Spes the personified Hope of the Romans, was originally conceived of as the Hope of yearly harvests, for which reason she was represented with a wreath of flowers in her hair and ears of grain or a cornucopia in her hands.
Subsequently she became the goddess of the marriage bed, and only at a later day Hope in an abstract sense. She was worshipped at Rome, where several temples were dedicated to her, the most ancient of which had been built by the consul Atilius. Calatinus, B.C. 354 (Livy, 2, 51, etc.; Tacit. Ann. 2, 49). The Greeks, too, worshipped Elpis, the personification of hope. When the different evils escaped from the Pandora box, Elpis alone remained behind for the consolation of mankind. See Hesiod, Op. et D. 96; Theognis, 570 sq.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More