which is cited apparently as being similar in the scope of its message. Among its non-scriptural sources may be named the allegoric picture of human life known as Tabula Cebetis (cf. C. Taylor, as below), the Didachē, and perhaps certain “Sibylline Oracles.”
Hermas regarded Christians as “justified by the most reverend Angel” (i.e. the pre-existent Holy Spirit or Son, who dwelt in Christ’s “flesh”), in baptism, the “seal” which even Old Testament saints had to receive in Hades (Sim. ix. 16. 3-7) and so attain to “life.” Yet the degree of “honour” (e.g. that of martyrs, Vis. iii. 2; Sim. ix. 28), the exact place in the kingdom or consummated church (the Tower), is given as reward for zeal in doing God’s will beyond the minimum requisite in all. Here comes in Hermas’s doctrine of works of supererogation, in fulfilment of counsels of perfection, on lines already seen in Did. vi. 2, cf. i. 4, and reappearing in the two types of Christian recognized by Clement and Origen and in later Catholicism. Again his doctrine of fasting is a spiritualizing of a current opus operatum conception on Jewish lines as though “keeping a watch” (statio) in that way atoned for sins (Sim. v.). The Shepherd enjoins instead, first, as “a perfect fast,” a fast “from every evil word and every evil desire, . . . from all the vanities of this world-age” (3. 6; cf. Barn. iii. and the Oxyrhynchus Saying, “except ye fast from the world”); and next, as a counsel of perfection, a fast to yield somewhat for the relief of the widow and orphan, that this extra “service” may be to God for a “sacrifice.”
Generally speaking, Hermas’s piety, especially in its language, adheres closely to Old Testament forms. But it is doubtful (pace Spina and Völter, who assume a Jewish or a proselyte basis) whether this means more than that the Old Testament was still the Scriptures of the Church. In this respect, too, Hermas faithfully reflects the Roman Church of the early 2nd century (cf. the language of 1 Clem., esp. the liturgical parts, and even the Roman Mass). Indeed the prime value of the Shepherd is the light it casts on Christianity at Rome in the otherwise obscure period c. 110–140, when it had as yet hardly felt the influences converging on it from other centres of tradition and thought. Thus Hermas’s comparatively mild censures on Gnostic teachers in Sim. ix. suggest that the greater systems, like the Valentinian and Marcionite, had not yet made an impression there, as Harnack argues that they must have done by c. 145. This date, then, is a likely lower limit for Hermas’s revision of his earlier prophetic memoranda, and their publication in a single homogeneous work, such as the Shepherd appears to be. Its wider historic significance—it was felt by its author to be adapted to the needs of the Church at large, and was generally welcomed as such—is great but hard to determine in detail.[1] What is certain is its influence on the development of the Church’s policy as to discipline in grave cases, like apostasy and adultery—a burning question for some generations from the end of the 2nd century, particularly in Rome and North Africa. Indirectly, too, Hermas tended to keep alive the idea of the Christian prophet, even after Montanism had helped to discredit it.
Literature.—The chief modern edition is by O. von Gebhardt and A. Harnack, in Fasc. iii. of their Patr. apost. opera (Leipzig, 1877); it is edited less fully by F. X. Funk, Patr. apost. (Tübingen, 1901), and in an English trans., with Introduction and occasional notes, by Dr C. Taylor (S.P.C.K., 2 vols., 1903–1906). For the wide literature of the subject, see the two former editions, also Harnack’s Chronologie der altchr. Lit. i. 257 seq., and O. Bardenhewer, Gesch. der altkirchl. Lit. i. 557 seq. For the authorship see Apocalyptic Literature, sect. III. (J. V. B.)
HERMENEUTICS (Gr. ἑρμηνευτική, sc. τέχνη, Lat. ars hermeneutica, from ἑρμηνεύειν, to interpret, from Hermes, the messenger of the gods), the science or art of interpretation or explanation, especially of the Holy Scriptures (see Theology).
HERMES, a Greek god, identified by the Romans with Mercury. The derivation of his name and his primitive character are very uncertain. The earliest centres of his cult were Arcadia, where Mt. Cyllene was reputed to be his birthplace, the islands of Lemnos, Imbros and Samothrace, in which he was associated with the Cabeiri and Attica. In Arcadia he was specially worshipped as the god of fertility, and his images were ithyphallic, as also were the “Hermae” at Athens. Herodotus (ii. 51) states that the Athenians borrowed this type from the Pelasgians, thus testifying to the great antiquity of the phallic Hermes. At Cyllene in Elis a mere phallus served as his emblem, and was highly venerated in the time of Pausanias (vi. 26. 3). Both in literature and cult Hermes was constantly associated with the protection of cattle and sheep; at Tanagra and elsewhere his title was κριοφόρος, the ram-bearer. As a pastoral god he was often closely connected with deities of vegetation, especially Pan and the nymphs. His pastoral character is recognized in the Iliad (xiv. 490) and the later epic hymn to Hermes; and his Homeric titles ἀκάκητα, ἐριούνιος, δώτωρ ἐάων, probably refer to him as the giver of fertility. In the Odyssey, however, he appears mainly as the messenger of the gods, and the conductor of the dead to Hades. Hence in later times he is often represented in art and mythology as a herald. The conductor of souls was naturally a chthonian god; at Athens there was a festival in honour of Hermes and the souls of the dead, and Aeschylus (Persae, 628) invokes Hermes, with Earth and Hades, in summoning a spirit from the underworld. The function of a messenger-god may have originated the conception of Hermes as a dream-god; he is called the “conductor of dreams” (ἡγήτωρ ὀνείρων), and the Greeks offered to him the last libation before sleep. As a messenger he may also have become the god of roads and doorways; he was the protector of travellers and his images were used for boundary-marks (see Hermae). It was a custom to make a cairn of stones near the wayside statues of Hermes, each passer-by adding a stone; the significance of the practice, which is found in many countries, is discussed by Frazer (Golden Bough, 2nd ed., iii. 10 f.) and Hartland (Legend of Perseus, ii. 228). Treasure found in the road (ἕρμαιον) was the gift of Hermes, and any stroke of good luck was attributed to him; but it may be doubted whether his patronage of luck in general was developed from his function as a god of roads. As the giver of luck he became a deity of gain and commerce (κερδῷος, ἀγοραῖος), an aspect which caused his identification with Mercury, the Roman god of trade. From this conception his thievish character may have been evolved. The trickery and cunning of Hermes is a prominent theme in literature from Homer downwards, although it is very rarely recognized in official cult.[2] In the hymn to Hermes the god figures as a precocious child (a type familiar in folk-lore), who when a new-born babe steals the cows of Apollo. In addition to these characteristics various other functions were assigned to Hermes, who developed, perhaps, into the most complete type of the versatile Greek. In many respects he was a counterpart of Apollo, less dignified and powerful, but more human than his greater brother. Hermes was a patron of music, like Apollo, and invented the cithara; he presided over the games, with Apollo and Heracles, and his statues were common in the stadia and gymnasia. He became, in fact, the ideal Greek youth, equally proficient in the “musical” and “gymnastic” branches of Greek education. On the “musical” side he was the special patron of eloquence (λόγιος); in gymnastic, he was the giver of grace rather than of strength, which was the province of Heracles. Though athletic, he was one of the least militant of the gods; a title πρόμαχος, the Defender, is found only in connexion with a victory of young men (“ephebes”) in a battle at Tanagra. A further point of contact between Hermes and Apollo may here be noted: both had prophetic powers, although Hermes held a place far inferior to that of the Pythian god, and possessed no famous oracle. Certain forms of popular divination were, however, under his patronage, notably the world-wide process of divination by pebbles (θριαί). The “Homeric” Hymn to Hermes explains these minor gifts of prophecy as delegated by Apollo, who alone knew the mind of Zeus. Only a single oracle is recorded for Hermes, in the market-place of Pharae in Achaea, and here the procedure was akin to popular divination. An altar, furnished with lamps, was placed before the statue; the inquirer, after lighting the lamps and offering incense, placed a coin in the right hand of the god; he then whispered his question into the ear of the statue, and, stopping his own ears, left the market place. The first sound which he heard outside was an omen.
From the foregoing account it will be seen that it is difficult to derive the many-sided character of Hermes from a single elemental conception. The various theories which identified him with the sun, the moon or the dawn, may be dismissed, as they do not rest on evidence to which value would now be attached. The Arcadian or “Pelasgic” Hermes may have been an earth-deity, as his connexion with fertility suggests; but his symbol at Cyllene
- ↑ Note the prestige of martyrs and confessors, the ways of true and false prophets in Mand. xi., and the different types of evil and good “walk” among Christians, e.g. in Vis. iii. 5-7; Mand. viii.; Sim. viii.
- ↑ We only hear of a Hermes δόλιος at Pellene (Paus. vii. 27. 1) and of the custom of allowing promiscuous thieving during the festival of Hermes at Samos (Plut. Quaest. Graec. 55).
