Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/316

HERMAEUM. the Briratos Portiu and the Yindana or Vidaoft Portiia. Ptolemj's latitude of the moath of the Herioa (49^^) mikes it nearlj aa &r north as the ontiet of the itine. D'Anville [DuRsnE] supposes the Herius to be the Vilaitu^ the first large river north of the Lotrtk. He adds {fioHce, ^c^ Herius Fluv.) that the passage of the VUaine between Hoeke-Bernard and the month of the river is now called Treig-hietf and that we may readilj believe Trttg-Mer to be a corruption of Trajectum HerlL This maj be so; or Trtiff^Mer maj be the old Celtic name. Some geogiaphere assume the Herius to be the small liver Amwf north of the Vilaine ; but this la only a guess lik& the other. [G. L.] HERMAEUM PROM. ('Epjuola Axpa, Ptol. iii. 17. § 3X A point on the S. coast of Crete, which has been identified with JPinUa TrwidL (Hock, Kreta, vol. i. p. 388.) [E,B.J.] HERMAEUM PROM. CEpfuSa &irfw). 1. A headland on the coast of Marmarica, between Phoe* nkns and Paraetonium. (PtoL iv. 5. § 7; Stadi' asm, p. 437). 8. In Africa Propria. [Mercuku Prom.] [P. S.] HERMl'NIUS MONS (rhtpos 'Epftiyton Sierra de la Estrella), a mountain range of Lusitania, S. of the river Durius (2>otiro), a position of some impor- tanoe in Caesar's campaign iu Lusitania. (Dion Cass. uzvii. 52; Hirt Beil. Alex. 48; Suet Caes, 54.) In the middle ages it was still called Hermeno and Armkma (Resendins, AfUig. LutU. p. 58; Link, Reiee durch PorUi^aU^ vol. ii. p. 142; Floras, Egp. 8. voL zilL p. 166; Ukert, voL iL pt. 1. p. 277> [P. S.] HERMIONE or BERMION (!Eptu6yn, Herod., Xen., Strab. ; 'EpfuAi^j Eurip. Here, Fvr. 615 ; Polyb. ii. 52 ; 'E^fiv, Scylaz, p. 20 : Eih, '^fu- ove^s; fern. "Ep^iovd: Adj, *EpnMUfiK6sy Hemiio- nens, Hermionius, Hermionicus: the territory 'Epfu- oyis)f a town at the southern extremity of ArguJis, in the wider use of this term, but an independent eity during the flourishing period of Grecian history, and possessing a territory named Hermionis. The sea between the southern coast ofArgolisand the island of Hydrea was called after it the HBRMiom* CVS Sinus ('Epfuoyut^t ir^wor, Strab. viit. p. 335), which was r^rded as distinct from the Argohc and Saronic gulfs. Hermione was founded by the Dryopee, who are said to have been driven out of their original abodes <m Mount Oeta and its adjacent valleys by Heracles, and to have settled in the Peloponnesus, where their three chief towns were Hennione, Abine, and Eton. (Herod, viii. 4.% 47 ; Diod. iv. 37.) Hermione is mentioned by Houier akmg with its kindred city Asine; (Horn. Jl ii. 560.) Asine and EYon were cooquered at an early period by the Dorians, but Hermione oontinued to exist as an independent Dry- opiau state long afterwards. Hermione appears to have been the most important of the Dryopian town:*, and to have been in possesion at one time of a larger portion of the adjacent coast, as well as of several of the neighb(»nring ishmds. Strabo, following an- cient authorities, places the promontory Scyllaeum in Hermionis (Strab. viit. p. 373), and the Hennionic gnlf extended along the coast of Troezen as far as this promontory. Hennione is mentioned first among the cities of the Ampliictyony, the representatives of which were accustomed to meet in the acijacent island of Calaureia (Strab. viii. p. 874), from which it has been inferred that Hermione had the pre- sidency of the confSKleracy, and that the tshmd be* VOL X. HERBnONE. 1057 bnged to this dty. It is expressly stated that Hydreia belonged to the Hermionians, and that they surrendered this isUnd to the Samiaa pirates, who gave it into the charge of the Troezenians. (Herod, iii. 59.) The Hermionians are mentioned as Dry> opes at the time of the Persian wars: they sent three ships to Sahunis, and 300 men to Plataea. (Herod, viii. 43, ix. 28.) Subsequently the Argives took possession of Hermione, and settled there an Argive colony. There is no account of its conquest, and Pausanias supposes that the Aigives obtained peaceable possession of the town ; but it probably came into their power about the same time that they subdued Mycenae and Tiiyns, b. c. 464. Some of the expelled Hermionians took refuge at Halieis, where the Tiiynthians had also settled ; and it was perhaps at this time that the lower city was deserted. (Pans. ii. 34. § 5 ; Strab. viii. p. 373 ; comp. Steph. B. «. V, Tipmfs ; Mtiller, Dor. vol. i. p. 199, Engl. trans.) Hermiofle now became a Doric city; but the inhabitants still retained some of the ancient Diyopian customs. Thus it continued to be the chief seat of the worship of Demeter Chthonia, who appears to have been the principal deity of the Dxy- opians ; and we learn from a remarkable inscription that the Asinaeans, who had settled in Mes^enia after their expulsion from Afgolis, continued to send offerings to Demeter Chthonia at Hermione. (Bockh, Imer. no. 1193.) Although Hennione had fallen into the hands of the Argives, it did not continue permanently subject to Argos, and it is mentioned subsequently as an independent town and an ally of Sparta. (Thuc ii. 56, viii. 3.) After the cap- ture of the Acrocorinthus by Aratus, the tyrant who governed Hermione voluntarily surrendered his power, and the city jmned the Achaean league. (Polyb. ii. 44.) Hennione continued to exist long afterwards, as is proved by its numerous coins and inscriptions. Pausanias describes Hermione at eonsiderable length. The old city, which was no longer inhabited in his time, stood upon a promontory seven stadia in length, and three in breadth at its widest part; and on either idde of this promontory there was a con- venient harbour. There were still several temples standing on this promontory in the time of Pausanias, of which the most remarkable was one sacred to Poseidon. The later town, which Pausanias visited, stood at the di&tance of four stadia from this temple upon the slopes of the hill Pron. It was oitirely surrounded by walls, and was in earlier times the Acropolis c^ the ci^. Among its ruins lies the modem vilbge of Kastri. Of the numerous tem- ples mentiimed by Pausanias the most important was the ancient Dryopian sanctuary of Demeter Chthonia, situated on a height of Mount Pron, said- to have been founded by Chthonia, daughter of Pho- roneus, and Clymenus her brother. (Eur. Uerc.Fvr. 615.) It was an inviolable sanctuary; but it was plundered by the Cilicuin pirates. (Phot. Lex. t. v. 'Epiii6infi ; Plut. Pomp. 24.) Oppo^ite thi.s temple was one sacred to Clymenus ; and to the right was the Stoa of Echo, which repeated the voice three times. In the same neighbourhixxi there were three sacred places surrounded with stone fvnres ; one named the sanctuary of Clymenus, the becond that of Pluto, and the third that of the Achcrusian lake.- In the sanctuary of Clymenus there was an opening in the earth which the Hennioniaus believed to be the shortest road to Hades, and consequently they I put no money in the mouths of their dead to pay 3y