Author of the Irrisio Gentilium Philosophorum. Nothing is known of him, and his work has been variously dated from the second to the sixth century. It is an attempt to show that the opinions of the Greek philosophers are contradictory, but it is “disfigured by bold caricature and over-simplification” (H.E.W. Turner). He holds that their contradictions are due to the influence of demons and extend to such basic matters as the being and attributes of God and the nature of Providence. Although Hermias is himself called a philosopher in the title of the book, his attitude to philosophy “seems to rest upon anti-intellectualist premises” (Turner). As Neander suggests, he may once have worn the philosopher's mantle, but his enthusiasm for philosophy had turned to abhorrence.