Part 5

=Faler´nus.= A fertile mountain and plain of Campania, famous for its wine. Falernian wine was held in great esteem by the Romans, and it is often alluded to by the poets.

=Fau´ni.= Rural deities represented as having the legs, feet, and ears of goats, and the rest of the body human.

=Flac´cus.= A consul who marched against Sylla and was assassinated.

=Flamin´ius, T. Q.= A famous Roman who was trained in the art of war against Hannibal. He was sent in command of the Roman troops against Philip of Macedonia, and met with great success.

=Flo´ra.= The goddess of flowers and gardens among the Romans. She was the same as the Chloris of the Greeks.

=Fortu´na.= A powerful deity among the ancients, daughter of Oceanus, according to Homer, or one of the Parcæ according to Pindar. She was the goddess of Fortune, and bestowed riches or poverty on mankind.

=Ful´via.= An ambitious woman, wife of the tribune Clodius, afterwards of Curio, and lastly of Antony. Antony divorced her for Cleopatra. She attempted to avenge her wrongs by persuading Augustus to take up arms against Antony.

=Galatæ´a.= A sea nymph, daughter of Nereus and Doris. She was loved by Polyphemus, the Cyclops, whom she treated with disdain, while she was in love with Acis, a shepherd of Sicily.

=Gal´ba, Ser´vius Sulpi´cius.= A Roman who rose to the greatest offices of the state, and exercised his powers with equity till he was seated on the throne, when his virtues disappeared. He was assassinated in the seventy-third year of his age.

=Gallie´nus, Pub. Licin´ius.= A son of the emperor Valerian. He reigned conjointly with his father for seven years, and then became sole emperor, A.D. 260. In his youth he showed military ability in an expedition against the Germans and Sarmatæ, but when possessed of the purple he gave himself up to pleasure and vice. He was assassinated in his fiftieth year, A.D. 268.

=Gal´lus, Corne´lius.= A Roman knight famous for his poetical as well as his military talents. He was greatly attached to his slave Lycoris (or Cytheris), whose beauty he extolled in his poetry.

=Ganyme´des.= A beautiful youth of Phrygia. He was taken to heaven by Jupiter while tending flocks on Mount Ida, and he became the cupbearer of the gods in place of Hebe.

=Gel´lius Au´lus.= A Roman grammarian in the age of M. Antoninus. He wrote a work called "Noctes Atticæ," which he composed at Athens.

=German´icus Cæ´sar.= A son of Drusus and Antonia, the niece of Augustus. He was raised to the most important position in the state, and was employed in war in Germany, where his successes obtained him a triumph. He was secretly poisoned, A.D. 19, in the thirty-fourth year of his age. He has been commended not only for his military talents but for his learning and humanity.

=Ge´ryon.= A monster, represented by the poets as having three bodies and three heads. It was killed by Hercules.

=Gigan´tes.= The sons of Coelus and Terra, who, according to Hesiod, sprang from the blood of a wound inflicted on Coelus by his son Saturn. They are represented as huge giants, with strength in accordance with their size.

=Glau´cus.= A son of Hippolochus, the son of Bellerophon. He aided Priam in the Trojan war, and was noted for his folly in exchanging his golden armor with Diomedes for an iron one.

=Glau´cus.= A fisherman of Boeotia. He observed that the fishes which he caught and laid on the grass became invigorated and leaped into the sea. He tasted the grass, and suddenly felt a desire to live in the sea. He was made a sea deity by Oceanus and Tethys.

=Glau´cus.= A son of Minos the Second and Pasiphae, who was smothered in a cask of honey. The soothsayer Polyidus, on being commanded by Minos to find his son, discovered him, and by rubbing his body with a certain herb restored him to life.

=Gordia´nus, M. Anto´nius Africa´nus.= Son of Metius Marcellus. He applied himself to poetry, and composed a poem in thirty books. He was sent as proconsul to Africa, and subsequently, when he had attained his eightieth year, he was proclaimed emperor. He strangled himself at Carthage A.D. 236, and was deeply lamented by the army and the people.

=Gordia´nus, M. Anto´nius Africa´nus=, son of Gordianus, was made prefect of Rome, and afterwards consul, by Alexander Severus. He was elected emperor in conjunction with his father. He was killed in a battle fought with Maximinus in Mauritania.

=Gordia´nus M. Anto´nius Pius=, was grandson of the first Gordian. He was proclaimed emperor in the sixteenth year of his age. He married the daughter of Misetheus, who was distinguished by his virtues, and to whom Gordian intrusted many of the chief offices of the state. Gordian conquered Sapor, king of Persia, and took many cities from him. He was assassinated A.D. 244.

=Gor´dius.= A Phrygian who, from the position of a peasant, was raised to the throne consequent on a prediction of the oracle. The knot which tied the yoke to the draught-tree of his chariot was made so cunningly that the ends of the cord could not be seen, and a report arose that the empire of Asia was promised by the oracle to him who should untie the Gordian knot. Alexander cut the knot with his sword.

=Gor´gones= (the Gorgons). Three sisters, daughters of Phorcys and Ceto, whose names were Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. They possessed the power of turning into stone those on whom they looked. Perseus attacked them and cut off Medusa's head, which he gave to Minerva, who placed it on her ægis, which turned into stone those who fixed their eyes on it.

=Grac´chus, T. Sempronius=, was twice consul and once censor. He married Cornelia, of the family of the Scipios, a woman of piety and learning. Their children, Tiberius and Caius, rendered themselves famous for their obstinate attachment to the interests of the populace, which at last proved fatal to them. The Gracchi stand out conspicuously in Roman annals. The history of Gaius Gracchus has been dramatized by James Sheridan Knowles. It was one of his earliest efforts in dramatic literature, and has long been obsolete as an acting play.

=Gymna´sium.= A place among the Greeks where all the public exercises were performed, and where not only dancers and wrestlers exhibited, but where poets and philosophers repeated their compositions.

=Ha´des=, see ADES.

=Halicarnas´sus.= A maritime city in Asia Minor, where a mausoleum, one of the seven wonders of the world, was erected. It is celebrated as being the birthplace of Herodotus, Dionysius, and Heraclitus.

=Hamadry´ades.= Nymphs who lived in the country and presided over trees.

=Hamil´car.= A famous Carthaginian, father of Hannibal. He was engaged in Sicily during the first Punic war. He used to say of his three sons that he kept three lions to devour the Roman power.

=Han´nibal.= A celebrated Carthaginian general, son of Hamilcar. While a child he took a solemn oath never to be at peace with Rome. His passage of the Alps with a great army was achieved by softening the rocks with fire and vinegar, so that even his armed elephants descended the mountains without difficulty. He defeated the Romans in the great battle of Cannæ, but was subsequently conquered by Scipio at Zama. He died by poison taken from a ring in which he kept it concealed. This occurred in his seventieth year, about 182 years B.C.

=Harmo´dius.= A friend of Aristogiton who assisted in delivering his country from the tyranny of the Pisistratidæ.

=Harpy´læ.= The Harpies, winged monsters who had the face of a woman, the body of a vulture, and feet and fingers armed with claws. They were three in number--Aello, Ocypete, and Celeno. They were daughters of Neptune and Terra.

=Has´drubal.= A son of Hamilcar, and brother of Hannibal. He crossed the Alps and entered Italy, where he was defeated by the consuls, M. Livius Salinator and Claudius Nero. He was killed in the battle B.C. 207, and his head was sent to Hannibal. One of the finest passages in Professor Nichol's tragedy of Hannibal is the invocation over Hasdrubal's head at the close of the play.

=He´be.= A daughter of Jupiter and Juno. She was made cup-bearer to the gods, but was dismissed from the office by Jupiter, because she fell down in a clumsy posture as she was pouring out nectar at a festival, and Ganymedes succeeded her as cupbearer.

=Hec´ate.= A daughter of Persus and Asteria. She was called Luna in heaven, Diana on earth, and Hecate or Proserpine in hell.

=Hec´tor=, son of King Priam and Hecuba, was the most valiant of all the Trojan chiefs who fought against the Greeks. He married Andromache, the daughter of Eetion, Astyanax being their son. Hector was made chief of the Trojan forces when Troy was besieged by the Greeks, and it is said that thirty-one of the most valiant Greek chiefs were killed by him, but when he met Achilles he fled. Achilles pursued him, and Hector was killed, and his body dragged in triumph at the chariot wheels of the conqueror.

=Hec´uba=, daughter of Dymas, a Phrygian prince, or, according to some, of Cisseus, a Thracian king, was the second wife of Priam, king of Troy. When her son Paris was born, she exposed him on Mount Ida, hoping he would perish, as the soothsayers had predicted that he would be the ruin of his country. In the Trojan war she saw most of her children perish. After enduring many misfortunes, she threw herself into the sea, and was drowned.

=Hel´ena.= One of the most beautiful women in the age in which she lived. Her beauty was so universally admired, even in her infancy, that Theseus, with his friend Pirithous, carried her away when she was ten years of age and concealed her with his mother, but she was recovered by Castor and Pollux, and restored to her native country. She married Menelaus, son of Atreus, but when Paris visited Menelaus he persuaded her to fly with him to Troy, B.C. 1198. On this, Menelaus sent ambassadors to the court of Priam to demand her restitution, but in vain, and the result was the Trojan war. When Troy was taken she returned to Menelaus, and after his death she retired to Rhodes, where she was strangled by order of Polyxo, who reigned there. Her beauty and misfortunes have been a theme for the poets in all ages.

=Hel´icon.= A mountain of Boeotia on the borders of Phocis. It was sacred to the Muses, who had a temple there. The fountain Hippocrene flowed from this mountain.

=Heliogab´alus, M. Aure´lius Antoni´nus.= A Roman emperor who had been priest to a divinity in Phoenicia. Under his sway Rome became the scene of cruelty and vice. He raised his horse to the honors of consulship, and indulged in a number of absurdities which rendered him odious to his subjects. His head was cut off by his soldiers A.D. 222.

=Hel´le.= A daughter of Athamas and Nephele. She fled from her father's house to avoid the oppression of her mother-in-law Ino. According to some accounts she was carried through the air on a golden ram, when, becoming giddy, she fell into the sea, which received from her the name Hellespont.

=Hellespon´tus.= A narrow strait between Europe and Asia, which received its name from Helle, who is said to have been drowned in it. It is celebrated as being the scene of the love and death of Leander.

=Heracli´tus.= A celebrated Greek philosopher of Ephesus, who lived about 500 years before the Christian era. He received the appellation of the Obscure Philosopher and the Mourner, from his custom of weeping at the follies and frailties of human life.

=Hercula´neum.= A town of Campania swallowed up by an earthquake, produced by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, A.D. 79.

=Her´cules.= A celebrated hero who, after death, was ranked among the gods. According to the ancients there were many persons of the same name, but the son of Jupiter and Alcmena, generally called the Theban, is the most celebrated. The birth of Hercules was attended with many miraculous events. Before he was eight months old Juno sent two snakes to devour him, which he seized, and crushed them to death. He achieved a series of enterprises known as the "Twelve Labors of Hercules." These comprised the slaughter of the Nemæan lion, the destruction of the Lernæan hydra, the catching of a stag having golden horns and remarkable for his swiftness, the seizing alive a wild boar which committed great ravages, the cleansing of the stables of Augias, the killing of the carnivorous birds near Lake Stymphalis, the taking captive a prodigious wild bull, the obtaining the mares of Diomedes which fed on human flesh, the getting possession of the girdle of the queen of the Amazons, the destruction of the monster Geryon, the obtaining the apples from the garden of the Hesperides, and the bringing to the earth the three-headed dog Cerberus. Besides these labors he aided the gods in their wars with the giants, and performed numerous difficult feats. He was conducted by Mercury to Omphale, queen of Lydia, whom he married, and whom he permitted to dress in his armor while he was sitting to spin with her female servants. He delivered Dejanira from the Centaur Nessus, whom he killed. The Centaur, as he expired, gave Dejanira a mystic tunic, which, in a jealous paroxysm, she gave to Hercules to put on, which he had no sooner done than he was seized with a desperate distemper which was incurable. He erected a burning pile on Mount Ætna, on which he cast himself. Jupiter surrounded the burning pile with smoke, amidst which Hercules, after his mortal parts were consumed, was carried to heaven in a chariot drawn by four horses.

=Her´mes.= A name of Mercury among the Greeks.

=Hermin´ius.= A valiant Roman who defended the bridge with Cocles against the army of Porsenna.

=Hermi´one.= A daughter of Mars and Venus who married Cadmus. She was changed into a serpent, and placed in the Elysian Fields.

=Hermi´one.= A daughter of Menelaus and Helen. She was privately promised in marriage to Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, but her father, ignorant of the engagement, gave her hand to Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, whose services he had experienced in the Trojan war.

=Hermip´pus.= A freedman, disciple of Philo, in the reign of Adrian, by whom he was greatly esteemed. He wrote five books on dreams.

=Hermoc´rates.= A general of Syracuse, who was sent against the Athenians. His lenity towards the Athenian prisoners was regarded with suspicion. He was banished from Sicily, and was murdered on his attempt to return to his country.

=Hermodo´rus.= A philosopher of Ephesus who is said to have assisted, as interpreter, the Roman decemvirs, in the composition of the ten tables of laws which had been collected in Greece.

=He´ro.= A beautiful girl of Sestos, greatly beloved by Leander, a youth of Abydos. The lovers were greatly attached to each other, and often in the night Leander swam across the Hellespont to Hero in Sestos, till on one tempestuous night he was drowned, and Hero in despair threw herself into the sea and perished.

=Hero´des=, surnamed the Great, followed the fortunes of Brutus and Cassius, and afterwards those of Antony. He was made king of Judæa by the aid of Antony, and after the battle of Actium he was continued in power by submission to and flattery of Augustus. He rendered himself odious by his cruelty, and as he knew his death would be a cause for rejoicing, he ordered a number of the most illustrious of his subjects to be confined and murdered directly he expired, that there might appear to be grief and shedding of tears for his own death. Herod died in the seventieth year of his age, after a reign of 40 years.

=Herod´otus.= A celebrated historian of Halicarnassus. He ranks amongst historians as Homer does amongst the poets and Demosthenes amongst the orators. His great work is a history of the wars of the Persians against the Greeks, from the age of Cyrus to the battle of Mycale in the reign of Xerxes; besides which it gives an account of many celebrated nations. A life of Homer is attributed to his pen, though by some the authorship is doubted.

=Hesi´odus.= A celebrated poet, born at Ascra in Boeotia. He lived in the age of Homer, and obtained a poetical prize in competition with him, according to Varro and Plutarch. Quintilian, Philostratus, and others, maintain that Hesiod lived before the age of Homer. Hesiod, without possessing the sublimity of Homer, is admired for the elegance of his diction.

=Hesi´one.= A daughter of Laodemon, king of Troy. It was her fate to be exposed to a sea-monster, to whom the Trojans presented yearly a young girl to appease the resentment of Apollo and Neptune, whom Laodemon had offended. Hercules undertook to rescue her, and attacking the monster just as he was about to devour her, killed him with his club.

=Hesper´ides.= Three Nymphs, daughters of Hesperus. Apollodorus mentions four, Ægle, Erythia, Vesta and Arethusa. They were appointed to guard the golden apples which Juno gave to Jupiter on the day of their marriage. The place where the Hesperides lived was a celebrated garden, abounding with delicious fruit, and was guarded by a dragon which never slept. It was one of the labors of Hercules to procure some of the golden apples, which he succeeded in doing after slaying the dragon.

=Hieron´ymus.= A tyrant of Sicily, who succeeded to the throne when he was fifteen years old. He rendered himself odious by his cruelty and oppression.

=Hieron´ymus.= A Christian writer, commonly called St. Jerome. He was distinguished for his zeal against heretics. He wrote commentaries on the prophets, St. Matthew's Gospel, &c. He died A.D. 420, in his eightieth year.

=Hippar´chus.= A son of Pisistratus, who succeeded his father, as tyrant of Athens, with his brother Hippias. He patronized some of the learned men of his age, and distinguished himself for his love of literature.

=Hippoc´rates.= A celebrated physician of Cos. He delivered Athens from a dreadful pestilence in the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, for which he was rewarded with a golden crown. He died in his ninety-ninth year, B.C. 361.

=Hippocre´ne.= A fountain of Boeotia, near Mount Helicon, sacred to the Muses. It rose from the ground when struck by the feet of the horse Pegasus.

=Hippodami´a.= A daughter of OEnomaus, king of Pisa, who married Pelops, son of Tantalus. Her father would marry her only to some one who should conquer him in a chariot race. Her beauty was great, and many were competitors for her hand, though the conditions involved death in case of defeat in the race. After thirteen suitors had been defeated, Pelops entered the lists, and by bribing the charioteer of OEnomaus, obtained the victory and married Hippodamia.

=Hippol´yte.= A queen of the Amazons, given in marriage to Theseus by Hercules. Hippolytus was their son.

=Hippol´ytus.= Son of Theseus and Hippolyte. His step-mother Phædra fell in love with him. He fled to the sea-shore, where, his horses taking fright and rushing among the rocks, his chariot was broken in pieces, and he was killed. According to some accounts he was restored to life by Diana.

=Hippo´nax.= A Greek poet born at Ephesus, 540 years before the Christian era. He cultivated satirical poetry, which was marked by its beauty and vigor.

=Home´rus.= A celebrated Greek poet, the most ancient of all the profane writers. The age in which he lived is not known, though some suppose it to be about 168 years after the Trojan war. Uncertainty prevails, also, as to the place of his nativity, seven cities claiming to be thus honored. These are Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Salamis, Rhodos, Argos, and Athenæ. In his two famous poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, he has displayed the most consummate knowledge of human nature, and rendered himself immortal by the sublimity and elegance of his poetry. In the Iliad be gives a narrative of the siege of Troy, and the Odyssey deals with the wanderings of Ulysses after the fall of the city.

=Hono´rius.= An emperor of the Western Empire of Rome, who succeeded his father, Theodosius the Great. He conquered his enemies by the ability of his generals, and suffered his people to be governed by ministers who took advantage of his indolence and indifference. He died A.D. 423.

=Hora´tii.= Three brave Romans, born at the same time, who fought against the three Curiatii about 667 years before Christ. At the beginning of the fight two of the Horatii were killed, and the surviving one pretended to fly, thus separating his antagonists as they pursued him, and then, attacking them singly, he slew them all.

=Hora´tius Q. Flac´cus.= A celebrated poet born at Venusia. His rising talents obtained the attention of Virgil and Varius, who recommended him to the care of Mæcenas and Augustus, the celebrated patrons of literature. Under this fostering patronage Horace gave himself up to indolence and pleasure. He was warm in his friendships, and if he at any time gave offense he was ready to make any concession to effect a reconciliation. In his satires and epistles he displays much wit and satirical humor. He died in his fifty-seventh year, B.C. 8.

=Hora´tius.= See =Cocles=.

=Horten´sius, Q.= A celebrated orator who began to distinguish himself in the Roman Forum when he was nineteen years old. Cicero speaks eulogistically of his oratorical powers, and of his retentive memory. Quintilian alludes to his orations in terms of high commendation.

=Hyacin´thus.= A son of Amyclas and Diomede, greatly beloved by Apollo and Zephyrus. He was accidentally killed by Apollo, who changed his blood into a flower which bore his name.

=Hy´bla.= A mountain in Sicily, famous for the odoriferous herbs which grew on it. It was famous for its honey.

=Hy´dra.= A celebrated monster which infested the neighborhood of Lake Lerna in Peloponnesus. It was one of the labors of Hercules to destroy the monster, which he effected with the aid of Iolas.

=Hyge´ia.= The goddess of health, daughter of Æsculapius. She was held in great veneration among the ancients.

=Hymenæ´us= or =Hy´men=, the god of marriage among the Greeks, was the son of Bacchus and Venus, or, according to some, of Apollo and one of the Muses.

=Hymet´tus.= A mountain of Attica, about two miles from Athens, famous for its bees and honey.

=Hyperi´on.= A son of Coelus and Terra, who married Thea. Aurora was their daughter. Hyperion is often used by the poets to signify the sun. Also in "Troilus and Cressida" and other of Shakspeare's plays, the same license is used.

=Hypermnes´tra.= One of the Danaides, who were the fifty daughters of Danaus. She was ordered by her father to murder her husband Lynceus on the night of their marriage, which she refused to do. Danaus wished to punish her for her disobedience, but afterwards forgave her, and left his kingdom at his death to Lynceus.

=Hypsip´yle.= A queen of Lemnos, daughter of Thoas. During her reign, Venus, whose altars had been slighted, punished the Lemnian women by causing their husbands' affections to be estranged from them. This enraged the women, and they put to death their male relations, except in the case of Hypsipyle, who spared her father Thoas.

=Ic´arus.= A son of Daedalus, who, with his father, took a winged flight from Crete to escape the anger of Minos. His flight was too high, and thus the sun melted the wax which cemented his wings, and he fell into the sea and was drowned.

=Idom´eneus= succeeded his father Deucalion on the throne of Crete, and accompanied the Greeks to the Trojan war, during which he rendered himself famous for his valor. On his voyage home, being caught in a great tempest, he vowed to Neptune that if he escaped he would make an offering to the god of the first living creature he saw on his arrival at the Cretan shore. He escaped the storm, and the first to meet him on his landing was his son. He performed his vow, and became so odious to his subjects that he had to leave his dominions.