DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5309#0113
HERCULES.
The adventures of this hero are so very numerous and strange, that the ancients have
believed that they did not all appertain to a single person ; hence Diodorus Siculus
mentions three of the name of Hercules, Cicero six, and Varrò extends the number to
forty-three. The reason of this, according to a learned French author is, that Her-
cules was not a proper name, but an appellative, derived from the Phenician word
harokel, which signifies merchant. Now, considering the above variety, we must
not be surprised at the various forms in which this hero is represented. It must be
owned that some of them are sufficiently odd and ludicrous, as when he appears in a
manner allusive to the proverb, Ne in Melampygum incidas, the interpretation of
which may be seen in the Adages of Erasmus. Beger has collected all the various
figurations of Hercules in a large volume. There is however a peculiarity which sym-
bolizes him; it is the lion's skin, that sometimes is pendant on his shoulders, and
sometimes covers his head, like a wig, as in the present Herma. We must not pass
over unnoticed the two fangs sprouting on the forehead ; they seem to have been
placed there as a pair of horns, to indicate the dignity of the subject. That horns were
anciently an emblem of eminence, the story of Moses, the portrait of Jupiter Hammon,
and even the etymology of the word, are a sufficient proof; for, as Valerianus observes,
convenimt similitudine quaderni inter se cornu, radius et corona. However horns had
not always the same signification; sometimes they were a badge of honour, and some-
times of ignominy ; the seventy-fourth Psalm points out the difference—et omnia
cornua peccatorum confringam, et exaltabuntur cormajusti. We read of the Arabians,
that they use horns as a personal ornament, and therefore smear with gum the hair
over the forehead, and twist it into two points ; a custom which, in the late century,
was fashionable among the Italian ladies. Some writers have it that Hillus, son of
Hercules and Dejanira, was born with a small horn on the left of his forehead. He
must not be confounded with Hylas, who was only a minion of Hercules.
65
The adventures of this hero are so very numerous and strange, that the ancients have
believed that they did not all appertain to a single person ; hence Diodorus Siculus
mentions three of the name of Hercules, Cicero six, and Varrò extends the number to
forty-three. The reason of this, according to a learned French author is, that Her-
cules was not a proper name, but an appellative, derived from the Phenician word
harokel, which signifies merchant. Now, considering the above variety, we must
not be surprised at the various forms in which this hero is represented. It must be
owned that some of them are sufficiently odd and ludicrous, as when he appears in a
manner allusive to the proverb, Ne in Melampygum incidas, the interpretation of
which may be seen in the Adages of Erasmus. Beger has collected all the various
figurations of Hercules in a large volume. There is however a peculiarity which sym-
bolizes him; it is the lion's skin, that sometimes is pendant on his shoulders, and
sometimes covers his head, like a wig, as in the present Herma. We must not pass
over unnoticed the two fangs sprouting on the forehead ; they seem to have been
placed there as a pair of horns, to indicate the dignity of the subject. That horns were
anciently an emblem of eminence, the story of Moses, the portrait of Jupiter Hammon,
and even the etymology of the word, are a sufficient proof; for, as Valerianus observes,
convenimt similitudine quaderni inter se cornu, radius et corona. However horns had
not always the same signification; sometimes they were a badge of honour, and some-
times of ignominy ; the seventy-fourth Psalm points out the difference—et omnia
cornua peccatorum confringam, et exaltabuntur cormajusti. We read of the Arabians,
that they use horns as a personal ornament, and therefore smear with gum the hair
over the forehead, and twist it into two points ; a custom which, in the late century,
was fashionable among the Italian ladies. Some writers have it that Hillus, son of
Hercules and Dejanira, was born with a small horn on the left of his forehead. He
must not be confounded with Hylas, who was only a minion of Hercules.
65