Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/429

Rh HERMES. culifir to the philosophy of the period to which we have assigned this work. It was first published in a Latin translation by Ficinus, under the title Mercurii Trismegisti Lilter de Potestate et Sapientia Dei, Tarvisii, 1471, fol., which was afterwards often reprinted, as at Venice in 1481, 1483, 1493, 1497, &c. The Greek original, Avith the translation of Ficinus, was first edited by Hadr. Turnebus, Paris, 1.554, 4to,, and was afterwards published again in Fr. Flussatis, Candullae Iruiustria, Bor- deaux, 1574 ; in Patricius' Nova de universis Phi- losophia Lihris quatuor compreliensa, Ferrara, 1593, fol., and again in 1611, fol., and at Cologne in 1630, fol., with a commentary by Hannibal Ro- sellus. 4. 'laTpofiaO-n/xaTiKo, rj Trepl KaTaKhlaecas votrovv- rcov irpoypwaTiKO. cK tt]s iJ.ad7)fxaTiKrjs eintrT'^fJ.Tjs irp69''AiJ.iLiwua AiyvTrriov, is a work of less import- ance, and contains instructions for ascertaining the issue of a disease by the aid of mathematics, that is, of astrology, for the author endeavours to show that the nature of a disease, as well as its cure and issue, must be ascertained from the constellation luider which it commenced. The substance of this work seems to have been unknown to Fir- micus (about the middle of the fourth century), and this leads us to the supposition that it was written after the time of Firmicus. The work was published in a Latin translation in Th. Boder's De Ratiom et Usu Dierum Criticorum, Paris, 1555, 4to., and in Andr. Argolus' De Diebus Criticis Libri duo, Patavii, 1639, 4to. The Greek original was published by J. Cramer {Astrolog. No. vi. Norim- bergae, 1532, 4to.), and by D. Hoeschel. (Aug. Vindelic. 1597, 8vo.) 5. De Revolutionibus Nativitatum, is likewise an astrological work, and intended to show how the nativity should be regulated at the end of every year. The original seems to have been written in Greek, though some say that it was in Arabic ; but it was at any rate composed at a later time than the work mentioned under No. 4. We now possess onl}'^ a Latin version, which was edited by Hiero- nymus Wolf, together with the Isagoge of Por- phyrins, and some other works, Basel, 1559, fol. 6. ApJiorismi sive Centum Sententiae Astrologicae, also called Centiloquium, that is, one hundred astro- logical propositions, which are supposed to have originally been written in Arabic ; but we now have only a Latin translation, which has been re- peatedly printed, as at Venice, 1492, 1493, 1501, 1519, fol., at Basel, 1533, fol., 1551, 8vo., and at Ulm, 1651, 1674, 12mo. 7. Liber Physico-Medicus Kiranidum Kiram, id est, regis Persarum vere aureus gernmeusque, &c., belongs to the same class of medico-astrological works, and is as yet printed only in a Latin trans- lation, published by Andr. Rivinus (Leipzig, 1638, and Frankfurt, 1681, 12rao.), though the Greek original is still extant in MS. at Madrid, under the title of Kvpavihes (from Kvpios, lord or master). This work is referred to even by Olympiodorus, and must therefore have existed in the fourth cen- tury of our era. It is divided into four parts, and is a sort of materica medica, arianged in alphabet- ical order, for it treats of the magic and medicinal powers of a variety of stones, plants, and animals, and under each head it mentions some mineral, vegetable, or animal medicine. It is generally supposed that this work was originally compiled from Persian, Arabic, or Egyptian sources. HERMESIANAX. 415 Some of the works bearing the name of Hermes seem to be productions of the middle ages, such as, — 8. Tractatus vere A iireus de Lapidis Philosophid Decreto, that is, on the philosopher's stone. The work is divided into seven chapters, which are regarded as the seven seals of Hermes Trismegis- tus. It was published in Latin by D. Gnosius, Leipzig, 1610, and 1613, 8 vo. 9. Tabula Smaragdina, an essay, professing to teach the art of making gold, was published at Nlirnberg, 1541 and 1545, 4to., and at Strassburg, 1566, 8vo. 10. Uep Poravwv xv^^ooa-eius is only a fragment, but probably belongs to an earlier period than the two preceding works, and treats of similar subjects as the KvpaviSes. It is printed at the end of Roe- ther's edition of L. Lydus, de Mensibus, with notes by Baehr. 11. Ilepi (Tsia-fji&v, on earthquakes, or rather on the forebodings implied in them. It is only a fragment, consisting of sixty-six hexameter lines, and is sometimes ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus, and sometimes to Orpheus. It was first edited by Fr. Morel, with a Latin translation by F. A. Baif, Paris, 1586, 4to., and afterwards by J. S. Schoder, 1691, 4to. It is also contained in Maittaire's Miscellanea, London, 1722, 4to., and in Brunck's Analecta, iii. p. 127. For a more detailed account of the works bearing the name of Hermes Trismegistus, see Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. i. pp. 46 — 94 ; and especially Bamn- garten-Crusius, De Librorum Hermeticorum Origine atque hidole, Jena, 1827. [L. S.] HERME'SIANAX ('EpMWc^i'al). 1. Of Co- lophon, a distinguished elegiac poet, the friend and disciple of Philetas, lived in the time of Philip and Alexander the Great, and seems to have died before the destruction of Colophon by Lysimachus, B. c. 302. (Pans. i. 9. § 8.) His chief work was an elegiac poem, in three books, addressed to his mistress, Leontium, whose name formed the title of the poem, like the Cynthia of Propertius. A great part of the third book is quoted by Athe- naeus (xiii. p. 597). The poem is also quoted by Pausanias (vii. 17. § 5, viii. 12. § 1, ix. 35. § 1), by Parthenius {Erot. 5, 22), and by Antoninus Liberalis {Metam. 39). We learn from another quotation in Pausanias, that Hermesianax wrote an elegy on the Centaur Eurytion (vii. 18. § 1). It is somewhat doubtful whether the Hermesianax who is mentioned by the scholiast on Nicander {T/ieriaca, 3), and who wrote a poem entitled nepaiKoi, was the same or a younger poet. The fragment of Hermesianax has been edited sepa- rately by Ruhnken (Appe7id. ad Epist. Crit. ii. p. 283, Opusc. p. 614), by Weston, Lend. 1784, Bvo., by C. D. Ilgen {Opusc. Var. Philol. vol. i. p. 247, Erford, 1797, 8vo.), by Rigler and Axt, Colon. 1828, 16mo., by Hermann {Opusc. Acad. vol. iv. p. 239), by Bach {PhUet. et Phanoc. Peliq. Hal. 1829, 8vo.), by J. Bailey, with a critical epistle by G. Burgess, Lond. 1839, 8vo,, and by Schneidewin {Delect. Poes.Eleg. p. 147). Comp. Bergk, De Hermesianactis Elegia, Marburgi, 1 845. 2. Of Cyprus, an historian, whose ^pvyioKci is quoted by Plutarch {De Fluv. 2, 24, 12.) 3. Of Colophon, the son of Agoneus, an athlete, whose statue was erected by his fellow-citizens in honour of his victory at Olympia (Pans. vi. 17. § 3). If he had been, as Vossius {I.e.) supposes,