CHAP. Xril. HERCULES OF EGYPT. 17 



Coptic signifies *' strength ; " or, according to some, 

 Clion, Gignon, Gigon, or Sem*: and Macrobiust 

 asserts that the Egyptians considered the power of 

 this God to be manifold, alluding to the universal 

 influence of the Sun, which extends over all things, 

 *' Tov ev TraGTi xai hia ttolvtcov vjXiov." 



According to Herodotus t, he was one of the 

 twelve Gods born of the eight great Divinities of the 

 country. Cicero § considers the Nile his father ; 

 and shows him to have been distinct from the famous 

 Hercules of Tyre, the reputed son of Jupiter and 

 Asteria. The antiquity of this Deity is noticed 

 by Herodotus in contradistinction to the com- 

 paratively modern date of the Greek hero ll, and 

 is distinctly pointed out by Macrobius, who says, 

 " Hercules is religiously worshipped at Tyre ; but 

 the Egyptians venerate him with the most sacred 

 and august rites, and look upon the period when 

 his worship was first adopted by them as beyond the 

 reach of memory. He is believed to have killed 

 the Giants, when, in the character of the valour of 

 the Gods, he fought in defence of heaven ;" which 

 accords with the title of a work called " Sem- 

 nuthis," written by Apollonides or Horapius^, de- 

 scribing the wars of the Gods against the Giants. 

 Semnuthis, or Semnoute, signifies the " power of 



* Vide Jablonski, II. iii. 3., from Hesychius. 



f Macrob. Saturn, i. 24. J Herodot. ii. 43. 



^ " Alter (Hercules) traditur Nilo natus ^gjptius, quem aiunt 

 Phrj'gias literas conscripsisse." Cic. de Nat. Deor. lib. iii. 16. Diodorus 

 says of Hercules that he was by birth an Egyptian, i. 24.; vide also 

 v."76. 



II Vide Herodot. ii, 145, 146. 



i In Theophil. Antioch. ad Autol3'c, lib. ii. c. 6. 

 VOL. IL — Second Series. C 



