Halcyons (Halcy′ons) were sea birds, supposed to be the Greek kingfishers. They made their nests on the waves, and during the period of incubation the sea was always calm. Hence the modern term Halcyon Days.
Hamadryades (Hamadry′ades) were wood-nymphs, who presided over trees.
Happiness, see Genii.
Haroeris (Haroe′ris). The Egyptian god, whose eyes are the sun and moon.
Harpies, The (Har′pies), (literally, snatchers, demons of destruction, or, in the modern sense, extortioners). They were monsters, half-birds, half-maidens, having the heads and breasts of women, the bodies of birds, and the claws of lions. Their names were Aello, Ocypete, and Celeno. They were loathsome creatures, living in filth, and poisoning everything they came in contact with.
“Such fiends to scourge mankind, so fierce, so fell,
Heaven never summoned from the depth of hell.
A virgin face, with wings and hookèd claws,
Death in their eyes, and famine in their jaws,
While proof to steel their hides and plumes remain
We strike the impenetrable fiends in vain.”
Harpikruti (Harpi′kruti). The Egyptian name of the god Harpocrates.
Harpocrates (Harpoc′rates), or Horus, an Egyptian god, son of Osiris and Isis. He was the god of silence and secrecy. He is usually represented as a young man, holding a finger of one hand to his lips (expressive of a command to preserve silence), while in the other hand he holds a cornucopia, signifying early vegetation.
Harvest, see Segetia. A Roman divinity, invoked by the husbandman that the harvest might be plentiful.
Hawk, see Nysus.