Editing Hermes Trismegistus (section)

==The epithet "thrice great"==
Fowden asserts that the first datable occurrences of the epithet "thrice great" are in the ''Legatio'' of [[Athenagoras of Athens]] and in a fragment from [[Philo of Byblos]], {{circa|AD 64}}–141.<ref>Fowden, G., "The Egyptian Hermes", Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987, p 216</ref> However, in a later work, Copenhaver reports that this epithet is first found in the minutes of a meeting of the council of the [[Ibis]] [[cult]], held in 172 BC near [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]] in Egypt.<ref>Copenhaver, B. P., "Hermetica", Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992, p xiv.</ref> Hart explains that the epithet is derived from an epithet of Thoth found at the Temple of [[Esna]], "Thoth the great, the great, the great."<ref name="Hart" />

Many Christian writers, including [[Lactantius]], [[Augustine]], [[Marsilio Ficino]], [[Tommaso Campanella|Campanella]], and [[Giovanni Pico della Mirandola]], as well as [[Giordano Bruno]], considered Hermes Trismegistus to be a wise [[pagan]] prophet who foresaw the coming of [[Christianity]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Heiser|first1=James D.|title=Prisci Theologi and the Hermetic Reformation in the Fifteenth Century|date=2011|publisher=Repristination Press|location=Malone, Tex.|isbn=978-1-4610-9382-4|edition=1st}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title = Enoch in the Islamic Tradition|last = Jafar|first = Imad|date = 2015|journal = Sacred Web: A Journal of Tradition and Modernity|volume =  XXXVI}}</ref> They believed in the existence of a ''[[prisca theologia]]'', a single, true theology that threads through all religions. It was given by God to man in antiquity<ref>Yates, F., "Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition", Routledge, London, 1964, pp 14–18 and pp 433–434</ref><ref>Hanegraaff, W. J., "New Age Religion and Western Culture", SUNY, 1998, p 360</ref> and passed through a series of prophets, which included [[Zoroaster]] and [[Plato]]. In order to demonstrate the verity of the ''prisca theologia,'' Christians appropriated the Hermetic teachings for their own purposes. By this account, Hermes Trismegistus was either a contemporary of [[Moses]],<ref>Yates, F., "Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition", Routledge, London, 1964, p 27 and p 293</ref> or the third in a line of men named Hermes, i.e. [[Enoch]], [[Noah]], and the Egyptian priest king who is known to us as Hermes Trismegistus<ref name="Yates">Yates, F., "Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition", Routledge, London, 1964, p52</ref> on account of being the greatest priest, philosopher, and king.<ref name="Yates" /><ref>Copenhaver, B.P., "Hermetica", Cambridge University Press, 1992, p xlviii</ref>

Another explanation, in the ''[[Suda]]'' (10th century), is that "He was called Trismegistus on account of his praise of the trinity, saying there is one divine nature in the trinity."<ref>Copenhaver, ''Hermetica'', p. xli</ref>