at the death of Hyacinthus, that he changed his blood into a flower, which bore his name, and placed his body among the constellations. The Spartans also established yearly festivals in honour of the nephew of their king. See: Hyacinthia. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 19.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 185, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, &c.

Hyădes, five daughters of Atlas king of Mauritania, who were so disconsolate at the death of their brother Hyas, who had been killed by a wild boar, that they pined away and died. They became stars after death, and were placed near Taurus, one of the 12 signs of the Zodiac. They received the name of Hyades from their brother Hyas. Their names are Phaola, Ambrosia, Eudora, Coronis, and Polyxo. To these some have added Thione and Prodice, and they maintained that they were daughters of Hyas and Æthra, one of the Oceanides. Euripides calls them daughters of Erechtheus. The ancients supposed that the rising and setting of the Hyades were always attended with much rain, whence the name (ὑω pluo). Ovid, Fasti, bk. 5, li. 165.—Hyginus, fable 182.—Euripides, Ion.

Hyăgnis, a Phrygian, father of Marsyas. He invented the flute. Plutarch, de Musica.

Hyăla, a city at the mouth of the Indus, where the government is the same as at Sparta.――One of Diana’s attendant nymphs. Ovid.

Hyampŏlis, a city of Phocis, on the Cephisus, founded by the Hyanthes. Herodotus, bk. 8.

Hyanthes, the ancient name of the inhabitants of Bœotia, from king Hyas. Cadmus is sometimes called Hyanthius, because he was king of Bœotia. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 147.

Hyantis, an ancient name of Bœotia.

Hyarbita, a man who endeavoured to imitate Timogenes, &c. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 19, li. 15.

Hyas, a son of Atlas of Mauritania by Æthra. His extreme fondness for shooting proved fatal to him, and in his attempts to rob a lioness of her whelps, he was killed by the enraged animal. Some say that he died by the bite of a serpent, and others that he was killed by a wild boar. His sisters mourned his death with such constant lamentations, that Jupiter, in compassion for their sorrow, changed them into stars. See: Hyades. Hyginus, fable 192.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 5, li. 170.

Hybla, a mountain in Sicily, called afterwards Megara, where thyme and odoriferous flowers of all sorts grew in abundance. It is famous for its honey. There is at the foot of the mountain a town of the same name. There is also another near mount Ætna, close to Catana. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 23.—Strabo, bk. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 3, ch. 43; bk. 5, ch. 25.—Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 26.—Statius, bk. 14, li. 201.――A city of Attica bears also the name of Hybla.

Hybrēas, an orator of Caria, &c. Strabo, bk. 13.

Hybrianes, a people near Thrace.

Hyccaron (plural, a), a town of Sicily, the native place of Lais.

Hyda and Hyde, a town of Lydia, under mount Tmolus, which some suppose to be the same as Sardes.

Hydara, a town of Armenia. Strabo, bk. 12.

Hydarnes, one of the seven noble Persians who conspired to destroy the usurper Smerdis, &c. Herodotus, bks. 3 & 6.—Strabo, bk. 11.

Hydaspes, a river of Asia, flowing by Susa. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 211.――Another in India, now Behut or Chelum, the boundaries of Alexander’s conquests in the east. It falls into the Indus. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 2.—Lucan, bk. 8, li. 227.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 22, li. 7.—Strabo, bk. 15.――A friend of Æneas, killed in the Rutulian war. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 747.

Hydra, a celebrated monster, which infested the neighbourhood of the lake Lerna in Peloponnesus. It was the fruit of Echidna’s union with Typhon. It had 100 heads, according to Diodorus; 50, according to Simonides; and nine, according to the more received opinion of Apollodorus, Hyginus, &c. As soon as one of these heads was cut off, two immediately grew up if the wound was not stopped by fire. It was one of the labours of Hercules to destroy this dreadful monster, and this he easily effected with the assistance of Iolas, who applied a burning iron to the wounds as soon as one head was cut off. While Hercules was destroying the hydra, Juno, jealous of his glory, sent a sea-crab to bite his foot. This new enemy was soon despatched; and Juno, unable to succeed in her attempts to lessen the fame of Hercules, placed the crab among the constellations, where it is now called the Cancer. The conqueror dipped his arrows in the gall of the hydra, and, from that circumstance, all the wounds which he gave proved incurable and mortal. Hesiod, Theogony.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 17.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 69.—Horace, bk. 4, ode 4, li. 61.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 276; bk. 7, li. 658.

Hydraotes, a river of India, crossed by Alexander.

Hydrophŏria, a festival observed at Athens, called ἀπο του φορειν ὑδωρ, from carrying water. It was celebrated in commemoration of those who perished in the deluge of Deucalion and Ogyges.

Hydruntum and Hydrus, a city of Calabria, 50 miles south of Brundusium. As the distance from thence to Greece was only 60 miles, Pyrrhus, and afterwards Varro, Pompey’s lieutenant, meditated the building here a bridge across the Adriatic. Though so favourably situated, Hydrus, now called Otranto, is but an insignificant town, scarce containing 3000 inhabitants. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 11.—Cicero, bk. 15, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 21; bk. 16, ltr. 5.—Lucan, bk. 5, li. 375.

Hydrūsa, a town of Attica. Strabo, bk. 9.

Hyĕla, a town of Lucania. Strabo, bk. 6.

Hyempsal, a son of Micipsa, brother to Adherbal, murdered by Jugurtha, after the death of his father. Sallust, Jugurthine War.

Hyettus, a town of Bœotia. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 24.

Hygeia, or Hygiea, the goddess of health, daughter of Æsculapius, held in great veneration among the ancients. Her statues represented her with a veil, and the matrons usually consecrated their locks to her. She was also represented on monuments as a young woman holding a serpent in one hand, and in the other a cup, out of which the serpent sometimes drank. According to some authors, Hygeia is the same as Minerva, who received that name from Pericles, who erected her a statue, because in a dream she had told him the means of curing an architect, whose assistance he wanted to build a temple. Plutarch, Pericles.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 23.

Hygiana, a town of Peloponnesus.

Caius Julius Hygīnus, a grammarian, one of the freedmen of Augustus. He was a native of Alexandria; or, according to some, he was a Spaniard, very intimate with Ovid. He was appointed librarian to the library of mount Palatine, and he was able to maintain himself by the liberality of Caius Licinius. He wrote a mythological history, which he called fables, and Poeticon Astronomicon, besides treatises on the cities of Italy, on such Roman families as were descended from the Trojans, a book on agriculture, commentaries on Virgil, the lives of great men, &c., now lost. The best edition of Hyginus is that of Munkerus, 2 vols., 8vo, Amsterdam, 1681. These compositions have been greatly mutilated, and their incorrectness and their bad Latinity have induced some to suppose that they are spurious. Suetonius, Lives of the Grammarians.

Hyla and Hylas, a river of Mysia, where Hylas was drowned. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 6.――A colony of Phocis.

Hylactor, one of Actæon’s dogs, from his barking (ὐλακτω, latro). Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3.

Hylæ, a small town of Bœotia. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 7.

Hylæus, a name given to some centaurs, one of whom was killed by Hercules on mount Pholoe. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 294.――Another, by Theseus, at the nuptials of Pirithous. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 7, li. 267.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 378.――Another, killed by Bacchus. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 6, li. 530.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 457.――A fourth, killed by Atalanta. Apollodorus, bk. 3.――One of Actæon’s dogs.

Hylas, a son of Thiodamas king of Mysia and Menedice, stolen away by Hercules, and carried on board the ship Argo to Colchis. On the Asiatic coast the Argonauts landed to take a supply of fresh water, and Hylas, following the example of his companions, went to the fountain with a pitcher, and fell into the water and was drowned. The poets have embellished this tragical story, by saying that the nymphs of the river, enamoured of the beautiful Hylas, carried him away; and that Hercules, disconsolate at the loss of his favourite youth, filled the woods and mountains with his complaints, and at last abandoned the Argonautic expedition to go and seek him. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Hyginus, fables 14, 271.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 6.—Propertius, bk. 1, poem 20.――A river of Bithynia. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 32.

Hylax, a dog mentioned in Virgil, Eclogues, poem 8.

Hylias, a river of Magna Græcia.

Hyllaicus, a part of Peloponnesus, near Messenia.

Hyllus, a son of Hercules and Dejanira, who, soon after his father’s death, married Iole. He, as well as his father, was persecuted by the envy of Eurystheus, and obliged to fly from the Peloponnesus. The Athenians gave a kind reception to Hyllus and the rest of the Heraclidæ, and marched against Eurystheus. Hyllus obtained a victory over his enemies, and killed with his own hand Eurystheus, and sent his head to Alcmena his grandmother. Some time after he attempted to recover the Peloponnesus with the Heraclidæ, and was killed in single combat by Echemus king of Arcadia. See: Heraclidæ, Hercules. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 204, &c.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 279.――A river of Lydia, flowing into the Hernus. It is called also Phryx. Livy, bk. 37, ch. 38.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 180.

Hylonŏme, the wife of Cyllarus, who killed herself the moment her husband was murdered by the Lapithæ. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 405.

Hylophăgi, a people of Æthiopia. Diodorus, bk. 3.

Hymĕnæus and Hymen, the god of marriage among the Greeks, was son of Bacchus and Venus, or, according to others, of Apollo and one of the muses. Hymenæus, according to the more received opinions, was a young Athenian of extraordinary beauty, but ignoble origin. He became enamoured of the daughter of one of the richest and noblest of his countrymen, and, as the rank and elevation of his mistress removed him from her presence and conversation, he contented himself to follow her wherever she went. In a certain procession, in which all the matrons of Athens went to Eleusis, Hymenæus, to accompany his mistress, disguised himself in woman’s clothes, and joined the religious troop. His youth, and the fairness of his features, favoured his disguise. A great part of the procession was seized by the sudden arrival of some pirates, and Hymenæus, who shared the captivity of his mistress, encouraged his female companions, and assassinated their ravishers while they were asleep. Immediately after this, Hymenæus repaired to Athens, and promised to restore to liberty the matrons who had been enslaved, provided he was allowed to marry one among them who was the object of his passion. The Athenians consented, and Hymenæus experienced so much felicity in his marriage state, that the people of Athens instituted festivals in his honour, and solemnly invoked him at their nuptials, as the Latins did their Thalassius. Hymen was generally represented as crowned with flowers, chiefly with marjoram or roses, and holding a burning torch in one hand, and in the other a vest of a purple colour. It was supposed that he always attended at nuptials; for, if not, matrimonial connections were fatal, and ended in the most dreadful calamities; and hence people ran about calling aloud, “Hymen! Hymen!” &c. Ovid, Medeâ; Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 215.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, &c.—Catullus, poem 62.

Hymettus, a mountain of Attica, about 22 miles in circumference, and about two miles from Athens, still famous for its bees and excellent honey. There was also a quarry of marble there. Jupiter had there a temple; whence he is called Hymettius. Strabo, bk. 9.—Silius Italicus, bk. 2, li. 228; bk. 14, li. 200.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 3.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 18, li. 3; bk. 2, satire 2, li. 15.—Cicero, bk. 2, de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, ch. 34.

Hypæpa, or Ipepæ, now Berki, a town of Lydia, sacred to Venus, between mount Tmolus and the Caystrus. Strabo, bk. 13.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 152.

Hypæsia, a country of Peloponnesus.

Hypănis, a river of European Scythia, now called Bog, which falls into the Borysthenes, and with it into the Euxine. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 52, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 285.――A river of India.――Another of Pontus. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 2, ch. 39.――A Trojan who joined himself to Æneas, and was killed by his own people, who took him for one of the enemy in the night that Troy was burned by the Greeks. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 428.

Hyparīnus, a son of Dion, who reigned at Syracuse for two years after his father.――The father of Dion.

Hypătes, a river of Sicily, near Camarina. Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 231.

Hypătha, a town of Thessaly. Livy, bk. 41, ch. 25.

Hypatia, a native of Alexandria celebrated for her beauty, her virtues, and her great erudition. She was assassinated 415 A.D.

Hypēnor, a Trojan killed by Diomedes at Troy. Homer, Iliad, bk. 5, li. 144.

Hyperbatus, a pretor of the Achæans, B.C. 224.

Hyperbius, a son of Ægyptus. Apollodorus.

Hy̆perbŏrei, a nation in the northern parts of Europe and Asia, who were said to live to an incredible age, even to 1000 years, and in the enjoyment of all possible felicity. The sun was said to rise and set to them but once a year, and therefore, perhaps, they are placed by Virgil under the north pole. The word signifies people who inhabit beyond the wind Boreas. Thrace was the residence of Boreas, according to the ancients. Whenever the Hyperboreans made offerings they always sent them towards the south, and the people of Dodona were the first of the Greeks who received them. The word Hyperboreans is applied, in general, to all those who inhabit any cold climate. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12; bk. 6, ch. 17.—Mela, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 240; bk. 3, lis. 169 & 381.—Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 13, &c.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 23; bk. 4, ch. 12.