[Back] [Blueprint] [Next]
******************************

From Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities, edited by Harry Thurston Peck; New York: Harper and brothers Publishers; 1897; pp. 760-858.

H.
_______________________





[775]

Hecatombaea.  (Ἑκατόμβιαι).:

(1)   A festival celebrated in honour of Heré [Hera, Juno] by the Argives and people of Aegina. It received its name from ἑκατόν and βοῦς, being a sacrifice of a hundred oxen, which were always offered to the goddess, and the flesh distributed among the poorest citizens. There were also public games, first instituted by Archinus, a king of Argos, in which the prize was a shield of brass with a crown of myrtle.



(2)   An anniversary sacrifice called by this name in Laconia, and offered for the preservation of the hundred towns which once flourished in that country.











Hecatombaeon; [hecatomb].  (Ἑκατόμβιων).   The first month in the Attic year, corresponding with the last half of July and the first of August. The Spartans called it Ἑκατόμβεύς (Arist. H. A. v. II, 2.) See CALENDARIUM.











Hecatombé [hecatomb].  (ἑκατόμβη).   A word whose original meaning was a sacrifice of a hundred oxen; but in early times it was applied generally to any great sacrifice, without any idea either of oxen or definite number. Mr. A. Platt in the (Eng.) Journal of Philology for 1893, makes ἑκατόμβιων to mean originally one ox in each hundred. See SACRIFICES.











Hector.  (Ἕκτωρ).   The son of Priam and Hecuba and the most valiant of all the Trojan chiefs that fought against the Greeks. He married Adromaché, daughter of Eëtion, by whom he became the father of Astyanax. Hector was appointed commander of all the Trojan forces, and for a long period proved the bulwark of his native city. He was not only the bravest and most powerful, but also the most amiable, of his countrymen, and particularly distinguished himself in his conflicts with Aiax, Diomedé, and many other of the most formidable leaders. The fates had decreed that Troy should never be destroyed as long as Hector lived. The Greeks, therefore, after the death of Patroclus, who had fallen by Hector’s hand, made a powerful effort under the command of Achilles; and, by the intervention of Athené, who assumed the form of Deïphobus, and urged Hector to encounter the Grecian chief, contrary to the remonstrances of Priam and Hecuba, their effort was crowned with success. Hector fell, and his death accomplished the overthrow of his father’s kingdom. The dead body of the Trojan warrior was attached to the chariot of Achilles, and [776] insultingly dragged away to the Grecian fleet; and thrice every day, for the space of twelve days, was it also dragged by the victor around the tomb of Patroclus (Il. xxii. 399 foll.; xxiv. 14 foll.). During all this time the corpse of Hector was shielded from dogs and birds, and preserved from corruption, by the united care of Aphroditeé and Apollo. The body was at last ransomed by Priam, who went in person for this purpose to the tent of Achilles. Splendid obsequies were rendered to the deceased, and with these the action of the Iliad terminates. Vergil, makes Achilles to have dragged the corpse of Hector thrice round the walls of Troy (Aen. i. 483). Homer, however, is silent on this point. According to the latter, Hector fled thrice round the city-walls before engaging with Achilles; and, after he was slain, his body was immediately attached to the car of the victor, and dragged away as stated above. The incident, therefore, alluded to by Vergil must have been borrowed from one of the Cyclic poets, or perhaps some tragic writer.








******************************
[Back] [Blueprint] [Next]