Encyclopedia
Hermes , in
Greek mythology, is the
Olympian god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of
shepherds and cowherds, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures and invention and commerce in general, and of the cunning of thieves and liars. The Homeric hymn to Hermes invokes him as the one
- "of many shifts, blandly cunning, a robber, a cattle driver, a bringer of dreams, a watcher by night, a thief at the gates, one who was soon to show forth wonderful deeds among the deathless gods."
As a translator, Hermes is the messenger from the gods to humans. An interpreter who bridges the boundaries with strangers is a
hermeneus. Hermes gives us our word "hermeneutics" for the art of interpreting hidden meaning. In Greek a lucky find was a
hermaion.
Hermes, as an inventor of fire, is a parallel of the Titan,
Prometheus. In addition to the syrinx and the
lyre, Hermes was believed to have invented many types of racing and the sport of
boxing, and therefore was a patron of athletes. Modern mythographers have connected Hermes with the
trickster gods of other cultures.
Hermes also served as a
psychopomp, or an escort for the dead to help them find their way to the afterlife . In many Greek myths, Hermes was depicted as the only god besides
Hades and
Persephone who could enter and leave the Underworld without hindrance.
In the fully-developed Olympian pantheon, Hermes was the son of
Zeus and the Pleiade Maia, a daughter of the Titan
Atlas. Hermes' symbols were the
rooster and the tortoise, and he can be recognized by his purse or pouch, winged sandals, winged cap, and the herald's staff, the
kerykeion. Hermes was the god of thieves because he was very cunning and shrewd and was a thief himself from the night he was born, when he slipped away from Maia and ran away to steal his elder brother
Apollo's cattle.
Hermes was loyal to his father Zeus. When the nymph Io, one of Zeus' consorts, was trapped by Hera and guarded over by the many-eyed giant Argus, Hermes saved her by lulling the giant to sleep with stories and then decapitating him with a crescent-shaped sword.
In the Roman adaptation of the Greek religion , Hermes was identified with the Roman god Mercury, who, though inherited from the
Etruscans, developed many similar characteristics, such as being the patron of commerce.
Etymology
The name
Hermes has been thought to be derived from the Greek word
herma , which denotes a square or rectangular pillar with the head of Hermes adorning the top of the pillar, and male genitals below; however, due to the god's attestation in the Mycenaean pantheon, as
Hermes Araoia in
Linear B inscriptions at
Pylos and Mycenaean
Knossos , the connection is more likely to have moved the opposite way,
from deity
to pillar representations. From the subsequent association of these cairns — which were used in
Athens to ward off evil and also as road and boundary markers all over Greece — Hermes acquired patronage over land travel.Hermes was a messanger for Zeus.
Epithets of Hermes
Hermes' epithet
Argeiphontes, or Argus-slayer, recalls his slaying of the many-eyed giant Argus, who was watching over the
heifer-nymph Io in the sanctuary of Queen Hera herself in Argos. Putting Argus to sleep, Hermes used a spell to permanently close all of Argus's eyes and then slew the giant. Argus's eyes were then put into the tail of the peacock, symbol of the goddess Hera.
Other epithets included:
- Acacesius, of Acacus
- Argeiphontes, Argus-slayer, or giant slayer
- Charidotes, giver of charm
- Criophorus, ram-bearer
- Cyllenius, born on Mount Cyllene
- Diaktoros, the messenger
- Dolios, the schemer
- Enagonios, of the games
- Enodios, on the road
- Epimelius, keeper of flocks
- Eriounios, luck bringer
- Polygius
- Psychopompos, conveyor of souls
Cult
- General article: Cult .
Though temples to Hermes existed throughout
Greece, a major center of his cult was at Pheneos in
Arcadia, where festivals in his honor were called
Hermoea.
As a crosser of boundaries,
Hermes Psychopompos was a psychopomp, meaning he brought newly-dead souls to the Underworld and Hades. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter
, Hermes conducted Persephone, the Kore, safely back to Demeter. He also brought dreams to living mortals.
Among the Hellenes, as the related word herma would suggest, Hermes embodied the spirit of crossing-over: He was seen to be manifest in any kind of interchange, transfer, transgressions, transcendence, transition, transit or traversal, all of which activities involve some form of crossing in some sense. This explains his connection with transitions in one’s fortunes -- with the interchanges of goods, words and information involved in trade, interpreting, oratory, writing -- with the way in which the wind may transfer objects from one place to another, and with the transition to the afterlife.
Originally, Hermes was depicted as an older, bearded, phallic god, but in the 6th century BCE, the traditional Hermes was reimagined as an athletic youth . Statues of the new type of Hermes stood at stadiums and gymnasiums throughout Greece.
- Main article: Herma.
In very ancient Greece, Hermes was a phallic god of boundaries. His name, in the form
herma,
was applied to a wayside marker pile of stones; each traveller added a stone to the pile. In the 6th century BCE, Hipparchos, the son of Pisistratus, replaced the cairns that marked the midway point between each village deme at the central agora of Athens with a square or rectangular pillar of stone or bronze topped by a bust of Hermes with a
beard. An erect
phallus rose from the base. In the more primitive Mount Kyllini or Cyllenian herms, the standing stone or wooden pillar was simply a carved phallus. In Athens, herms were placed outside houses for good luck. "That a monument of this kind could be transformed into an
Olympian god is astounding," Walter Burkert remarked .
In 415 BCE, when the Athenian fleet was about to set sail for
Syracuse during the
Peloponnesian War, all of the Athenian hermai were vandalized. The Athenians at the time believed it was the work of saboteurs, either from Syracuse or from the anti-war faction within Athens itself.
Socrates' pupil
Alcibiades was suspected to have been involved, and Socrates indirectly paid for the impiety with his life.
From these origins,
herms moved into the repertory of Classical architecture.
Hermes was usually portrayed wearing a broad-brimmed traveller's hat or a winged cap , wearing winged sandals , and carrying his Near Eastern herald's staff -- either a
caduceus entwined by copulating serpents, or a
kerykeion topped with a symbol similar to the
astrological symbol of Taurus the bull. Hermes wore the garments of a traveler, worker, or shepherd. He was represented by purses or bags, roosters , and tortoises.
Birth
Hermes was born on Mount Cyllene in
Arcadia to Maia. As the story is told in the Homeric Hymn, the
Hymn to Hermes, Maia was a
nymph, but Greeks generally applied the name to a midwife or a wise and gentle old woman; so the nymph appears to have been an ancient one, or more probably a goddess. At any rate, she was one of the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, taking refuge in a cave of Mount Cyllene in Arcadia.
The infant Hermes was precocious. On the day of his birth, by midday, he had invented the
lyre, using the shell of a tortoise. By nightfall, he had rustled the immortal cattle of Apollo. For the first Olympian sacrifice, the taboos surrounding the sacred of Apollo had to be transgressed, and the trickster god of boundaries was the one to do it.
Hermes drove the cattle back to Greece and hid them, and covered their tracks. When Apollo accused Hermes, Maia said that it could not be him because he was with her the whole night. However, Zeus entered the argument and said that Hermes did steal the cattle and they should be returned. While arguing with Apollo, Hermes began to play his
lyre. The instrument enchanted Apollo and he agreed to let Hermes keep the cattle in exchange for the lyre.
Hermes' offspring
Pan
The
satyr-like Greek god of nature, shepherds and flocks, Pan was often said to be the son of Hermes through the nymph Dryope. In the Homeric Hymn to Pan, Pan's mother ran away from the newborn god in fright over his goatlike appearance.
Hermaphroditus was an immortal son of Hermes through
Aphrodite. He was changed into a
hermaphrodite when the gods literally granted the nymph
Salmacis's wish that they never separate.
The god
Priapus was a son of Hermes and Aphrodite. In Priapus, Hermes' phallic origins survived.
Eros
According to some sources, the mischievous winged god of love Eros, son of Aphrodite, was sired by Hermes, though the gods
Ares and
Hephaestus were also among those said to be the sire, whereas in the Theogeny,
Hesiod claims that Eros was born of nothing before the Gods. Eros' Roman name was
Cupid.
The goddess of fortune, Tyche , or Fortuna, was sometimes said to be the daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite.
Abderus
Abderus was a son of Hermes who was devoured by the Mares of Diomedes. He had gone to the Mares with his friend
Heracles.
Autolycus
Autolycus, the Prince of Thieves, was a son of Hermes and grandfather of
Odysseus.
List of Hermes' consorts and children
- Aglaulus Athenian princess
- Eumolpus warlord
- Antianeira Malian princess
- Echion Argonaut
- Apemosyne Cretan princess
- Aphrodite
- Eros
- Eunomia
- Hermaphroditus
- Peitho
- Priapus
- Rhodos
- Tyche
- Carmentis Arcadian nymph
- Evander founder of Latium
- Chione Phocian princess
- Autolycus thief
- Dryope Arcadian nymph
- Pan rustic god
- Eupolomia Phthian princess
- Aethalides Argonaut herald
- Herse Athenian princess
- Cephalus hunter
- Crocus who died and became the crocus flower
- Pandrosus Athenian princess
- Ceryx Eleusinian herald
- Peitho
- Penelope Arcadian nymph
- Pan
- Sicilian nymph
- Daphnis
...
rustic poet
- Theobula Eleian princess
- Myrtilus charioteer
- Born of the urine of Hermes, Poseidon and Zeus
- Orion giant hunter
- Unknown mothers
- Abderus squire of Heracles
Hermes in the myths
In
Homer's Iliad, Hermes helped King Priam of
Troy sneak into the Achaean encampment to confront
Achilles and convince him to return
Hector's body.
In
Odyssey book 5, Hermes is sent to demand from Calypso Odysseus' release; in book 10 he protects Odysseus from
Circe by bestowing upon him an herb, moly, which would protect him from her spell.
Argus/Io
Hermes, at the request of Zeus, lulled the giant Argus to sleep and rescued Io, but Hera sent a to sting Io as she wandered the earth in cow form. Zeus eventually changed Io back to human form, and she became—through Epaphus; her son with Zeus—the ancestress of
Heracles.
Hermes aided
Perseus in killing the
gorgon Medusa by giving Perseus his winged sandals and
Zeus'
sickle. He also gave Perseus Hades' helmet of invisibility and told him to use it so that Medusa's immortal sisters could not see him.
Athena helped Perseus as well by lending him her polished shield.
In the ancient play
Prometheus Bound, attributed to
Aeschylus, Zeus sends Hermes to confront the enchained Titan Prometheus about a prophecy of the Titan's that Zeus would be overthrown. Hermes scolds Prometheus for being unreasonable and willing to endure torture, but Prometheus refuses to give him details about the prophecy.
Herse/Aglaulus/Pandrosus
When Hermes loved Herse, one of three sisters who served
Athena as priestesses or parthenos, her jealous older sister Aglaulus stood between them. Hermes changed Aglaulus to stone.
Cephalus was the son of Hermes and Herse. Hermes had another son, Ceryx, who was said to be the offspring of either Herse or Herse's other sister, Pandrosus. With Aglaulus, Hermes was the father of Eumolpus.
Other stories
In the story of the musician
Orpheus, Hermes brought
Eurydice back to Hades after Orpheus failed to bring her back to life when he looked back toward her after Hades told him not to.
Hermes helped to protect the infant god
Dionysus from Hera, after Hera destroyed Dionysus' mortal mother
Semele through her jealousy that Semele had conceived an immortal son of Zeus.
Hermes changed the Minyades into bats.
Hermes learned from the Thriae the arts of fortune-telling and divination.
When the gods created
Pandora, it was Hermes who brought her to mortals and bestowed upon her a strong sense of curiosity.
King
Atreus of
Mycenae retook the throne from his brother Thyestes using advice he received from the trickster Hermes. Thyestes agreed to give the kingdom back when the sun moved backwards in the sky, a feat that
Zeus accomplished. Atreus retook the throne and banished Thyestes.
Hermes Trismegistus
- Main article: Hermes Trismegistus.
In the Hellenistic and then Greco-Roman culture of
Alexandria, syncretic conflation of Hermes who with the Egyptian god of wisdom
Thoth produced the figure of
Hermes Trismegistus, to whom a body of arcane lore was attributed. The writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus were edited and published in the Italian
Renaissance. This figure should not be confused with Greek Hermes.
Hermes Trismegistus in Islamic tradition
Antoine Faivre, in
The Eternal Hermes has pointed out that Hermes Trismegistus has a place in the
Islamic tradition, though the name
Hermes does not appear in the
Qur'an. Hagiographers and chroniclers of the first centuries of the Islamic Hegira quickly identified Hermes Trismegistus with Idris, the
nabi of surahs 19.57; 21.85, whom the Arabs also identify with Enoch . Indris/Hermes is called "Thrice Wise"—
Hermes Trismegistus—because he was threefold: the first of the name, comparable to
Thoth, was a "civilizing hero," an initiator into the mysteries of the divine science and wisdom that animate the world; he carved the principles of this sacred science in
hieroglyphs. The second Hermes, in
Babylon, was the initiator of
Pythagoras. The third Hermes was the first teacher of
Alchemy. "A faceless prophet," writes the Islamicist Pierre Lory, "Hermes possesses no concrete or salient characteristics, differing in this regard from most of the major figures of the Bible and the Quran."
Hermes in popular culture
Hermes has been a symbol of
Greece's
postal system since 1861. See
Postage stamps and postal history of Greece.
In his 1931 novel,
The Night Life of the Gods, American fantasy author and humorist Thorne Smith prominently depicted Hermes as a statue brought to life, in addition to a few other figures from Classical mythology. In the 1935 film adaptation, Hermes/Mercury was played by American actor Paul Kaye.
Hermes was played by actor Michael Gwynn in
Jason and the Argonauts, 1963.
In the
Walt Disney animated feature
Hercules , Hermes was comically voiced by musician
Paul Shaffer.
In Andrei Konchalovsky's 1997 television adaptation of the
Odyssey, Hermes was portrayed by actor Freddy Douglas.
Ingeborg Bachmann Prize-winning author Sten Nadolny's 1998 comic novel, The God of Impertinence, tells of Hermes being freed in the late 20th Century after being trapped in a
volcano for 2000 years.
The 2006 fantasy
Herald , by N.F. Houck, is a depiction of Hermes telling his own story and history. In the novel, Hermes also retells many Greek and Roman myths from his point of view.
Many bus services in the
Netherlands are called Hermes, following his duty as a messenger.
Florists Transworld Delivery use Hermes as a company symbol.
Notes
External links
- stories from original sources & images from classical art
- : a table drawn up from Michael Ventris and John Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek second edition
- : Features Hermes leading a Greek youth on a tour of Mythical Greece.
References
- Walter Burkert, 1985. Greek Religion,
- Antoine Faivre, 1995.The Eternal Hermes : From Greek God to Alchemical Magus translated by Josceleyn Godwin ISBN 0-933999-52-6.
- Lewis Hyde, Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art
