See Kautz,Gesch. Entwicklung d. National-Ökonomik, pp. 633-638; Roscher,Gesch. d. Nat.-Ökon. in Deutschland, pp. 860-879.
See Kautz,Gesch. Entwicklung d. National-Ökonomik, pp. 633-638; Roscher,Gesch. d. Nat.-Ökon. in Deutschland, pp. 860-879.
HERMANN, JOHANN GOTTFRIED JAKOB(1772-1848), German classical scholar and philologist, was born at Leipzig on the 28th of November 1772. Entering the university of his native city at the age of fourteen, Hermann at first studied law, which he soon abandoned for the classics. After a session at Jena in 1793-1794, he became a lecturer on classical literature in Leipzig, in 1798professor extraordinariusof philosophy in the university, and in 1803 professor of eloquence (and poetry, 1809). He died on the 31st of December 1848. Hermann maintained that an accurate knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages was the only road to a clear understanding of the intellectual life of the ancient world, and the chief, if not the only, aim of philology. As the leader of this grammatico-critical school, he came into collision with A. Böckh and Otfried Müller, the representatives of the historico-antiquarian school, which regarded Hermann’s view of philology as inadequate and one-sided.
Hermann devoted his early attention to the classical poetical metres, and published several works on that subject, the most important beingElementa doctrinae metricae(1816), in which he set forth a scientific theory based on the Kantian categories. His writings on Greek grammar are also valuable, especiallyDe emendanda ratione Graecae grammaticae(1801), and notes and excursus on Viger’s treatise on Greek idioms. His editions of the classics include several of the plays of Euripides; theCloudsof Aristophanes (1799);Trinummusof Plautus (1800);Poëticaof Aristotle (1802);Orphica(1805); the HomericHymns(1806); and theLexiconof Photius (1808). In 1825 Hermann finished the edition of Sophocles begun by Erfurdt. His edition of Aeschylus was published after his death in 1852. TheOpuscula, a collection of his smaller writings in Latin, appeared in seven volumes between 1827 and 1839.
See monographs by O. Jahn (1849) and H. Köchly (1874); C. Bursian,Geschichte der klassischen Philologie in Deutschland(1883); art. inAllgem. deutsche Biog.; Sandys,Hist. Class. Schol.iii.
See monographs by O. Jahn (1849) and H. Köchly (1874); C. Bursian,Geschichte der klassischen Philologie in Deutschland(1883); art. inAllgem. deutsche Biog.; Sandys,Hist. Class. Schol.iii.
HERMANN, KARL FRIEDRICH(1804-1855), German classical scholar and antiquary, was born on the 4th of August 1804, at Frankfort-on-Main. Having studied at the universities of Heidelberg and Leipzig, he went for a tour in Italy, on his return from which he lectured asPrivatdozentin Heidelberg. In 1832 he was called to Marburg asprofessor ordinariusof classical literature; and in 1842 he was transferred to Göttingen to the chair of philology and archaeology, vacant by the death of Otfried Müller. He died at Göttingen on the 31st of December 1855. His knowledge of all branches of classical learning was profound, but he was chiefly distinguished for his works on Greek antiquities and ancient philosophy. Among these may be mentioned theLehrbuch der griechischen Antiquitäten(new ed., 1889) dealing with political, religious and domestic antiquities; theGeschichte und System der Platonischen Philosophie(1839), unfinished; an edition of the Platonic Dialogues (6 vols., 1851-1853); andCulturgeschickte der Griechen und Römer(1857-1858), published after his death by C. G. Schmidt. He also edited the text of Juvenal and Persius (1854) and Lucian’sDe conscribenda historia(1828). A collection ofAbhandlungen und Beiträgeappeared in 1849.
See M. Lechner,Zur Erinnerung an K. F. Hermann(1864), and article by C. Halm inAllgemeine deutsche Biographie, xii. (1880).
See M. Lechner,Zur Erinnerung an K. F. Hermann(1864), and article by C. Halm inAllgemeine deutsche Biographie, xii. (1880).
HERMAPHRODITUS,in Greek mythology, a being, partly male, partly female, originally worshipped as a divinity. The conception undoubtedly had its origin in the East, where deities of a similar dual nature frequently occur. The oldest traces of the cult in Greek countries are found in Cyprus. Here, according to Macrobius (Saturnalia, iii. 8) there was a bearded statue of a male aphrodite, called Aphroditos by Aristophanes (probably in hisÎίοβος, a similar variant). Philochorus in hisAtthis(ap.Macrobiusloc. cit.) further identified this divinity, at whose sacrifices men and women exchanged garments, with the moon. This double sex also attributed to Dionysus and Priapus—the union in one being of the two principles of generation and conception—denotes extensive fertilizing and productive powers. This Cyprian Aphrodite is the same as the later Hermaphroditos, which simply means Aphroditos in the form of a herm (seeHermae), and first occurs in theCharacteres(16) of Theophrastus. After its introduction at Athens (probably in the 5th centuryB.C.), the importance of this being seems to have declined. It appears no longer as the object of a special cult, but limited to the homage of certain sects, expressed by superstitious rites of obscure significance. The still later form of the legend, a product of the Hellenistic period, is due to a mistaken etymology of the name. In accordance with this, Hermaphroditus is the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, of whom the nymph of the fountain of Salmacis in Caria became enamoured while he was bathing. When her overtures were rejected, she embraced him and entreated the gods that she might be for ever united with him. The result was the formation of a being, half man, half woman. This story is told by Ovid (Metam.iv. 285) to explain the peculiarly enervating qualities of the water of the fountain. Strabo (xiv. p. 656) attributes its bad reputation to the attempt of the inhabitants of the country to find some excuse for the demoralization caused by their own luxurious and effeminate habits of life. There was a famous statue of Hermaphroditus by Polycles of Athens, probably the younger of the two statuaries of that name. In later Greek art he was a favourite subject.
See articles in Daremberg and Saglio,Dictionnaire des antiquités, and Roscher’sLexikon der Mythologie; and for art, A. Baumeister,Denkmäler des klassischen Altertums(1884-1888).
See articles in Daremberg and Saglio,Dictionnaire des antiquités, and Roscher’sLexikon der Mythologie; and for art, A. Baumeister,Denkmäler des klassischen Altertums(1884-1888).
HERMAS, SHEPHERD OF,one of the works representing the Apostolic Fathers (q.v.), a hortatory writing which “holds the mirror up†to the Church in Rome during the 3rd Christian generation. This is the period indicated by the evidence of the Muratorian Canon, which assigns it to the brother of Pius, Roman bishopc.139-154. Probably it was not the fruit of a single effort of its author. Rather its contents came to him piecemeal and at various stages in his ministry as a Christian “prophet,†extending over a period of years; and, like certain Old Testament prophets, he shows us how by his own experiences he became the medium of a divine message to his church and to God’s “elect†people at large.
In its present form it falls under three heads:Visions,Mandates,Similitudes. But these divisions are misleading. The personal and preliminary revelation embodied inVisioni. brings the prophet a new sense of sin as essentially a matter of the heart,and an awakened conscience as before the “glory of God,†the Creator and Upholder of all things. His responsibility also for the sad state of religion at home is emphasized, and he is given a mission of repentance to his erring children. How far in all this and in the next vision the author is describing facts, and how far transforming his personal history into a type (after the manner of Bunyan’sPilgrim’s Progress), the better to impress his moral upon his readers, is uncertain. But the whole style of the work, with its use of conventional apocalyptic forms, favours the more symbolic view.Visionii. records his call proper, through revelation of his essential message, to be delivered both to his wife and children and to “all the saints who have sinned unto this day†(2. 4). It contains the assurances of forgiveness even for the gravest sins after baptism (save blasphemy of the Name and betrayal of the brethren,Sim.ix. 19), “if they repent with their whole heart and remove doubts from their minds. For the Master hath sworn by His glory (‘His Son,’ below) touching His elect, that if there be more sinning after this day which He hath limited, they shall not obtain salvation. For the repentance of the righteous hath an end; the days of repentance for all saints are fulfilled.... Stand fast, then, ye that work righteousness and be not of doubtful mind.... Happy are all ye that endure the great tribulation which is to come....The Lord is nigh unto them that turn to Him, as it is written in the book of Eldad and Modad, who prophesied to the people in the wilderness.â€
Here, in the gist of the “booklet†received from the hand of a female figure representing the Church, we have in germ the message ofThe Shepherd. But before Hermas announces it to the Roman Church, and through “Clementâ€1to the churches abroad, there are added twoVisions(iii. iv.) tending to heighten its impressiveness. He is shown the “holy church†under the similitude of a tower in building, and the great and final tribulation (already alluded to as near at hand) under that of a devouring beast, which yet is innocuous to undoubting faith.
Hermas begins to deliver the message ofVis.i.-iv., as bidden. But as he does so, it is added to, in the way of detail and illustration, by a fresh series of revelations through an angel in the guise of a Shepherd, who in a preliminary interview announces himself as the Angel of Repentance, sent to administer the special “repentance†which it was Hermas’s mission to declare. This interview appears in our MSS. asVis.v.,2but is really a prelude to theMandatesandSimilitudeswhich form the bulk of the whole work, hence known as “The Shepherd.†The relation of this second part toVis.i.-iv. is set forth by the Shepherd himself. “I was sent, quoth he, to show theeagainall that thou sawest before, to wit the sum of the things profitable for thee. First of all write thou my mandates and similitudes; andthe rest, as I will show thee, so shalt thou write.†This programme is fulfilled in the xii.Mandates—perhaps suggested by theTeaching of the Twelve Apostles(seeDidache), which Hermas knows—andSimilitudesi.-viii., whileSimil.ix. is “the rest†and constitutes a distinct “book†(Sim.ix. 1. 1, x. 1. 1). In this latter the building of the Tower, already shown in outline inVis.iii., is shown “more carefully†in an elaborate section dealing with the same themes. One may infer thatSim.ix. represents a distinctly later stage in Hermas’s ministry—during the whole of which he seems to have committed to writing what he received on each occasion,3possibly for recital to the church (cf.Vis.ii.fin.). Finally cameSim.x., really an epilogue in which Hermas is “delivered†afresh to the Shepherd, for the rest of his days. He is “to continue in this ministry†of proclaiming the Shepherd’s teaching, “so that they who have repented or are about to repent may have the same mind with thee,†and so receive a good report before God (Sim.x. 2 2-4). Only they must “make haste to do aright,†lest while they delay the tower be finished (4. 4), and the new aeon dawn (after the final tribulation: cf.Vis.iv. 3. 5).
The relation here indicated between the Shepherd’s instruction and the initial message of one definitive repentance, open to those believers who have already “broken†their “seal†of baptism by deadly sins, as announced inVisionsi.-iv. is made yet plainer bySim.vi. 1. 3 f. “These mandates are profitable to such as are about to repent; for except they walk in them their repentance is in vain.†Hermas sees that mere repentance is not enough to meet the backsliding condition in which so many Christians then were, owing to the recoil of inveterate habits of worldliness4entrenched in society around and within. It is, after all, too negative a thing to stand by itself or to satisfy God. “Cease, Hermas,†says the Church, “to pray all about thy sins. Ask for righteousness also†(Vis.iii. 1. 6). The positive Christian ideal which “the saints†should attain, “the Lord enabling,†it is the business of the Shepherd to set forth.
Here lies a great merit of Hermas’s book, his insight into experimental religion and the secret of failure in Christians about him, to many of whom Christianity had come by birth rather than personal conviction. They shared the worldly spirit in its various forms, particularly the desire for wealth and the luxuries it affords, and for a place in “good societyâ€â€”which meant a pagan atmosphere. Thus they were divided in soul between spiritual goods and worldly pleasures, and were apt to doubt whether the rewards promised by God to the life of “simplicity†(all Christ meant by the childlike spirit, including generosity in giving and forgiving) and self-restraint, were real or not. For while the expected “end of the age†delayed, persecutions abounded. Such “doubled-souled†persons, like Mr Facing-both-ways, inclined to say, “The Christian ideal may be glorious, but is it practicable?†It is this most fatal doubt which evokes the Shepherd’s sternest rebuke; and he meets it with the ultimate religious appeal, viz. to “the glory of God.†He who made man “to rule over all things under heaven,†could He have given behests beyond man’s ability? If only a man “hath the Lord in his heart,†he “shall know that there is nothing easier nor sweeter nor gentler than these mandates†(Mand.xii. 3-4). So in the forefront of theMandatesstands the secret of all: “First of all believe that there is one God.... Believe therefore in Him, and fear Him, and fearing Him have self-mastery. For the fear of the Lord dwelleth in the good desire,†and to “put on†this master-desire is to possess power to curb “evil desire†in all its shapes (Mand.xii. 1-2). Elsewhere “good desire†is analysed into the “spirits†of the several virtues, which yet are organically related, Faith being mother, and Self-mastery her daughter, and so on (Vis.iii. 8. 3 seq.; cf.Sim.ix. 15). These are the specific forms of the Holy Spirit power, without whose indwelling the mandates cannot be kept (Sim.x. 3; cf. ix. 13. 2, 24. 2).
Thus the “moralism†sometimes traced in Hermas is apparent rather than real, for he has a deep sense of the enabling grace of God. His defect lies rather in not presenting the historic Christ as the Christian’s chief inspiration, a fact which connects itself with the strange absence of the names “Jesus†and “Christ.†He uses rather “the Son of God,†in a peculiar Adoptianist sense, which, as taken for granted in a work by the bishop’s own brother, must be held typical of the Roman Church of his day. But as it is implicit and not part of his distinctive message, it did not hinder his book from enjoying wide quasi-canonical honour during most of the Ante-Nicene period.
The absence of the historic names, “Jesus†and “Christ,†may be due to the form of the book as purporting to quote angelic communications. This would also explain the absence of explicit scriptural citations generally, though knowledge both of the Old Testament and of several New Testament books—including the congenially symbolic Gospel of John—is clear (cf.The New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers, Oxford, 1905, 105 seq.). The one exception is a prophetic writing, the apocryphalBook of Eldad and Modad,which is cited apparently as being similar in the scope of its message. Among its non-scriptural sources may be named the allegoric picture of human life known asTabula Cebetis(cf. C. Taylor, as below), theDidache, and perhaps certain “Sibylline Oracles.â€Hermas regarded Christians as “justified by the most reverend Angel†(i.e.the pre-existent Holy Spirit or Son, who dwelt in Christ’s “fleshâ€), in baptism, the “seal†which even Old Testament saints had to receive in Hades (Sim.ix. 16. 3-7) and so attain to “life.†Yet the degree of “honour†(e.g.that of martyrs,Vis.iii. 2;Sim.ix. 28), the exact place in the kingdom or consummated church (the Tower), is given as reward for zeal in doing God’s will beyond the minimum requisite in all. Here comes in Hermas’s doctrine of works of supererogation, in fulfilment of counsels of perfection, on lines already seen inDid.vi. 2, cf. i. 4, and reappearing in the two types of Christian recognized by Clement and Origen and in later Catholicism. Again his doctrine of fasting is a spiritualizing of a currentopus operatumconception on Jewish lines as though “keeping a watch†(statio) in that way atoned for sins (Sim.v.). The Shepherd enjoins instead, first, as “a perfect fast,†a fast “from every evil word and every evil desire, ... from all the vanities of this world-age†(3. 6; cf.Barn.iii. and the Oxyrhynchus Saying, “except ye fast from the worldâ€); and next, as a counsel of perfection, a fast to yield somewhat for the relief of the widow and orphan, that this extra “service†may be to God for a “sacrifice.â€Generally speaking, Hermas’s piety, especially in its language, adheres closely to Old Testament forms. But it is doubtful (paceSpina and Völter, who assume a Jewish or a proselyte basis) whether this means more than that the Old Testament was stilltheScriptures of the Church. In this respect, too, Hermas faithfully reflects the Roman Church of the early 2nd century (cf. the language of 1 Clem., esp. the liturgical parts, and even the Roman Mass). Indeed the prime value of theShepherdis the light it casts on Christianity at Rome in the otherwise obscure periodc.110-140, when it had as yet hardly felt the influences converging on it from other centres of tradition and thought. Thus Hermas’s comparatively mild censures on Gnostic teachers inSim.ix. suggest that the greater systems, like the Valentinian and Marcionite, had not yet made an impression there, as Harnack argues that they must have done byc.145. This date, then, is a likely lower limit for Hermas’s revision of his earlier prophetic memoranda, and their publication in a single homogeneous work, such as theShepherdappears to be. Its wider historic significance—it was felt by its author to be adapted to the needs of the Church at large, and was generally welcomed as such—is great but hard to determine in detail.5What is certain is its influence on the development of the Church’s policy as to discipline in grave cases, like apostasy and adultery—a burning question for some generations from the end of the 2nd century, particularly in Rome and North Africa. Indirectly, too, Hermas tended to keep alive the idea of the Christian prophet, even after Montanism had helped to discredit it.Literature.—The chief modern edition is by O. von Gebhardt and A. Harnack, in Fasc. iii. of theirPatr. apost. opera(Leipzig, 1877); it is edited less fully by F. X. Funk,Patr. apost.(Tübingen, 1901), and in an English trans., with Introduction and occasional notes, by Dr C. Taylor (S.P.C.K., 2 vols., 1903-1906). For the wide literature of the subject, see the two former editions, also Harnack’sChronologie der altchr. Lit.i. 257 seq., and O. Bardenhewer,Gesch. der altkirchl. Lit.i. 557 seq. For the authorship seeApocalyptic Literature, sect. III.
The absence of the historic names, “Jesus†and “Christ,†may be due to the form of the book as purporting to quote angelic communications. This would also explain the absence of explicit scriptural citations generally, though knowledge both of the Old Testament and of several New Testament books—including the congenially symbolic Gospel of John—is clear (cf.The New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers, Oxford, 1905, 105 seq.). The one exception is a prophetic writing, the apocryphalBook of Eldad and Modad,which is cited apparently as being similar in the scope of its message. Among its non-scriptural sources may be named the allegoric picture of human life known asTabula Cebetis(cf. C. Taylor, as below), theDidache, and perhaps certain “Sibylline Oracles.â€
Hermas regarded Christians as “justified by the most reverend Angel†(i.e.the pre-existent Holy Spirit or Son, who dwelt in Christ’s “fleshâ€), in baptism, the “seal†which even Old Testament saints had to receive in Hades (Sim.ix. 16. 3-7) and so attain to “life.†Yet the degree of “honour†(e.g.that of martyrs,Vis.iii. 2;Sim.ix. 28), the exact place in the kingdom or consummated church (the Tower), is given as reward for zeal in doing God’s will beyond the minimum requisite in all. Here comes in Hermas’s doctrine of works of supererogation, in fulfilment of counsels of perfection, on lines already seen inDid.vi. 2, cf. i. 4, and reappearing in the two types of Christian recognized by Clement and Origen and in later Catholicism. Again his doctrine of fasting is a spiritualizing of a currentopus operatumconception on Jewish lines as though “keeping a watch†(statio) in that way atoned for sins (Sim.v.). The Shepherd enjoins instead, first, as “a perfect fast,†a fast “from every evil word and every evil desire, ... from all the vanities of this world-age†(3. 6; cf.Barn.iii. and the Oxyrhynchus Saying, “except ye fast from the worldâ€); and next, as a counsel of perfection, a fast to yield somewhat for the relief of the widow and orphan, that this extra “service†may be to God for a “sacrifice.â€
Generally speaking, Hermas’s piety, especially in its language, adheres closely to Old Testament forms. But it is doubtful (paceSpina and Völter, who assume a Jewish or a proselyte basis) whether this means more than that the Old Testament was stilltheScriptures of the Church. In this respect, too, Hermas faithfully reflects the Roman Church of the early 2nd century (cf. the language of 1 Clem., esp. the liturgical parts, and even the Roman Mass). Indeed the prime value of theShepherdis the light it casts on Christianity at Rome in the otherwise obscure periodc.110-140, when it had as yet hardly felt the influences converging on it from other centres of tradition and thought. Thus Hermas’s comparatively mild censures on Gnostic teachers inSim.ix. suggest that the greater systems, like the Valentinian and Marcionite, had not yet made an impression there, as Harnack argues that they must have done byc.145. This date, then, is a likely lower limit for Hermas’s revision of his earlier prophetic memoranda, and their publication in a single homogeneous work, such as theShepherdappears to be. Its wider historic significance—it was felt by its author to be adapted to the needs of the Church at large, and was generally welcomed as such—is great but hard to determine in detail.5What is certain is its influence on the development of the Church’s policy as to discipline in grave cases, like apostasy and adultery—a burning question for some generations from the end of the 2nd century, particularly in Rome and North Africa. Indirectly, too, Hermas tended to keep alive the idea of the Christian prophet, even after Montanism had helped to discredit it.
Literature.—The chief modern edition is by O. von Gebhardt and A. Harnack, in Fasc. iii. of theirPatr. apost. opera(Leipzig, 1877); it is edited less fully by F. X. Funk,Patr. apost.(Tübingen, 1901), and in an English trans., with Introduction and occasional notes, by Dr C. Taylor (S.P.C.K., 2 vols., 1903-1906). For the wide literature of the subject, see the two former editions, also Harnack’sChronologie der altchr. Lit.i. 257 seq., and O. Bardenhewer,Gesch. der altkirchl. Lit.i. 557 seq. For the authorship seeApocalyptic Literature, sect. III.
(J. V. B.)
1More than one interpretation, typical or otherwise, of this “Clement†is possible; but none justifies us in assigning even to thisVisiona date consistent with that usually given to the traditional bishop of this name (seeClement I.). Yet we may have to correct the dubious chronology of the first Roman bishops by this datum, and prolong his life to aboutA.D.110. This is Harnack’s date for the nucleus ofVis.ii., though he places ourVis.i.-iii. later in Trajan’s reign, and thinksVis.iv. later still.2That a prior vision in which Hermas was “delivered†to the Shepherd’s charge, has dropped out, seems implied byVis.v. 3 f.,Sim.x. 1. 1.3Harnack places “The Shepherd†proper mostly under Hadrian (117-138), and the completed workc.140-145.4A careful study of practical Christian ethics at Rome as implied in theShepherd, will be found in E. von Dobschütz,Christian Life in the Primitive Church(1904).5Note the prestige of martyrs and confessors, the ways of true and false prophets inMand.xi., and the different types of evil and good “walk†among Christians,e.g.inVis.iii. 5-7;Mand.viii.;Sim.viii.
1More than one interpretation, typical or otherwise, of this “Clement†is possible; but none justifies us in assigning even to thisVisiona date consistent with that usually given to the traditional bishop of this name (seeClement I.). Yet we may have to correct the dubious chronology of the first Roman bishops by this datum, and prolong his life to aboutA.D.110. This is Harnack’s date for the nucleus ofVis.ii., though he places ourVis.i.-iii. later in Trajan’s reign, and thinksVis.iv. later still.
2That a prior vision in which Hermas was “delivered†to the Shepherd’s charge, has dropped out, seems implied byVis.v. 3 f.,Sim.x. 1. 1.
3Harnack places “The Shepherd†proper mostly under Hadrian (117-138), and the completed workc.140-145.
4A careful study of practical Christian ethics at Rome as implied in theShepherd, will be found in E. von Dobschütz,Christian Life in the Primitive Church(1904).
5Note the prestige of martyrs and confessors, the ways of true and false prophets inMand.xi., and the different types of evil and good “walk†among Christians,e.g.inVis.iii. 5-7;Mand.viii.;Sim.viii.
HERMENEUTICS(Gr.ἑÏμηνευτική,sc.Ï„Îχνη, Lat.ars hermeneutica, fromἑÏμηνεÏειν, to interpret, from Hermes, the messenger of the gods), the science or art of interpretation or explanation, especially of the Holy Scriptures (seeTheology).
HERMES,a Greek god, identified by the Romans with Mercury. The derivation of his name and his primitive character are very uncertain. The earliest centres of his cult were Arcadia, where Mt. Cyllene was reputed to be his birthplace, the islands of Lemnos, Imbros and Samothrace, in which he was associated with the Cabeiri and Attica. In Arcadia he was specially worshipped as the god of fertility, and his images were ithyphallic, as also were the “Hermae†at Athens. Herodotus (ii. 51) states that the Athenians borrowed this type from the Pelasgians, thus testifying to the great antiquity of the phallic Hermes. At Cyllene in Elis a mere phallus served as his emblem, and was highly venerated in the time of Pausanias (vi. 26. 3). Both in literature and cult Hermes was constantly associated with the protection of cattle and sheep; at Tanagra and elsewhere his title wasκÏιοφόÏος, the ram-bearer. As a pastoral god he was often closely connected with deities of vegetation, especially Pan and the nymphs. His pastoral character is recognized in theIliad(xiv. 490) and the later epic hymn to Hermes; and his Homeric titlesἀκάκητα, á¼ÏιοÏνιος, Î´ÏŽÏ„Ï‰Ï á¼Î¬Ï‰Î½, probably refer to him as the giver of fertility. In theOdyssey, however, he appears mainly as the messenger of the gods, and the conductor of the dead to Hades. Hence in later times he is often represented in art and mythology as a herald. The conductor of souls was naturally a chthonian god; at Athens there was a festival in honour of Hermes and the souls of the dead, and Aeschylus (Persae, 628) invokes Hermes, with Earth and Hades, in summoning a spirit from the underworld. The function of a messenger-god may have originated the conception of Hermes as a dream-god; he is called the “conductor of dreams†(á¼¡Î³Î®Ï„Ï‰Ï á½€Î½ÎµÎ¯Ïων), and the Greeks offered to him the last libation before sleep. As a messenger he may also have become the god of roads and doorways; he was the protector of travellers and his images were used for boundary-marks (seeHermae). It was a custom to make a cairn of stones near the wayside statues of Hermes, each passer-by adding a stone; the significance of the practice, which is found in many countries, is discussed by Frazer (Golden Bough, 2nd ed., iii. 10 f.) and Hartland (Legend of Perseus, ii. 228). Treasure found in the road (ἕÏμαιον) was the gift of Hermes, and any stroke of good luck was attributed to him; but it may be doubted whether his patronage of luck in general was developed from his function as a god of roads. As the giver of luck he became a deity of gain and commerce (κεÏδῷος, ἀγοÏαῖος), an aspect which caused his identification with Mercury, the Roman god of trade. From this conception his thievish character may have been evolved. The trickery and cunning of Hermes is a prominent theme in literature from Homer downwards, although it is very rarely recognized in official cult.1In the hymn to Hermes the god figures as a precocious child (a type familiar in folk-lore), who when a new-born babe steals the cows of Apollo. In addition to these characteristics various other functions were assigned to Hermes, who developed, perhaps, into the most complete type of the versatile Greek. In many respects he was a counterpart of Apollo, less dignified and powerful, but more human than his greater brother. Hermes was a patron of music, like Apollo, and invented the cithara; he presided over the games, with Apollo and Heracles, and his statues were common in the stadia and gymnasia. He became, in fact, the ideal Greek youth, equally proficient in the “musical†and “gymnastic†branches of Greek education. On the “musical†side he was the special patron of eloquence (λόγιος); in gymnastic, he was the giver of grace rather than of strength, which was the province of Heracles. Though athletic, he was one of the least militant of the gods; a titleÏ€Ïόμαχος, the Defender, is found only in connexion with a victory of young men (“ephebesâ€) in a battle at Tanagra. A further point of contact between Hermes and Apollo may here be noted: both had prophetic powers, although Hermes held a place far inferior to that of the Pythian god, and possessed no famous oracle. Certain forms of popular divination were, however, under his patronage, notably the world-wide process of divination by pebbles (θÏιαί). The “Homeric†Hymn to Hermes explains these minor gifts of prophecy as delegated by Apollo, who alone knew the mind of Zeus. Only a single oracle is recorded for Hermes, in the market-place of Pharae in Achaea, and here the procedure was akin to popular divination. An altar, furnished with lamps, was placed before the statue; the inquirer, after lighting the lamps and offering incense, placed a coin in the right hand of the god; he then whispered his question into the ear of the statue, and, stopping his own ears, left the market place. The first sound which he heard outside was an omen.
From the foregoing account it will be seen that it is difficult to derive the many-sided character of Hermes from a single elemental conception. The various theories which identified him with the sun, the moon or the dawn, may be dismissed, as they do not rest on evidence to which value would now be attached. The Arcadian or “Pelasgic†Hermes may have been an earth-deity, as his connexion with fertility suggests; but his symbol at Cyllenerather points to a mere personification of reproductive powers. According to Plutarch the ancients “set Hermes by the side of Aphrodite,â€i.e.the male and female principles of generation; and the two deities were worshipped together in Argos and elsewhere. But this phallic character does not explain other aspects of Hermes, as the messenger-god, the master-thief or the ideal Greek ephebe. It is impossible to adopt the view that the Homeric poets turned the rude shepherd-god of Arcadia into a messenger, in order to provide him with a place in the Olympian circle. To their Achaean audience Hermes must have been more than a phallic god. It is more probable that the Olympian Hermes represents the fusion of several distinct deities. Some scholars hold that the various functions of Hermes may have originated from the idea of good luck which is so closely bound up with his character. As a pastoral god he would give luck to the flocks and herds; when worshipped by townspeople, he would give luck to the merchant, the orator, the traveller and the athlete. But though the notion of luck plays an important part in early thought, it seems improbable that the primitive Greeks would have personified a mere abstraction. Another theory, which has much to commend it, has been advanced by Roscher, who sees in Hermes a wind-god. His strongest arguments are that the wind would easily develop into the messenger of the gods (Διὸς οὖÏος), and that it was often thought to promote fertility in crops and cattle. Thus the two aspects of Hermes which seem most discordant are referred to a single origin. The Homeric epithetἈÏγειφόντης, which the Greeks interpreted as “the slayer of Argus,†inventing a myth to account for Argus, is explained as originally an epithet of the wind (á¼€Ïγεστής), which clears away the mists (á¼€Ïγός, φαίνω). The uncertainty of the wind might well suggest the trickery of a thief, and its whistling might contain the germ from which a god of music should be developed. But many of Roscher’s arguments are forced, and his method of interpretation is not altogether sound. For example, the last argument would equally apply to Apollo, and would lead to the improbable conclusion that Apollo was a wind-god. It must, in fact, be remembered that men make their gods after their own likeness; and, whatever his origin, Hermes in particular was endowed with many of the qualities and habits of the Greek race. If he was evolved from the wind, his character had become so anthropomorphic that the Greeks had practically lost the knowledge of his primitive significance; nor did Greek cult ever associate him with the wind.
The oldest form under which Hermes was represented was that of the Hermae mentioned above. Alcamenes, the rival or pupil of Pheidias, was the sculptor of a herm at Athens, a copy of which, dating from Roman times, was discovered at Pergamum in 1903. But side by side with the Hermae there grew up a more anthropomorphic conception of the god. In archaic art he was portrayed as a full-grown and bearded man, clothed in a long chiton, and often wearing a cap (κυνῆ) or a broad-brimmed hat (Ï€Îτασος), and winged boots. Sometimes he was represented in his pastoral character, as when he bears a sheep on his shoulders; at other times he appears as the messenger or herald of the gods with theκηÏυκεῖον, or herald’s staff, which is his most frequent attribute. From the latter part of the 5th century his art-type was changed in conformity with the general development of Greek sculpture. He now became a nude and beardless youth, the type of the young athlete. In the 4th century this type was probably fixed by Praxiteles in his statue of Hermes at Olympia.
Authorities.—F. G. Welcker,Griech. Götterl.i. 342 f. (Göttingen, 1857-1863); L. Preller, ed. C. Robert,Griech. Mythologie, ii. 385 seq. (Berlin, 1894); W. H. Roscher,Lex. der griech. u. röm. Mythologie, s.v. (Leipzig, 1884-1886); A. Lang,Myth, Ritual and Religion, ii. 225 seq. (London, 1887); C. Daremberg and E. Saglio,Dict. des ant. grecques et rom.; Farnell,Cultsv. (1909); O. Gruppe,Griech. Mythologie u. Religionsgesch.p. 1318 seq. (Munich, 1906). In the articleGreek Art, figs. 43 and 82 (Plate VI.) represent the Hermes of Praxiteles; fig. 57 (Plate II.), a professed copy of the Hermes of Alcamenes.
Authorities.—F. G. Welcker,Griech. Götterl.i. 342 f. (Göttingen, 1857-1863); L. Preller, ed. C. Robert,Griech. Mythologie, ii. 385 seq. (Berlin, 1894); W. H. Roscher,Lex. der griech. u. röm. Mythologie, s.v. (Leipzig, 1884-1886); A. Lang,Myth, Ritual and Religion, ii. 225 seq. (London, 1887); C. Daremberg and E. Saglio,Dict. des ant. grecques et rom.; Farnell,Cultsv. (1909); O. Gruppe,Griech. Mythologie u. Religionsgesch.p. 1318 seq. (Munich, 1906). In the articleGreek Art, figs. 43 and 82 (Plate VI.) represent the Hermes of Praxiteles; fig. 57 (Plate II.), a professed copy of the Hermes of Alcamenes.
(E. E. S.)
1We only hear of a Hermesδόλιοςat Pellene (Paus. vii. 27. 1) and of the custom of allowing promiscuous thieving during the festival of Hermes at Samos (Plut.Quaest. Graec.55).
1We only hear of a Hermesδόλιοςat Pellene (Paus. vii. 27. 1) and of the custom of allowing promiscuous thieving during the festival of Hermes at Samos (Plut.Quaest. Graec.55).
HERMES, GEORG(1775-1831), German Roman Catholic theologian, was born on the 22nd of April 1775, at Dreyerwalde, in Westphalia, and was educated at the gymnasium and university of Münster, in both of which institutions he afterwards taught. In 1820 he was appointed professor of theology at Bonn, where he died on the 26th of May 1831. Hermes had a devoted band of adherents, of whom the most notable was Peter Josef Elvenich (1796-1886), who became professor at Breslau in 1829, and in 1870 threw in his lot with the Old Catholic movement. His works wereUntersuchungen über die innere Wahrheit des Christenthums(Münster, 1805), andEinleitung in die christkatholische Theologie, of which the first part, a philosophical introduction, was published in 1819, the second part, on positive theology, in 1829. TheEinleitungwas never completed. HisChristkatholische Dogmatikwas published, from his lectures, after his death by two of his students, Achterfeld and Braun (3 vols., 1831-1834).
TheEinleitungis a remarkable work, both in itself and in its effect upon Catholic theology in Germany. Few works of modern times have excited a more keen and bitter controversy. Hermes himself was very largely under the influence of the Kantian and Fichtean ideas, and though in the philosophical portion of hisEinleitunghe criticizes both these thinkers severely, rejects their doctrine of the moral law as the sole guarantee for the existence of God, and condemns their restricted view of the possibility and nature of revelation, enough remained of purely speculative material to render his system obnoxious to his church. After his death, the contests between his followers and their opponents grew so bitter that the dispute was referred to the papal see. The judgment was adverse, and on the 25th of September 1835 a papal bull condemned both parts of theEinleitungand the first volume of theDogmatik. Two months later the remaining volumes of theDogmatikwere likewise condemned. The controversy did not cease, and in 1845 a systematic attempt was made anonymously by F. X. Werner to examine and refute the Hermesian doctrines, as contrasted with the orthodox Catholic faith (Der Hermesianismus, 1845). In 1847 the condemnation of 1835 was confirmed by Pius IX.
See K. Werner,Geschichte der katholischen Theologie(1866), pp. 405 sqq.
See K. Werner,Geschichte der katholischen Theologie(1866), pp. 405 sqq.
HERMES TRISMEGISTUS(“the thrice greatest Hermesâ€), an honorific designation of the Egyptian Hermes,i.e.Thoth (q.v.), the god of wisdom. In late hieroglyphic the name of Thoth often has the epithet “the twice very great,†sometimes “the thrice very greatâ€; in the popular language (demotic) the corresponding epithet is “the five times very great,†found as early as the 3rd centuryB.C.Greek translations giveὠμÎγας καὶ μÎγαςandμÎγιστος: Ï„Ïίσμεγαςoccurs in a late magical text.á½ Ï„ÏισμÎγιστοςhas not yet been found earlier than the 2nd centuryA.D., but there can now be no doubt of its origin in the above Egyptian epithets.
Thoth was “the scribe of the gods,†“Lord of divine words,†and to Hermes was attributed the authorship of all the strictly sacred books generally called by Greek authors Hermetic. These, according to Clemens Alexandrinus, our sole ancient authority (Strom.vi. p. 268 et seq.), were forty-two in number, and were subdivided into six divisions, of which the first, containing ten books, was in charge of the “prophet†and dealt with laws, deities and the education of priests; the second, consisting of the ten books of thestolistes, the official whose duty it was to dress and ornament the statues of the gods, treated of sacrifices and offerings, prayers, hymns, festive processions; the third, of the “hierogrammatist,†also in ten books, was called “hieroglyphics,†and was a repertory of cosmographical, geographical and topographical information; the four books of the “horoscopus†were devoted to astronomy and astrology; the two books of the “chanter†contained respectively a collection of songs in honour of the gods and a description of the royal life and its duties; while the sixth and last division, consisting of the six books of the “pastophorus,†was medical. Clemens’s statement cannot be contradicted. Works are extant in papyri and on temple walls, treating of geography, astronomy, ritual, myths, medicine, &c. It is probable that the native priests would have been ready to ascribe the authorship or inspiration, as well as the care and protection of all their books of sacred lore to Thoth, althoughthere were a goddess of writing (Seshit), and the ancient deified scribes Imuthes and Amenophis, and later inspired doctors Petosiris, Nechepso, &c., to be reckoned with; there are indeed some definite traces of such an attribution extant in individual cases. Whether a canon of such books was ever established, even in the latest times, may be seriously doubted. We know, however, that the vizier of Upper Egypt (at Thebes) in the eighteenth dynasty, had 40 (not 42) parchment rolls laid before him as he sat in the hall of audience. Unfortunately we have no hint of their contents. Forty-two was the number of divine assessors at the judgment of the dead before Osiris, and was the standard number of the nomes or counties in Egypt.
The name of Hermes seems during the 3rd and following centuries to have been regarded as a convenient pseudonym to place at the head of the numerous syncretistic writings in which it was sought to combine Neo-Platonic philosophy, Philonic Judaism and cabalistic theosophy, and so provide the world with some acceptable substitute for the Christianity which had even at that time begun to give indications of the ascendancy it was destined afterwards to attain. Of these pseudepigraphic Hermetic writings some have come down to us in the original Greek; others survive in Latin or Arabic translations; but the majority appear to have perished. That which is best known and has been most frequently edited is theΠοιμάνδÏηςsive De potestate et sapientia divina(ΠοιμάνδÏηςbeing the Divine Intelligence,ποιμὴν ἀνδÏῶν), which consists of fifteen chapters treating of such subjects as the nature of God, the origin of the world, the creation and fall of man, and the divine illumination which is the sole means of his deliverance. Theeditio princepsappeared in Paris in 1554; there is also an edition by G. Parthey (1854); the work has also been translated into German by D. Tiedemann (1781). Other Hermetic writings which have been preserved, and which have been for the most part collected by Patricius in theNova de universis philosophia(1593), are (in Greek)ἸατÏομαθηματικά Ï€Ïὸς Ἄμμωνα ΑἰγÏπτιον, ΠεÏὶ κατακλίσεως νοσοÏντων πεÏιγνωστικά, Ἐκ τῆς μαθηματικῆς á¼Ï€Î¹ÏƒÏ„ήμης Ï€Ïὸς Ἄμμωνα: (in Latin)Aphorismi sive Centiloquium, Cyranides; (in Arabic, but doubtless from a Greek original) an address to the human soul, which has been translated by H. L. Fleischer (An die menschliche Seele, 1870).
The connexion of the name of Hermes with alchemy will explain what is meant by hermetic sealing, and will account for the use of the phrase “hermetic medicine†by Paracelsus, as also for the so-called “hermetic freemasonry†of the middle ages.
Besides Thoth, Anubis (q.v.) was constantly identified with Hermes; see alsoHorus.
See Ursinus,De Zoroastre, Hermete, &c. (Nuremberg, 1661); Nicolas Lenglet-Dufresnoy,L’Histoire de la philosophie hermétique(Paris, 1742); Baumgarten-Crusius,De librorum hermeticorum origine atque indole(Jena, 1827); B. J. Hilgers,De Hermetis Trismegisti Poëmandro(1855); R. Ménard,Hermès Trismégiste, traduction complète, précédée d’une étude sur l’origine des livres hermétiques(1866); R. Pietschmann,Hermes Trismegistus, nach ägyptischen, griechischen, und orientalischen Überlieferungen(1875); R. Reitzenstein,Poimandres, Studien zur griechisch-ägyptischen und frühchristlichen Literatur(Leipzig, 1904); G. R. S. Mead,Thrice Greatest Hermes(1907), introduction and translation.
See Ursinus,De Zoroastre, Hermete, &c. (Nuremberg, 1661); Nicolas Lenglet-Dufresnoy,L’Histoire de la philosophie hermétique(Paris, 1742); Baumgarten-Crusius,De librorum hermeticorum origine atque indole(Jena, 1827); B. J. Hilgers,De Hermetis Trismegisti Poëmandro(1855); R. Ménard,Hermès Trismégiste, traduction complète, précédée d’une étude sur l’origine des livres hermétiques(1866); R. Pietschmann,Hermes Trismegistus, nach ägyptischen, griechischen, und orientalischen Überlieferungen(1875); R. Reitzenstein,Poimandres, Studien zur griechisch-ägyptischen und frühchristlichen Literatur(Leipzig, 1904); G. R. S. Mead,Thrice Greatest Hermes(1907), introduction and translation.
(F. Ll. G.)
HERMESIANAX,of Colophon, elegiac poet of the Alexandrian school, flourished about 330B.C.His chief work was a poem in three books, dedicated to his mistress Leontion. Of this poem a fragment of about one hundred lines has been preserved by Athenaeus (xiii. 597). Plaintive in tone, it enumerates instances, mythological and historical, of the irresistible power of love. Hermesianax, whose style is characterized by alternate force and tenderness, was exceedingly popular in his own times, and was highly esteemed even in the Augustan period.
Many separate editions have been published of the fragment, the text of which is in a very unsatisfactory condition: by F. W. Schneidewin (1838), J. Bailey (1839, with notes, glossary, and Latin and English versions), and others; R. Schulze’sQuaestiones Hermesianacteae(1858), contains an account of the life and writings of the poet and a section on the identity of Leontion.
Many separate editions have been published of the fragment, the text of which is in a very unsatisfactory condition: by F. W. Schneidewin (1838), J. Bailey (1839, with notes, glossary, and Latin and English versions), and others; R. Schulze’sQuaestiones Hermesianacteae(1858), contains an account of the life and writings of the poet and a section on the identity of Leontion.
HERMIAS.(1) A Greek philosopher of the Alexandrian school. A disciple of Proclus, he was known best for the lucidity of his method rather than for any original ideas. His chief works were a study of theIsagogeof Porphyry and a commentary on Plato’sPhaedrus. Unlike the majority of logicians of the time, he admitted the absolute validity of the second and third figures of the syllogism.
(2) A Christian apologist and philosopher who flourished probably in the 4th and 5th centuries. Nothing is known about his life, but there has been preserved of his writings a small thesis entitledΔιασυÏμὸς τῶν ἔξω φιλοσόφων. In this work he attacked pagan philosophy for its lack of logic in dealing with the root problems of life, the soul, the cosmos and the first cause or vital principle. There is an edition by von Otto published in theCorpus apologetarum(Jena, 1872). It is interesting, but without any claim to profundity of reasoning.
Two minor philosophers of the same name are known. Of these, one was a disciple of Plato and a friend of Aristotle; he became tyrant of Atarneus and invited Aristotle to his court. Aristotle subsequently married Pythias, who was either niece or sister of Hermias. Another Hermias was a Phoenician philosopher of the Alexandrian school; when Justinian closed the school of Athens, he was one of the five representatives of the school who took refuge at the Persian court.
Two minor philosophers of the same name are known. Of these, one was a disciple of Plato and a friend of Aristotle; he became tyrant of Atarneus and invited Aristotle to his court. Aristotle subsequently married Pythias, who was either niece or sister of Hermias. Another Hermias was a Phoenician philosopher of the Alexandrian school; when Justinian closed the school of Athens, he was one of the five representatives of the school who took refuge at the Persian court.
HERMIPPUS,“the one-eyed,†Athenian writer of the Old Comedy, flourished during the Peloponnesian War. He is said to have written 40 plays, of which the titles and fragments of nine are preserved. He was a bitter opponent of Pericles, whom he accused (probably in theΜοῖÏαι) of being a bully and a coward, and of carousing with his boon companions while the Lacedaemonians were invading Attica. He also accused Aspasia of impiety and offences against morality, and her acquittal was only secured by the tears of Pericles (Plutarch,Pericles, 32). In theἈÏτοπωλίδες(“Bakeressesâ€) he attacked the demagogue Hyperbolus. TheΦοÏμοφόÏοι(Mat-carriers) contains many parodies of Homer. Hermippus also appears to have written scurrilous iambic poems after the manner of Archilochus.