Clement of Alexandria and the Books of Hermes

Clement of Alexandria tells us that the whole of the religious philosophy—that is, the wisdom, discipline and multifarious arts and sciences—of the Egyptian priesthood was contained in the Books of Hermes, that is of Thoth. These Books, he informs us further, were classified under forty-two heads and divided into a number of groups according to the various septs or divisions of the priests.

The Hymns of Thrice-greatest Hermes

It is of the Hymns of this Thrice-greatest Hermes that I shall treat in the present small volume—hymns that were inspired by the still-living tradition of what was best in the wisdom of ancient Egypt, as philosophized through minds trained in Greek thought, and set forth in the fair speech of golden-tongued Hellas.