HERMAE 



Herxnae. Small pillars, sur- 

 mounted by a head, generally 

 of Hermes. They were set up 

 in large numbers in public places 

 in the towns of ancient Greece. It 

 was the alleged mutilation of the 

 Hermae of Athens in a drunken 

 frolic on the eve of the expedition 

 to Sicily in 415 B.C. that led to the 

 disgrace of Alcibiades (q.v.). 



Hermanaric OR EKMANARIC. 

 King of the Ostrogoths. He 

 founded a vast empire, consisting 

 of a number of vassal states, the 

 boundaries of which are said to 

 have extended from the Don to 

 the Theiss, and from the Danube 

 to the Baltic. Attacked by the 

 Huns under Valamir (A.D. 375), 

 Hermanaric, uncertain of the atti- 

 tude of his vassals and fearing de- 

 feat, threw himself upon his sword. 

 According to another story, he had 

 ordered the beautiful Swanhilda, 

 his son's wife, to be torn to pieces 

 by wild horses. Her death was 

 avenged by her brothers, who cut 

 off Hermanaric's hands and feet 

 and left him to die. 



Hermaiidad (Span., brother- 

 hood). Name given to various 

 confederations of Spanish cities. 

 They were originally formed in the 

 13th century, partly for maintain- 

 ing law and order, and partly as a 

 check upon the growing and auto- 

 cratic power of the great nobles. 

 The confederation provided pro- 

 tection to travellers by suitable 

 police, brought criminals to justice, 

 and in every way acted as the em- 

 bodiment of the law. The herman- 

 dads became for a few years in the 

 15th century all powerful in Spain, 

 under Isabella, every city becom- 

 ing a member of one confederation 

 covering all Spain. In the follow- 

 ing century, however, its power de- 

 clined rapidly, and soon it became 

 extinct. The most powerful of 

 the hermandads was the Santa 

 Hermandad, or Holy Brotherhood 

 of the 14th and 15th centuries. 



Hermann. Christian name 

 meaning originally a man of the 

 host or army. It is the name of 

 the German national hero, better 

 known under the Latin form 

 Arminius (q.v.). 



Hermanns tadt. German name 

 of the Transylvanian town, now 

 in Rumania, known as Sibiu (q.v. ). 



Hermannstadt, BATTLE OF. 

 Fought between the Austro-Ger- 

 mans and the Rumanians, Sept. 

 19-26, 1916. Under pressure of 

 the Rumanian invasion of Transyl- 

 vania in Aug.-Sept, 1916, the 

 Austrians, on Sept. 12, evacuated 

 Hermannstadt, strategically im- 

 portant because from it ran a rly. 

 and road, by the valley of the 

 Aluta, across the Roter Turm Pass 

 into Wallachia. Retiring to the 



3961 



neighbour i n g 

 hills, the Aus- 

 trians com- 

 manded the 

 town with 

 their artillery, 

 and prevented 

 the Ruman- 

 ians from 

 ad vane ing. 

 On Sept. 19, 

 Falkenhayn 

 struck at the 

 Rumanians in 

 .this sector. 



Holding 

 them with his 

 centre, he 

 Hermae. The Hermes threw out his 

 of Alcamenes wings E and 



W. to envelop them. Bavarian 

 mountain troops on the W. moved 

 S. to the Rumanian frontier, reach- 

 ing it on Sept. 25, and next day 

 attacked and held the pass, and cut 

 the railway. On the E. a German 

 column forced the Aluta and 

 effectually separated the Ruman- 

 ians there from their 2nd Army 

 farther E. In the centre, on Sept. 

 26-27, Falkenhayn's infantry ad- 

 vanced, but met with a determined 

 resistance from the Rumanians, who 

 succeeded in getting away part of 

 their forces. But their losses in men 

 and material were heavy, and the 

 Roter Turm was left in the enemy's 

 hands. See Rumania, Conquest of. 



Hermaphrodite. Biological 

 term for an organism in which the 

 two sexes are combined. Some 

 low species of animals, such as 

 snails and earth-worms, and many 

 plants, are normally hermaphro- 

 dite, possessing both male and 

 female generative organs, which 

 produce sperms and ova. These do 

 not, however, necessarily, or even 

 usually, fertilise each other, cross- 

 fertilisation (see Fertilisation) being 

 secured by the fact that the 

 sperms and the ova in the same 

 individual ripen at different periods. 



No cases are known in human 

 beings of true hermaphroditism, i.e. 

 of a human being having both 

 male and female organs present, 

 and both functionally active. The 

 term, however, is applied in medi- 

 cal science to those cases in which 

 glands corresponding to the male 

 testicles and female ovaries are 

 found in one individual ; also to 

 the more common cases in which 

 the sex of the individual is doubt- 

 ful. The explanation of this more 

 common form is to be found in the 

 development of the external geni- 

 tal organs, hermaphrodites usually 

 being individuals in whom a part 

 has persisted which ought to have 

 disappeared in the process of de- 

 velopment. Sometimes, though 

 rarely, an individual with ovaries. 



HERMES 



and therefore a female, occurs in 

 whom the external appearances are 

 those of a male. See Sex. 



Hermaphroditus. In Greek 

 mythology, spn of Hermes and 

 Aphrodite. The nymph of a foun- 

 tain by Halicarnassus fell in love 

 with the youth, and the two com- 

 bined to form a being with the 

 characteristics of both sexes. 



Herxnas. Early Christian writer. 

 Supposed to have been a brother of 

 Pope Pius I, he appears to have 

 flourished in the first half of the 

 2nd century, when he wrote an 

 allegorical work, called The Shep- 

 herd, giving a valuable picture of 

 the state of Christianity at Rome 

 during the period. The object of 

 the book was to check worldliness, 

 and it was at one time read in the 

 churches ; but it was finally set 

 apart from the canonical Scriptures 

 before the 4th century. 



Hermeneutics (Gr. hermeneu- 

 tike, interpretation). The art or 

 science of interpretation. It deals 

 with the principles and general 

 laws whereby the meaning of the 

 written work of an author or the 

 speech of an orator is established. 

 The term is specially applied to the 

 interpretation of the books of the 

 Old and New Testament, as con- 

 trasted with exegesis, commentary 

 or practical exposition of the 

 subject matter. 



Hermes. In Greek mythology, 

 son of Zeus. He was born on Mt. 

 Cyllene in Arcadia, and on the very 

 day he was born stole some oxen 

 belonging to Apollo. He became an 

 adept in robbery, stealing the tri- 

 dent of Poseidon, the girdle of 

 Aphrodite, and the sword of Ares. 

 These exploits apparently recom- 

 mended him to Zeus, who took him 

 to be his messenger and ambas- 

 sador. In this capacity he exe- 

 cuted manv notable commissions; 



Hermes, with the infant Bacchus, 

 from the statue by Praxiteles 



Museum, Olympia, Greece 



