Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/21

HEBMOCBATES. HERMOCRATES (Lat., from Gk. 'Epiu>- Kpdrrjs, Hermokrates) (c.460-407 B.C.)- A Syra- cusan politician and statesman, son of Hermon. His great work was the union of the fcjiceliots (424), which made possible Syracuse's success when attacked by the great fleet from Athens (415). He was at the head of the aristocratic party, and was opposed by the demagogue Athe- nagoras. In B.C. 412 he went with a large Syra- cusan fleet to join the Spartans off the western coast of Asia Minor. Here he was very success- ful for a time, but lost the battle of Cyzicus, and for this was removed from command and e.xiled. He then fought against Carthage, and died in his attempt to reinstate himself in Syracuse. His daughter was married to Dionysiu-; in 40.5. HERTHODAC'TYIi (from Gk. IpfwSdKrvXos, hermodaktylos, hermodactyl, from 'Ep/i^i, MermCs, Hermes + ddKrvos, daktylos, finger). The name of a medicine that had a high repute among the later Greek and the Arabian physi- cians as a remedy for gout and rheumatism. H is mentioned by Alexander of Tralles, who flour- ished A.D. 560; by Paulus .Egineta, who lived a century later; by Avicenna, Serapion, and others. By some of the old writers it was termed anima articulorum, or the soul of the joints. It is im- possible now to speak with certainty of the nature of hermodactyl. Corms. probably of several spe- cies of colchicum. are still sold in Greece and in the East under the name of hemiodactyls. Different botanists and pharmacologists have re- ferred the corms to Colchicum illyrieum, Colchi- cum autumnale. Colchicum variegatum, Colchi- cum hulhocodiodes, etc. See Coixjhicum. HERMOGENES, her-moj'e-nez (Lat., from Gk. 'Eppo-i^in)s ) . A Greek rhetorician, who flour- ished about A.D. 170, born at Tarsus. His ability as a lecturer won him the favorable notice of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who appointed him a public teacher of oratory when he was only seventeen years of age. Between the ages of eighteen and twenty ho published his famous Rhetoric (Text"! 'PtrropiKr/,) which was for cen- turies regarded as a standard and became the subject of extensive commentaries. At the age of twenty-five his faculties gave way, and he spent the remainder of his life in a state of intellectual impotency. A large part of the Rhetoric has survived, and was published bv Walz. Rhetores Grvci (Stuttgart, 1832-36), "and by Spengel (Leipzig, 1853-56). HERTffiON. A lofty mountain of Syria, the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon Range, from which it is separated, however, by a deep ravine (Map: Palestine, D 1). It rises to the height of 9106 feet above tlie level of the sea. Its crown is divided into three distinct peaks, the western one a little lower than the northern and the southern, which are of the same height. These peaks are always covered with ice and snow, and can be seen as far south as the Sea of Galilee. The lower part of the mountain is clothed with forests and a specially rich vegeta- tion, due to the numerous rivulets caused by the melting snow. Hermon was a sacred moun- tain, and is therefore encircled with ruins of ancient temples, most of which were consecrated to the Baal-worship. It is often referred to in Hebrew poetry. It is also held by tradition to have been the itount of Transfiguration. It is now called Jebel-esh-Sheikh ('the mountain of the HERNANDEZ DE OVIEDO Y VALDES. old man'), or Jebel-eth-Thel ("the snow moun- tain'). HERMON'THIS (Lat., from Gk. 'EpiMvSis). A city of ancient Egypt on the left bank of the Xile, a little above Thebes. Its Egyptian name was On, and, to distinguish it from other places of the same name, it was called On of the South or On of the god Jlont. The local deity was the hawk-headed god Mont (q.v. ), and hence the city bore the sacred name of Per-Mont (house of Monti, of which the Greek Hcrmonthis is a cor- ruption. It was a very ancient town, but was eclipsed by the rise of its neighbor Thebes. With the decline of Thebes On rose again in impor- tance, and finally, as Hermonthis, became the capi- tal of the district. According to Strabo, Apollo (i.e. Horus) and Zeus (i.e. Mont) were worshiped here, and a sacred bull, called by the Greeks Bacis. was also revered. Of the magnificent buildings which adorned the place in ancient times only scanty ruins now remain. The site is occupied by the modem town of Erment, which contains extensive sugar-refineries. HERMOP'OLIS, or HERMtTP'OLIS (Gk. 'EpfUnroXis. city of Hermes). The capital of the Greek nomarchy of the Cj'clades, situated on the eastern coast of the island of Syra (Map: Greece, F 4). It consists of the old mediaeval town and the newer portion constructed since the Revolu- tion of 1821. The town is lighted by gas. and has a number of educational institutions, in- cluding two gymnasia and a theatre. The chief industry is ship-building. Conunercially Her- mopolis is one of the most important cities of Greece, being one of the chief centres in the trade with the Levant, although its commercial im- portance has somewhat decreased since the rise of Pir.Tus. Hermopolis is the seat of a number of consular agents, of a Greek archbishop and a Roman Catholic bishop. Population, in 1896, 18,700. HERMOPOLIS, or HERMXTTOLIS MAGK- NA. An ancient city of Middle Eg>pt. on the left bank of the Xile. between the river and the Bahr-YOsuf ( 'Joseph's Canal' ) , opposite Anti- noe, not far south of the site of the modem Beni-Hassan (q.v. l. The Copts called it Shmfln, and the hieroglyphics Khmunu. The village which is on its site bears the name of Ashmu- nein. The Greek name Hermopolis is derived from the ibis-formed or ibis-headed local god Thoth or Dhouti. who was identified with the Cireek Hermes. The city was once very important, but the only remarkable ruin, the portico of a beautiful temple, dating from Ptole- maic times, was destroyed in the middle of the last century. Recently another temple has been discovered there. Another Hermopolis. Hermop- olis Parva, is the modem Damanhur in the Delta. HERMOSILLO. flr'mft-se'lyft. Capital of the State of Sonora. Mexico, situated on the Rio de Sonora, in a fertile valley 90 miles by rail north from Guaymas (Map: Mexico, 3). It has a cathedral, a library, and a mint, and is an im- I)ortant trading centre for agricultural products. Population, in ]'.>00. 17.61^. HERNANDEZ DE c6rD0VA, ar-niin'dftth dS kr>r'Do-va. Francisco. See 06rdova. HERNINDEZ de OVIEDO Y VALDES. drt o'vA-a'Dd * val-das', Gonzalo. See Oviedo r Valdes.