Herme ̄s Trismegistos, pseudo (ca 100 BCE – ca 400 CE)
Several texts have been ascribed to the Greco-Egyptian god of gno ̄sis, Herme ̄s Trismegistos,
most of which seem to have been written by unknown authors between the 1st c. BCE and the
4th c. CE, and were revised at later dates (late antiquity to the Middle Ages). Modern scholars
traditionally divide the literary works attributed to Herme ̄s Trismegistos into two groups: the
“philosophical Hermetica” are the religious and philosophical texts (K K) and
the “technical Hermetica,” addressing “more practical” matters related to magic, alchemy,
astrology and natural sciences. This division, however, is not absolute and its limits are not
easily drawn. Both philosophical and technical work share two major characteristics, among
others: universal sumpatheia, and the topos of revelation – true knowledge can only be
transmitted by a revelation coming either from Herme ̄s Trismegistos or one of his messen-
gers. Without it, knowledge remains ineffective (for example, CCAG 8.3 [1912] 134–138).
The major works of the “technical Hermetica” are, among others, a Brontologion, which
explains the significance of thunder for every month of the year, and the Peri Seismo ̄n, where
the significance of earthquakes is explained in relation to the zodiac (cf. V). There
are also several texts of iatromathe ̄matika based on the melothesia, e.g., the Iatro-
mathe ̄matika from Herme ̄s Trismegistos to Ammo ̄n the Egyptian which explains not only the
relationship between the planets and the different parts of the body but also the importance
of the hour and day of the beginning of the illness and their astrological significance for its
treatment (cf. I). There are also astrological herbals, a group of texts associating
a plant with the seven planets, the 12 signs of the zodiac and the 36 decans (cf. T
T). Finally, the Sacred Book of the Decans, which explains how to make amulets
with the help of a plant, a stone and the figure of each decan, and the K,
devoted to describing the capacities allotted to plants, birds, animals, fishes and stones. Most
alchemical texts attributed to Herme ̄s Trismegistos have been lost. However, fragments have
been preserved as quotations in the work of authors such as Z P,
O or S. One of the longest quotations comes from the A
A P, which attributes to Herme ̄s Trismegistos a recipe for the pre-
paration of silver.
Festugière (1950); Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism (2005) 487–499, R. Van den Broek; ODB
920, J. Duffy; Aurélie Gribomont, “La pivoine dans les herbiers astrologiques grecs,” Bulletin de
l’Institut Historique Belge de Rome 74 (2004) 6–59 (the author regrets the errors of Greek caused by
electronically-generated misprints).
Aurélie Gribomont
Herminos (of Pergamon?) (ca 160 – 180 CE)
Aristotelian commentator, A A’ teacher (S, in De Caelo
= CAG 7 [1894] 432.32) and perhaps A’ student. Alexander addressed a short tract
to G, extant only in Arabic, responding to Gale ̄n’s criticism of a Peripatetic theory
originally directed to a certain ’RMNWS, probably Herminos who may also have been the
student of Aspasios whom Gale ̄n heard ca 145 (Moraux 362). Some fragments of his com-
mentaries on A’s Categories, Prior Analytics, On interpretation, Topics and On the Heavens
survive. According to Simplicius, Herminos participated in an extended debate about the
cause of the eternal movement of the Heavens.
Moraux (1984) 2.361–398; BNP 6 (2005) 225, H.B. Gottschalk.
Alain Bernard
HERMINOS (OF PERGAMON?)