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 Bœotia 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 Phœnicia. 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.