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HERMES. Hermes Trismegistus ("Thrice Great Hermes") supposedly invented metals and alchemy. The body of his supposed work consists of fourteen tractates, collected into a single group c. A.D. 300. Medieval scholars considered him the father of philosophy; Albertus Magnus thought him a magician and composed a list of his works thought to be dangerous. The Middle English Book of the Quinte Essence calls Hermes "fadir of philosophris." Christine de Pizan uses Hermes as synonymous with "philosopher" throughout her Epistle of Othea.

Hermes is called "philosophres fader," CYT 1434. The Canon's Yeoman quotes from Tractatus Aureus (The Golden Tract), CYT 1345-1447. [Aristotile: Ballenus: Socrates]

Hermes occurs in final rhyming position, CYT 1434.

The Book of the Quinte Essence, ed. F.J. Furnivall, 16; Christine de Pizan, The Epistle of Othea, trans. S. Scrope, ed. C. Bühler; Hermes Trismegistus, Corpus Hermeticum, ed. A.D. Nock, trans. A.M.J. Festugière; ibid., Hermetica; the Ancient Greek and Latin Writings which Contain Religious or Philosophic Writings . . . , ed. and trans. W. Scott; L. Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, II: 217.
From CHAUCER NAME DICTIONARY
Copyright © 1988, 1996 Jacqueline de Weever
Published by Garland Publishing, Inc., New York and London.
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