The earth, however, is |
Alexander
Severus, was slain by his own troops.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
717.
) He was also Latin translation and some other works of a similar
one of the first persons who wrote a commentary kind by Leo Allatius, Rome, 1641. But the editor
on all the works in the Hippocratic Collection. suspected that the name Heracleitus was a mistake
(Galen, Comment. in Hippocr. “ De Humor. ” i. for Heracleides, and thinks it possible that he may
Prooem. 24, vol. xvi. pp. 1, 196. ) He is several be the Heracleides who wrote on the allegories in
times quoted by Caelius Aurelianus and other Homer. This work has been also published by
ancient authors. A further account of his lost Gale in his Op. Mythologica, Cantab. 1671 ; by
works, and his medical opinions so far as they can Teucher, Lemgo, 1796 ; and by Westermann,
be fonnd out, may be found in two essays by C. in his Mythograph. Brunsvig. 1843.
G. Kühn, inserted in the second volume of his 8. A comic poet, whose comedy, entitled Eevi-
Opuscula Academica Medica et Philologica, Lips. św, is referred to by Athenaeus (*. p. 414). Mei-
2 vols. 8vo. 18:27, 1828.
neke (Hist. Crit. Com. Gr. p. 422) thinks that the
3. A physician, mentioned by Diogenes Laërtius name Heracleitus is a mistake for Heracleides, and
(v. 94) as one of the followers of Hicesius, the that, consequently, our comic poet is the same as
head of the Erasistratean school of medicine at the Heracleides who ridiculed Adaeus, a commander
Smyrna, who must therefore probably have lived of mercenaries (under Philip of Macedonia), by
in the first century B. C.
calling him 'AXEKT PÚwv, or the cock. (Athen. xii.
4. Surnamed Erythraeus, a physician of Ery- p. 532; Zenob. Proverb. vi. 34. ) (L. S. )
thrae in lonia, who was a pupil of Chrysermus HERACLEITUS ('Hpáraeitos), of Ephesus,
(Galen, De Differ. Puls. iv. 10, vol. viii. p. 743), surnamed Duosós, son of Blyson, a philosopher
a fellow-pupil of Apollonius, and a contemporary generally considered as belonging to the lonian
of Strabo in the first century B. C. (Strab. xiv. 1, school, though he differed from their principles in
p. 182, ed. Tauchn. ) Galen calls him the most many respects. He is said to have been instructed
distinguished of all the pupils of Chysermus (l. c. ), by Hippasus of Metapontum, a Pythagorean, or by
and mentions a work written by him, Ilepl tñis Xenophanes, the founder of the Eleatic school, but
'Hpopisov Aipérews, De Herophili Secta (Ibid. p. neither statement rests on any probable foundation.
746), consisting of at least seven books. He wrote We read that in his youth he travelled extensively,
a commentary on the sixth book of Hippocrates, and that after his return to Ephesus the chief ma-
De Morbis Vulgaribus (Galen, Comment. in Hip gistracy was offered him, which, however, he trans-
pocr. “ Epid. VI. " i. Praef. vol. xvii. pt. i. p. 793), ferred to his brother. He gave, as his reason for
but neither this nor any of his writings are still declining it, the infamous state of morals prevalent
extant.
(W. A. G. ) in the city, and employed himself in playing at
HERACLEITUS ('Hpák eltos), a native of dice with boys near the temple of Artemis, inform.
Cyme, in Aeolia, was appointed by Arsinoë, the ing the passers by that this was a more profitable
wife of Lysimachus, to the government of Heraclea, occupation than to attempt the hopeless task of
when that city was given to her by her husband. governing them. He appears afterwards to have
By his arbitrary and tyrannical administration he become a complete recluse, rejecting even the kind-
inflicted a great injury on the prosperity of He nesses offered by Dareius, and at last retreating to
raclea, and alienated the minds of the citizens, so the mountains, where he lived on pot-herbs, but, after
that after the death of Lysimachus (B. C. 281) they some time, he was compelled by the sickness con-
rose in revolt against him, and, uniting with the sequent on such meagre diet to return to Ephesus,
mercenaries under his command, took Heracleitus where he died. As to the manner of his death,
prisoner, and re-established the liberty of their various absurd stories are related. His age at the
city. (Memnon, ap. Phot. p. 225, a b. ed. Bek time of his death is said, on Aristotle's authority,
ker. ) In the second passage where he is mentioned to have been sixty (Diog. Laert. ix. 3, compared
by Memnon, his name is written Heracleides : it is with viii. 52), and he flourished about the 69th
uncertain which is the correct form. (E. H. B. ) | Olympiad (16. ix. 1), being later than Pythagoras,
HERACLEITUS ('Hpák Akitos). 1. Of Lesbos, Xenophanes, and Hecataeus, whora be mentions.
the author of a history of Macedonia, but other with this date Suidas agrees, and bence Clinton
wise unknown. (Diog. Laërt. ix. 17. )
(F. H. vol. ii. ) places him under the year B. c. 513.
CC 4.
## p. 392 (#408) ############################################
392
HERACLEITUS.
HERACLEODORUS.
The philosophical system of Heracleitus was water ; and the soul of man, though dwelling in
contained in a work which received various titles the lower earthly region, must be considered a
from the ancients, of which the most common is On migrated portion of fire in its pure state, and there-
Nature (epd quoews). Some fragments of it re- fore an exception to the general rule ; according to
main, and have been collected and explained by which, fire by descending loses its etherial purity.
Schleiermacher, in Wolf and Buttmann's Museum And this, as Ritter remarks, appears an almost
der Alterthunswissenschaft. (vol. i. part 3. ) From solitary instance of Heracleitus condescending to
the obscurity of his style, Heracleitus gained the mould his theory in any respect according to the
title of Oroteivós, and, with his predilection for dictates of sense and experience. The only pos-
this method of writing, was probably connected his sible repose which Heracleitus allowed the universe
aristocratical pride and hauteur (whence he was was the harmony occasionally resulting from the fact,
called Oxnoloídopos), his tenacious adherence to that the downward motion of some part of fire will
his own views, which, according to Aristotle, had sometimes encounter the upward motion of another
as much weight with him as science itself (Eth. part (for the living fire, after manifesting itself in
Nic. vii. 5), his contempt for the opinions of pre- the lower earthly phenomena, begins to return to
vious writers, and the well-known melancholy of the heaven from which it descended), and so must
his disposition, froin which he is represented in produce for some time a kind of rest. Only we
various old traditions as the contrast to Democritus, must remember that this encounter is not accidental,
weeping over the follies and frailties at which the but the result of law and order. Ultimately, all
other laughed. (See Juv. 4. 34. ) With regard, things will return into the fire from which they
however, to his obscurity, we must also take into proceeded and received their life. The view that
account the cause assigned for it by Ritter, that the all things are arranged by law and order is also the
oldest philosophical prose must bave been rude and foundation of his moral theory, for he considered
loose in its structure ; and, since it had grown out the summum bonum to be contentment (evapérth-
of a poetical style, would naturally have recourse ois), i. e. acquiescence in the decrees of the supreme
to figurative language. He starts from the point of law. The close connection of his physical and
view common to all the Ionian philosophers, that moral theories is further shown by the fact that he
there must be some physical principle, which is not accounted for a drunkard's incapacity by supposing
only the ground of all phenomena, but is also a him to have a wet soul (Stob. Serm. v. 1:20), and
living unity, actually pervading and inherent in he even pushed this so far as to maintain that the
them all, and that it is the object of philosophy to soul is wisest where the land and climate is driest,
discover this principle. He declared it to be fire, but which would account for the mental greatness of
by this expression he meant only to describe a clear the Greeks. (Euseb. Praep. Erang. viii. 14. )
light fluid," self-kindled and self-extinguished," There is not to be found in Heracleitus any dia-
and therefore not differing materially from the lectical exposition of the sources of our knowledge.
air of Anaximenes. Thus then the world is formed, He held man's soul to be a portion of the divine
“ not made by God or man," but simply evolved fire, though degraded by its migration to earth.
by a natural operation from fire, which also is the Hence he seems to have argued that we must
human life and soul, and therefore a rational in- follow that which is commonly maintained by the
telligence, guiding the whole universe. While, general reason of mankind, since the ignorant
however, the other Ionian philosophers assumed the opinions of individuals are the origin of error, and
real existence of individual things, and from their lead men to act as if they had an intelligence of
properties attempted to discover the original from their own, instead of a portion of the Divine in-
which they sprang, whether it were water or air, telligence. “ Vain man," he said, “ learns from
or any other such principle, Heracleitus paid no God as the boy from the man (Orig. c. Cels. vi.
regard to these separate individuals, but fixed his 283), and therefore we must trust this source of
attention solely on the one living force and sub- knowledge rather than our own senses, which are
stance, which alone he held to be true and per- generally (though not invariably) deceitful. He
manent, revealing itself indeed in various pheno- considered the eyes more trustworthy than the
mena, and yet not permitting them to have any ears, probably as revealing to us the knowledge of
permanence, but keeping them in a state of con- fire. The connection of pantheism and atheism is
tinual flux, so that all things are incessantly well illustrated by the system of Heracleitus; por
moving and changing. In the primary fire, accord is it difficult to see how the doctrine of an all-per-
ing to Heracleitus, there is inherent a certain longing vading essence, revealing itself in various pheno-
to man:fest itself in different forms, to gratify which mena, might serve possibly for the origin, and
it constantly changes itself into a new phenomenon, certainly for an attempt at a philosophical explan-
though it feels no desire to maintain itself in that ation of a polytheistic religion. The Greek letters
for any period, but is ever passing into a new one, bearing the name of Heracleitus, published in the
so that the Creator amuses himself by making Aldine collection of Greek Epistles, Rome, 1499,
worlds” is an expression attributed to Heracleitus. and Geneva, 1606, and also in the edition of Eu-
(Procl. ad Tim. p. 101. ) With this theory was napius, by Boissonade, p. 425, are the invention of
connected one of space and motion. The living some later writer. (Schleiermacher, l. c. ; Ritter,
and rational fire in its perfectly pure state is in Gesch. der Philosophie, vol. i. p. 267, &c. ; Brandis
heaven (the highest conceivable region), whence, in Handbuch d. Gesch. der Griech. Röm. Philosophie,
pursuance of its wish to be manifested, it descends, vol. i. p. 148, &c. )
[G. E. L. C. )
losing as it goes the rapidity of its motion, and HERA'CLEO, FLAVIUS, the commander of
finally settling in the earth, which is the furthest the Roman soldiers in Mesopotamia in the reign of
possible limit of descent.
The earth, however, is | Alexander Severus, was slain by his own troops.
not to be considered immovable, but only the slow- (Dion Cass. lxxx. 4. )
est of motions. Previous, however, to assuming HERACLEODORUS ('Hpakleókmpos), a dis
the form of earth, fire passes through the shape of ciple of Plato, who, after being for some time under
## p. 393 (#409) ############################################
HERACLES.
393
HERACLES.
*****
the instruction of that philosopher, became negli- 25, 36. ) His stepfather was Amphitryon. (n. v.
gent, and gave himself up to idleness ; a change 392, Od. xi. 269; Hes. Scut. Herc. 165. ) Am-
which drew from Demosthenes, who is said to have phitryon was the son of Alcaeus, the son of Perseus,
been his fellow-disciple, a letter of remonstrance. and Alcmene was a grand-daughter of Perseus.
This letter is noticed in a fragment of the com- Hence Heracles belonged to the family of Perseus.
mentary on the Gorgius of Plato by Olympiodorus, The story of his birth runs thus. Amphitryon,
preserved in a MS. collection of Praeannotamenta after having slain Electryon, was expelled from
Miscellanea in Platonem, in the imperial library at Argos, and went with his wife Alcmene to Thebes,
Vienna (Lambecius, Comment. de Biblioth. Ces where he was received and purified by his uncle
sarea, lib. vii. No. 77, vol. vii. p. 271, ed. Kollar ; Creon. Alcmene was yet a maiden, in accordance
Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. iii. p. 176. ) (J. C. M. ) with a vow which Amphitryon had been obliged
HERACLEON ('Hpaknéww), a grammarian, to make to Electryon, and Alcmene continued to
a native of Egypt, mentioned by Suidas (8. v. ), refuse him the rights of a husband, until he should
and quoted by Stephanus of Byzantium, Harpo have avenged the death of her brothers on the
cration (8. o. Maptuncior), Eustathius (pp. 1910, Taphians. While Amphitryon was absent from
106. c. 524. b. ), and in the Scholia Marciana on Thebes, Zeus one night, to which he gave the du-
Homer. (Fabric. Bill. Gracc. vol. i. pp. 388, 513, ration of thrce other nights, visited Alcmene, and
vol. vi. p. 368. )
(C. P. M. ] assuming the appearance of Amphitryon, and re-
HERACLEO'NAS ('Hpandewvâs), the second lating to her how her brothers had been avenged,
son of the emperor Heraclius, reigned together with he begot by her the hero Heracles, the great bul-
his brother, Constantine III. , after the death of wark of gods and men. (Respecting the various
their father in March (February), a. D. 641, and modifications of this story see Apollod. ii. 4. §
he succeeded his brother in the month of June 7, &c. ; Hygin. Fab. 29; Hes. Scut. 35, &c. ;
(May) following. Constantine III. had two sons, Pind. Isth. vii. 5, &c. , Nem. 2. 19, &c. ; Schol. ad
but their legitimate rights were disregarded by Hom. Od. xi. 266. ) The day on which Heracles
his ambitious stepmother Martina, who placed her was to be born, Zeus boasted of his becoming the
younger son, Heracleonas, on the throne, and father of a man who was to rule over the heroic
reigned in his name till the following month of race of Perseus. Hera prevailed upon him to con-
September, when her misgovernment was put an firm by an oath that the descendant of Perseus
end to by a revolt of the people, headed by Valen- born that day should be the ruler. When this was
tinus, the commander of the troops in Asia. Mar- done she hastened to Argos, and there caused the
tina was punished with the loss of her tongue, and wife of Sthenelus to give birth to Eurystheus,
Heracleonas was deprived of his nose. They were whereas, by keeping away the Eileithyiae, she
both confined in a convent, and finished their days delayed the confinement of Alcmene, and thus
in obscurity. Heracleonas was succeeded by Con- robbed Heracles of the empire which Zeus had in-
slans II. , the son of his brother, Constantine III. tended for him. Zeus was enraged at the imposi-
[CONSTANTINUS III. ; CONSTANS II. ) (W. P. ] tion practised upon him, but could not violate his
HERACLES ('Hpakañs), and in Latin HER- oath. Alcmene brought into the world two boys,
CULES, the most celebrated of all the heroes of Heracles, the son of Zeus, and Iphicles, the son of
antiquity. The traditions about him are not only Amphitryon, who was one night younger than He-
the richest in substance, but also the most widely racles. (Hom. 1. xix. 95, &c. ; Hes. Scut 1-
spread ; for we find them not only in all the coun- 56, 80, &c. ; Apollod. ii. 4. § 5, &c. ) Zeus, in
tries round the Mediterranean, but his wondrous his desire not to leave Heracles the victim of Hera's
deeds were known in the most distant countries of jealousy, made her promise, that if Heracles exe-
the ancient world. The difficulty of presenting a cuted twelve great works in the service of Eurys-
complete view of these traditions was felt even by theus, he should become immortal. (Diod. iv. 9. )
the ancients (Diod. iv. 8); and in order to give a Respecting the place of his birth traditions did
general survey, we must divide the subject, men- not agree ; for although the majority of poets
tioning first the Greek legends and their gradual and mythographers relate that he was born
development, next the Roman legends, and lastly at Thebes, Diodorus (iv. 10) says that Amphi-
those of the East (Egypt, Phoenicia).
tryon was not expelled from Tiryns till after the
The traditions about Heracles appear in their birth of Heracles, and Euripides (llerc. Fur.
national purity down to the time of Herodotus; 18) describes Argos as the native country of the
for although there may be some foreign ingre- hero.
dients, yet the whole character of the hero, his Nearly all the stories about the childhood and
armour, his exploits, and the scenes of his action, youth of Heracles, down to the time when he entered
are all essentially Greek. But the poets of the the service of Eurystheus, seem to be inventions
time of Herodotus and of the subsequent periods of a later age: at least in the Homeric poems and
introduced considerable alterations, which were in Hesiod we only find the general remarks that
probably derived from the east or Egypt, for every he grew strong in body and mind, that in the con-
nation of antiquity as well as of modern times had fidence in his own power he detied even the immor-
or has some traditions of heroes of superhuman tal gods, and wounded Hera and Ares, and that
strength and power. Now while in the earliest under the protection of Zeus and Athena he es-
Greek legends Heracles is a purely human hero, caped the dangers which Hera prepared for him.
as the conqueror of men and cities, he afterwards But according to Pindar (Nem. i. 49, &c. ), and
appears as the subduer of monstrous animals, and other subsequent writers, Heracles was only a few
is connected in a variety of ways with astronomical months old when Hera sent two serpents into the
phaenomena. According to Homer (N. xviii. 118), apartment where Heracles and his brother Iphicles
Heracles was the son of Zeus by Alcmene of were sleeping, but the former killed the serpents
Thebes in Boeotia, and the favourite of his father. with his own hands. (Comp. Theocrit. xxiv. 1,
(16. xiv. 250, 3:23, xix. 98, Od. xi. 266, 620, xxi. &c. ; A pollod. ii. 4. $ 8. ) lleracles was brought
## p. 394 (#410) ############################################
394
HERACLES.
HERACLES.
a
up at Thebes, but the detail of his infant life is manner in which Heracles had delivered his country
again related with various modifications in the procured him immortal fame among the Thebans,
different traditions. It is said that Alcmene, from and Creon rewarded him with the hand of his
fear of Hera, exposed her son in a field near eldest daughter, Megara, by whom he became the
Thebes, hence called the field of Heracles; here father of several children, the number and names
he was found by Hera and Athena, and the former of whom are stated differently by the different
was prevailed upon by the latter to put him to her writers. (Apollod. ii. 4. $ 11. 7. $ 8; Hugin. Fab.
breast, and she then carried him back to his mother. 32; Eurip. Hlerc. Fur. 995 ; Tzetz. ad Lycopha
(Diod. iv. 9 ; Paus. ix. 25. & 2. ) Others said that 38 ; Schol. ad Pind. Isthm. iii. 104. ) The gods, on
Hermes carried the newly-born child to Olympus, the other hand, made him presents of arms: Her-
and put him to the breast of Hera while she was mes gave him a sword, Apollo a bow and arrows,
asleep, but as she awoke, she pushed him away, Hephaestus a golden coat of mail, and Athena a
and the milk thus spilled produced the Milky peplus, and he cut for himself a club in the neigh-
Way. (Eratosth. Catast. 44 ; Hygin. Poet. Astr. bourhood of Nemea, while, according to others, the
ii. in fin. ) As the hero grew up, he was instructed club was of brass, and the gift of Hephaestus.
by Amphitryon in riding in a chariot, by Autolycus (Apollon. Rhod. i. 1196 ; Diod. iv. 14. ) After the
in wrestling, by Eurytus in archery, by Castor in battle with the Minyans, Hera visited Heracles
fighting with heavy armour, and by Linus in sing with madness, in which he killed his own children
ing and playing the lyre. (See the different state- by Megara and two of Iphicles.
one of the first persons who wrote a commentary kind by Leo Allatius, Rome, 1641. But the editor
on all the works in the Hippocratic Collection. suspected that the name Heracleitus was a mistake
(Galen, Comment. in Hippocr. “ De Humor. ” i. for Heracleides, and thinks it possible that he may
Prooem. 24, vol. xvi. pp. 1, 196. ) He is several be the Heracleides who wrote on the allegories in
times quoted by Caelius Aurelianus and other Homer. This work has been also published by
ancient authors. A further account of his lost Gale in his Op. Mythologica, Cantab. 1671 ; by
works, and his medical opinions so far as they can Teucher, Lemgo, 1796 ; and by Westermann,
be fonnd out, may be found in two essays by C. in his Mythograph. Brunsvig. 1843.
G. Kühn, inserted in the second volume of his 8. A comic poet, whose comedy, entitled Eevi-
Opuscula Academica Medica et Philologica, Lips. św, is referred to by Athenaeus (*. p. 414). Mei-
2 vols. 8vo. 18:27, 1828.
neke (Hist. Crit. Com. Gr. p. 422) thinks that the
3. A physician, mentioned by Diogenes Laërtius name Heracleitus is a mistake for Heracleides, and
(v. 94) as one of the followers of Hicesius, the that, consequently, our comic poet is the same as
head of the Erasistratean school of medicine at the Heracleides who ridiculed Adaeus, a commander
Smyrna, who must therefore probably have lived of mercenaries (under Philip of Macedonia), by
in the first century B. C.
calling him 'AXEKT PÚwv, or the cock. (Athen. xii.
4. Surnamed Erythraeus, a physician of Ery- p. 532; Zenob. Proverb. vi. 34. ) (L. S. )
thrae in lonia, who was a pupil of Chrysermus HERACLEITUS ('Hpáraeitos), of Ephesus,
(Galen, De Differ. Puls. iv. 10, vol. viii. p. 743), surnamed Duosós, son of Blyson, a philosopher
a fellow-pupil of Apollonius, and a contemporary generally considered as belonging to the lonian
of Strabo in the first century B. C. (Strab. xiv. 1, school, though he differed from their principles in
p. 182, ed. Tauchn. ) Galen calls him the most many respects. He is said to have been instructed
distinguished of all the pupils of Chysermus (l. c. ), by Hippasus of Metapontum, a Pythagorean, or by
and mentions a work written by him, Ilepl tñis Xenophanes, the founder of the Eleatic school, but
'Hpopisov Aipérews, De Herophili Secta (Ibid. p. neither statement rests on any probable foundation.
746), consisting of at least seven books. He wrote We read that in his youth he travelled extensively,
a commentary on the sixth book of Hippocrates, and that after his return to Ephesus the chief ma-
De Morbis Vulgaribus (Galen, Comment. in Hip gistracy was offered him, which, however, he trans-
pocr. “ Epid. VI. " i. Praef. vol. xvii. pt. i. p. 793), ferred to his brother. He gave, as his reason for
but neither this nor any of his writings are still declining it, the infamous state of morals prevalent
extant.
(W. A. G. ) in the city, and employed himself in playing at
HERACLEITUS ('Hpák eltos), a native of dice with boys near the temple of Artemis, inform.
Cyme, in Aeolia, was appointed by Arsinoë, the ing the passers by that this was a more profitable
wife of Lysimachus, to the government of Heraclea, occupation than to attempt the hopeless task of
when that city was given to her by her husband. governing them. He appears afterwards to have
By his arbitrary and tyrannical administration he become a complete recluse, rejecting even the kind-
inflicted a great injury on the prosperity of He nesses offered by Dareius, and at last retreating to
raclea, and alienated the minds of the citizens, so the mountains, where he lived on pot-herbs, but, after
that after the death of Lysimachus (B. C. 281) they some time, he was compelled by the sickness con-
rose in revolt against him, and, uniting with the sequent on such meagre diet to return to Ephesus,
mercenaries under his command, took Heracleitus where he died. As to the manner of his death,
prisoner, and re-established the liberty of their various absurd stories are related. His age at the
city. (Memnon, ap. Phot. p. 225, a b. ed. Bek time of his death is said, on Aristotle's authority,
ker. ) In the second passage where he is mentioned to have been sixty (Diog. Laert. ix. 3, compared
by Memnon, his name is written Heracleides : it is with viii. 52), and he flourished about the 69th
uncertain which is the correct form. (E. H. B. ) | Olympiad (16. ix. 1), being later than Pythagoras,
HERACLEITUS ('Hpák Akitos). 1. Of Lesbos, Xenophanes, and Hecataeus, whora be mentions.
the author of a history of Macedonia, but other with this date Suidas agrees, and bence Clinton
wise unknown. (Diog. Laërt. ix. 17. )
(F. H. vol. ii. ) places him under the year B. c. 513.
CC 4.
## p. 392 (#408) ############################################
392
HERACLEITUS.
HERACLEODORUS.
The philosophical system of Heracleitus was water ; and the soul of man, though dwelling in
contained in a work which received various titles the lower earthly region, must be considered a
from the ancients, of which the most common is On migrated portion of fire in its pure state, and there-
Nature (epd quoews). Some fragments of it re- fore an exception to the general rule ; according to
main, and have been collected and explained by which, fire by descending loses its etherial purity.
Schleiermacher, in Wolf and Buttmann's Museum And this, as Ritter remarks, appears an almost
der Alterthunswissenschaft. (vol. i. part 3. ) From solitary instance of Heracleitus condescending to
the obscurity of his style, Heracleitus gained the mould his theory in any respect according to the
title of Oroteivós, and, with his predilection for dictates of sense and experience. The only pos-
this method of writing, was probably connected his sible repose which Heracleitus allowed the universe
aristocratical pride and hauteur (whence he was was the harmony occasionally resulting from the fact,
called Oxnoloídopos), his tenacious adherence to that the downward motion of some part of fire will
his own views, which, according to Aristotle, had sometimes encounter the upward motion of another
as much weight with him as science itself (Eth. part (for the living fire, after manifesting itself in
Nic. vii. 5), his contempt for the opinions of pre- the lower earthly phenomena, begins to return to
vious writers, and the well-known melancholy of the heaven from which it descended), and so must
his disposition, froin which he is represented in produce for some time a kind of rest. Only we
various old traditions as the contrast to Democritus, must remember that this encounter is not accidental,
weeping over the follies and frailties at which the but the result of law and order. Ultimately, all
other laughed. (See Juv. 4. 34. ) With regard, things will return into the fire from which they
however, to his obscurity, we must also take into proceeded and received their life. The view that
account the cause assigned for it by Ritter, that the all things are arranged by law and order is also the
oldest philosophical prose must bave been rude and foundation of his moral theory, for he considered
loose in its structure ; and, since it had grown out the summum bonum to be contentment (evapérth-
of a poetical style, would naturally have recourse ois), i. e. acquiescence in the decrees of the supreme
to figurative language. He starts from the point of law. The close connection of his physical and
view common to all the Ionian philosophers, that moral theories is further shown by the fact that he
there must be some physical principle, which is not accounted for a drunkard's incapacity by supposing
only the ground of all phenomena, but is also a him to have a wet soul (Stob. Serm. v. 1:20), and
living unity, actually pervading and inherent in he even pushed this so far as to maintain that the
them all, and that it is the object of philosophy to soul is wisest where the land and climate is driest,
discover this principle. He declared it to be fire, but which would account for the mental greatness of
by this expression he meant only to describe a clear the Greeks. (Euseb. Praep. Erang. viii. 14. )
light fluid," self-kindled and self-extinguished," There is not to be found in Heracleitus any dia-
and therefore not differing materially from the lectical exposition of the sources of our knowledge.
air of Anaximenes. Thus then the world is formed, He held man's soul to be a portion of the divine
“ not made by God or man," but simply evolved fire, though degraded by its migration to earth.
by a natural operation from fire, which also is the Hence he seems to have argued that we must
human life and soul, and therefore a rational in- follow that which is commonly maintained by the
telligence, guiding the whole universe. While, general reason of mankind, since the ignorant
however, the other Ionian philosophers assumed the opinions of individuals are the origin of error, and
real existence of individual things, and from their lead men to act as if they had an intelligence of
properties attempted to discover the original from their own, instead of a portion of the Divine in-
which they sprang, whether it were water or air, telligence. “ Vain man," he said, “ learns from
or any other such principle, Heracleitus paid no God as the boy from the man (Orig. c. Cels. vi.
regard to these separate individuals, but fixed his 283), and therefore we must trust this source of
attention solely on the one living force and sub- knowledge rather than our own senses, which are
stance, which alone he held to be true and per- generally (though not invariably) deceitful. He
manent, revealing itself indeed in various pheno- considered the eyes more trustworthy than the
mena, and yet not permitting them to have any ears, probably as revealing to us the knowledge of
permanence, but keeping them in a state of con- fire. The connection of pantheism and atheism is
tinual flux, so that all things are incessantly well illustrated by the system of Heracleitus; por
moving and changing. In the primary fire, accord is it difficult to see how the doctrine of an all-per-
ing to Heracleitus, there is inherent a certain longing vading essence, revealing itself in various pheno-
to man:fest itself in different forms, to gratify which mena, might serve possibly for the origin, and
it constantly changes itself into a new phenomenon, certainly for an attempt at a philosophical explan-
though it feels no desire to maintain itself in that ation of a polytheistic religion. The Greek letters
for any period, but is ever passing into a new one, bearing the name of Heracleitus, published in the
so that the Creator amuses himself by making Aldine collection of Greek Epistles, Rome, 1499,
worlds” is an expression attributed to Heracleitus. and Geneva, 1606, and also in the edition of Eu-
(Procl. ad Tim. p. 101. ) With this theory was napius, by Boissonade, p. 425, are the invention of
connected one of space and motion. The living some later writer. (Schleiermacher, l. c. ; Ritter,
and rational fire in its perfectly pure state is in Gesch. der Philosophie, vol. i. p. 267, &c. ; Brandis
heaven (the highest conceivable region), whence, in Handbuch d. Gesch. der Griech. Röm. Philosophie,
pursuance of its wish to be manifested, it descends, vol. i. p. 148, &c. )
[G. E. L. C. )
losing as it goes the rapidity of its motion, and HERA'CLEO, FLAVIUS, the commander of
finally settling in the earth, which is the furthest the Roman soldiers in Mesopotamia in the reign of
possible limit of descent.
The earth, however, is | Alexander Severus, was slain by his own troops.
not to be considered immovable, but only the slow- (Dion Cass. lxxx. 4. )
est of motions. Previous, however, to assuming HERACLEODORUS ('Hpakleókmpos), a dis
the form of earth, fire passes through the shape of ciple of Plato, who, after being for some time under
## p. 393 (#409) ############################################
HERACLES.
393
HERACLES.
*****
the instruction of that philosopher, became negli- 25, 36. ) His stepfather was Amphitryon. (n. v.
gent, and gave himself up to idleness ; a change 392, Od. xi. 269; Hes. Scut. Herc. 165. ) Am-
which drew from Demosthenes, who is said to have phitryon was the son of Alcaeus, the son of Perseus,
been his fellow-disciple, a letter of remonstrance. and Alcmene was a grand-daughter of Perseus.
This letter is noticed in a fragment of the com- Hence Heracles belonged to the family of Perseus.
mentary on the Gorgius of Plato by Olympiodorus, The story of his birth runs thus. Amphitryon,
preserved in a MS. collection of Praeannotamenta after having slain Electryon, was expelled from
Miscellanea in Platonem, in the imperial library at Argos, and went with his wife Alcmene to Thebes,
Vienna (Lambecius, Comment. de Biblioth. Ces where he was received and purified by his uncle
sarea, lib. vii. No. 77, vol. vii. p. 271, ed. Kollar ; Creon. Alcmene was yet a maiden, in accordance
Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. iii. p. 176. ) (J. C. M. ) with a vow which Amphitryon had been obliged
HERACLEON ('Hpaknéww), a grammarian, to make to Electryon, and Alcmene continued to
a native of Egypt, mentioned by Suidas (8. v. ), refuse him the rights of a husband, until he should
and quoted by Stephanus of Byzantium, Harpo have avenged the death of her brothers on the
cration (8. o. Maptuncior), Eustathius (pp. 1910, Taphians. While Amphitryon was absent from
106. c. 524. b. ), and in the Scholia Marciana on Thebes, Zeus one night, to which he gave the du-
Homer. (Fabric. Bill. Gracc. vol. i. pp. 388, 513, ration of thrce other nights, visited Alcmene, and
vol. vi. p. 368. )
(C. P. M. ] assuming the appearance of Amphitryon, and re-
HERACLEO'NAS ('Hpandewvâs), the second lating to her how her brothers had been avenged,
son of the emperor Heraclius, reigned together with he begot by her the hero Heracles, the great bul-
his brother, Constantine III. , after the death of wark of gods and men. (Respecting the various
their father in March (February), a. D. 641, and modifications of this story see Apollod. ii. 4. §
he succeeded his brother in the month of June 7, &c. ; Hygin. Fab. 29; Hes. Scut. 35, &c. ;
(May) following. Constantine III. had two sons, Pind. Isth. vii. 5, &c. , Nem. 2. 19, &c. ; Schol. ad
but their legitimate rights were disregarded by Hom. Od. xi. 266. ) The day on which Heracles
his ambitious stepmother Martina, who placed her was to be born, Zeus boasted of his becoming the
younger son, Heracleonas, on the throne, and father of a man who was to rule over the heroic
reigned in his name till the following month of race of Perseus. Hera prevailed upon him to con-
September, when her misgovernment was put an firm by an oath that the descendant of Perseus
end to by a revolt of the people, headed by Valen- born that day should be the ruler. When this was
tinus, the commander of the troops in Asia. Mar- done she hastened to Argos, and there caused the
tina was punished with the loss of her tongue, and wife of Sthenelus to give birth to Eurystheus,
Heracleonas was deprived of his nose. They were whereas, by keeping away the Eileithyiae, she
both confined in a convent, and finished their days delayed the confinement of Alcmene, and thus
in obscurity. Heracleonas was succeeded by Con- robbed Heracles of the empire which Zeus had in-
slans II. , the son of his brother, Constantine III. tended for him. Zeus was enraged at the imposi-
[CONSTANTINUS III. ; CONSTANS II. ) (W. P. ] tion practised upon him, but could not violate his
HERACLES ('Hpakañs), and in Latin HER- oath. Alcmene brought into the world two boys,
CULES, the most celebrated of all the heroes of Heracles, the son of Zeus, and Iphicles, the son of
antiquity. The traditions about him are not only Amphitryon, who was one night younger than He-
the richest in substance, but also the most widely racles. (Hom. 1. xix. 95, &c. ; Hes. Scut 1-
spread ; for we find them not only in all the coun- 56, 80, &c. ; Apollod. ii. 4. § 5, &c. ) Zeus, in
tries round the Mediterranean, but his wondrous his desire not to leave Heracles the victim of Hera's
deeds were known in the most distant countries of jealousy, made her promise, that if Heracles exe-
the ancient world. The difficulty of presenting a cuted twelve great works in the service of Eurys-
complete view of these traditions was felt even by theus, he should become immortal. (Diod. iv. 9. )
the ancients (Diod. iv. 8); and in order to give a Respecting the place of his birth traditions did
general survey, we must divide the subject, men- not agree ; for although the majority of poets
tioning first the Greek legends and their gradual and mythographers relate that he was born
development, next the Roman legends, and lastly at Thebes, Diodorus (iv. 10) says that Amphi-
those of the East (Egypt, Phoenicia).
tryon was not expelled from Tiryns till after the
The traditions about Heracles appear in their birth of Heracles, and Euripides (llerc. Fur.
national purity down to the time of Herodotus; 18) describes Argos as the native country of the
for although there may be some foreign ingre- hero.
dients, yet the whole character of the hero, his Nearly all the stories about the childhood and
armour, his exploits, and the scenes of his action, youth of Heracles, down to the time when he entered
are all essentially Greek. But the poets of the the service of Eurystheus, seem to be inventions
time of Herodotus and of the subsequent periods of a later age: at least in the Homeric poems and
introduced considerable alterations, which were in Hesiod we only find the general remarks that
probably derived from the east or Egypt, for every he grew strong in body and mind, that in the con-
nation of antiquity as well as of modern times had fidence in his own power he detied even the immor-
or has some traditions of heroes of superhuman tal gods, and wounded Hera and Ares, and that
strength and power. Now while in the earliest under the protection of Zeus and Athena he es-
Greek legends Heracles is a purely human hero, caped the dangers which Hera prepared for him.
as the conqueror of men and cities, he afterwards But according to Pindar (Nem. i. 49, &c. ), and
appears as the subduer of monstrous animals, and other subsequent writers, Heracles was only a few
is connected in a variety of ways with astronomical months old when Hera sent two serpents into the
phaenomena. According to Homer (N. xviii. 118), apartment where Heracles and his brother Iphicles
Heracles was the son of Zeus by Alcmene of were sleeping, but the former killed the serpents
Thebes in Boeotia, and the favourite of his father. with his own hands. (Comp. Theocrit. xxiv. 1,
(16. xiv. 250, 3:23, xix. 98, Od. xi. 266, 620, xxi. &c. ; A pollod. ii. 4. $ 8. ) lleracles was brought
## p. 394 (#410) ############################################
394
HERACLES.
HERACLES.
a
up at Thebes, but the detail of his infant life is manner in which Heracles had delivered his country
again related with various modifications in the procured him immortal fame among the Thebans,
different traditions. It is said that Alcmene, from and Creon rewarded him with the hand of his
fear of Hera, exposed her son in a field near eldest daughter, Megara, by whom he became the
Thebes, hence called the field of Heracles; here father of several children, the number and names
he was found by Hera and Athena, and the former of whom are stated differently by the different
was prevailed upon by the latter to put him to her writers. (Apollod. ii. 4. $ 11. 7. $ 8; Hugin. Fab.
breast, and she then carried him back to his mother. 32; Eurip. Hlerc. Fur. 995 ; Tzetz. ad Lycopha
(Diod. iv. 9 ; Paus. ix. 25. & 2. ) Others said that 38 ; Schol. ad Pind. Isthm. iii. 104. ) The gods, on
Hermes carried the newly-born child to Olympus, the other hand, made him presents of arms: Her-
and put him to the breast of Hera while she was mes gave him a sword, Apollo a bow and arrows,
asleep, but as she awoke, she pushed him away, Hephaestus a golden coat of mail, and Athena a
and the milk thus spilled produced the Milky peplus, and he cut for himself a club in the neigh-
Way. (Eratosth. Catast. 44 ; Hygin. Poet. Astr. bourhood of Nemea, while, according to others, the
ii. in fin. ) As the hero grew up, he was instructed club was of brass, and the gift of Hephaestus.
by Amphitryon in riding in a chariot, by Autolycus (Apollon. Rhod. i. 1196 ; Diod. iv. 14. ) After the
in wrestling, by Eurytus in archery, by Castor in battle with the Minyans, Hera visited Heracles
fighting with heavy armour, and by Linus in sing with madness, in which he killed his own children
ing and playing the lyre. (See the different state- by Megara and two of Iphicles.
