HESTIĀSIS (ἑστίασις), was a species of liturgy, and consisted in giving a feast to one of the tribes at Athens (τὴν φυλὴν ἑστιᾶν). It was provided for each tribe at the expense of a person belonging to that tribe, who was called ἑστιάτωρ.
HĬĔRODŪLI (ἱερόδουλοι), persons of both sexes, who were devoted like slaves to the worship of the gods. They were of Eastern origin, and are most frequently met with in connection with the worship of the deities of Syria, Phoenicia, and Asia Minor. They consisted of two classes; one composed of slaves, properly so called, who attended to all the lower duties connected with the worship of the gods, cultivated the sacred lands, &c., and whose descendants continued in the same servile condition; and the other comprising persons who were personally free, but had dedicated themselves as slaves to the gods, and who were either attached to the temples, or were dispersed throughout the country and brought to the gods the money they had gained. To the latter class belonged the women, who prostituted their persons, and presented to the gods the money they had obtained by this means. This class was only found in Greece, in connection with the worship of those divinities who were of Eastern origin, or whose religious rites were borrowed from the East. This was the case with Aphrodite (Venus), who was originally an Oriental goddess.
HĬĔRŎMNĒMŎNES (ἱερομνήμονες), the more honourable of the two classes of representatives who composed the Amphictyonic council. An account of them is given under [Amphictyones].—We also read of hieromnemones in Grecian states, distinct from the Amphictyonic representatives of this name. Thus the priests of Poseidon, at Megara, were called hieromnemones, and at Byzantium, which was a colony of Megara, the chief magistrate in the state appears to have been called by this name.
HĬĔRŎNĪCAE. [[Athletae].]
HĬĔRŎPOII (ἱεροποιοί), sacrificers at Athens, of whom ten were appointed every year, and conducted all the usual sacrifices, as well as those belonging to the quinquennial festivals, with the exception of those of the Panathenaea.
HĬLĂRĬA (ἱλάρια), a Roman festival, celebrated on the 25th of March, in honour of Cybelé, the mother of the gods.
HIPPŎBŎTAE (ἱπποβόται), the feeders of horses, the name of the nobility of Chalcis in Euboea, corresponding to the ἱππεῖς in other Greek states.
HIPPŎDRŎMUS (ἱππόδρομος), the name by which the Greeks designated the place appropriated to the horse-races, both of chariots and of single horses, which formed a part of their games. The word was also applied to the races themselves. In Homer’s vivid description (Il. xxiii., 262-650) the nature of the contest and the arrangements for it are very clearly indicated. There is no artificially constructed hippodrome; but an existing land-mark or monument (σῆμα) is chosen as the goal (τέρμα), round which the chariots had to pass, leaving it on the left hand, and so returning to the Greek ships on the sea-shore, from which they had started. The chariots were five in number, each with two horses and a single driver, who stood upright in his chariot. The critical point of the race was to turn the goal as sharp as possible, with the nave of the near wheel almost grazing it, and to do this safely: very often the driver was here thrown out, and the chariot broken in pieces. The account in Homer will give us an equally good idea of a chariot-race at Olympia, or in any other of the Greek games of later times. The general form of the hippodrome was an oblong, with a semicircular end. For an account of the chariot races at Rome see [Circus].
HISTRĬO (ὑποκριτής), an actor.—(1) Greek. It is shown in the articles [Chorus] and [Dionysia] that the Greek drama originated in the chorus which at the festivals of Dionysus danced around his altar, and that at first one person detached himself from the chorus, and, with mimic gesticulation, related his story either to the chorus or in conversation with it. If the story thus acted required more than one person, they were all represented in succession by the same actor, and there was never more than one person on the stage at a time. This custom was retained by Thespis and Phrynichus. Aeschylus introduced a second and a third actor; and the number of three actors was but seldom exceeded in any Greek drama. The three regular actors were distinguished by the technical names of πρωταγωνιστής, δευτεραγωνιστής, and τριταγωνιστής, which indicated the more or less prominent part which an actor had to perform in the drama. The female characters of a play were always performed by young men. A distinct class of persons, who made acting on the stage their profession, was unknown to the Greeks during the period of their great dramatists. The earliest and greatest dramatic poets, Thespis, Sophocles, and probably Aeschylus also, acted in their own plays, and in all probability as protagonistae. It was not thought degrading in Greece to perform on the stage. At a later period persons began to devote themselves exclusively to the profession of actors, and distinguished individuals received even as early as the time of Demosthenes exorbitant sums for their performances.—(2) Roman. The word histrio, by which the Roman actor was called, is said to have been formed from the Etruscan hister, which signified a ludio or dancer. In the year 364 B.C. Rome was visited by a plague, and as no human means could stop it, the Romans are said to have tried to avert the anger of the gods by scenic plays (ludi scenici), which, until then, had been unknown to them; and as there were no persons at Rome prepared for such performances, the Romans sent to Etruria for them. The first histriones, who were thus introduced from Etruria, were dancers, and performed their movements to the accompaniment of a flute. Roman youths afterwards not only imitated these dancers, but also recited rude and jocose verses, adapted to the movements of the dance and the melody of the flute. This kind of amusement, which was the basis of the Roman drama, remained unaltered until the time of Livius Andronicus, who introduced a slave upon the stage for the purpose of singing or reciting the recitative, while he himself performed the appropriate dance and gesticulation. A further step in the development of the drama, which is likewise ascribed to Livius, was, that the dancer and reciter carried on a dialogue, and acted a story with the accompaniment of the flute. The name histrio, which originally signified a dancer, was now applied to the actors in the drama. The atellanae were played by freeborn Romans, while the regular drama was left to the histriones, who formed a distinct class of persons. The histriones were not citizens; they were not contained in the tribes, nor allowed to be enlisted as soldiers in the Roman legions; and if any citizen entered the profession of an histrio, he, on this account, was excluded from his tribe. The histriones were therefore always either freedmen, strangers, or slaves, and many passages of Roman writers show that they were generally held in great contempt. Towards the close of the republic it was only such men as Cicero, who, by their Greek education, raised themselves above the prejudices of their countrymen, and valued the person no less than the talents of an Aesopus and a Roscius. But notwithstanding this low estimation in which actors were generally held, distinguished individuals among them attracted immense crowds to the theatres, and were exorbitantly paid. Roscius alone received every day that he performed one thousand denarii, and Aesopus left his son a fortune of 200,000 sesterces, which he had acquired solely by his profession. The pay of the actors was called lucar, which word was perhaps confined originally to the payment made to those who took part in the religious services celebrated in groves.
HŎMOEI (ὅμοιοι), the Equals, were those Spartans who possessed the full rights of citizenship, and are opposed to the ὑπομείονες, or those who had undergone some kind of civil degradation. This distinction between the citizens was no part of the ancient Spartan constitution. In the institution ascribed to Lycurgus, every citizen had a certain portion of land; but as in course of time many citizens lost their lands through various causes, they were unable to contribute to the expenses of the syssitia, and therefore ceased to possess the full rights of Spartan citizens. Hence the distinction appears to have arisen between the ὅμοιοι and ὑπομείονες, the former being those who were in the possession of their land, and consequently able to contribute to the syssitia, the latter those who through having no land were unable to do so. The Homoei were the ruling class in the state. They filled all the public offices with the exception of the Ephoralty, and they probably met together to determine upon public affairs under the name of ἔκκλητοι in an assembly of their own, which is called ἡ μικρὰ ἐκκλησία, to distinguish it from the assembly of the whole body of Spartan citizens.