Mercury (mythology)

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Mercury (mythology)

"Alipes" redirects here. For the centipede
Centipede

For information about the old arcade game, see Centipede .Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda and the Subphylum Myriapoda....
genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
, see Alipes (centipede).

In Roman mythology

Roman mythology

Roman mythology, or more appropriately, Latin mythology, refers to the mythology beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its main city, Rome....
, Mercury (associated with the Greek deity

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. An Twelve Olympians, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of thieves and road travelers, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures, of invention, of general commerce, and of the cunni...
) (Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
: Mercurius ) was a messenger, and a god of trade, profit and commerce, the son of Maia Maiestas, also known as Ops, the Roman version of Cronus, and Jupiter

Jupiter (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Jupiter or Jove was the king of the gods,and the god of sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
.

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Worship

Mercury did not appear among the numinous

Numina

Numen is a Latin term for the power of either a deity or a spirit that is present in places and objects, in the Roman religion. The many names for Italic gods may obscure this sense of a numinous presence in all the seemingly mundane actions of the natural world....
di indigetes
Di indigetes

In Pauly-Wissowa's terminology the di indigetes were a group of Roman gods, goddesses and spirits not adopted from other mythologies, as opposed to the di novensides ....
of early Roman religion

Roman religion

The term Roman religion may refer to:*Religion in ancient Rome*religions of the Roman Empire period **Imperial cult *** Sol Invictus**Mithraism...
. Rather, he subsumed the earlier Dei Lucrii

Dei Lucrii

In early Roman mythology, the Dei Lucrii were early gods of wealth, profit, commerce and trade. They were later subsumed by Mercury ....
as Roman religion was syncretized

Syncretism

Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term may refer to attempts to merge and analogy several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an underlying unity allowing for an inclu...
with Greek religion

Greek religion

Greek religion can refer to several things, including*Religion in ancient Greece**Greek hero cult**Eleusinian Mysteries**Hellenistic religion...
during the time of the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
, starting around the 4th century BC. From the beginning, Mercury had essentially the same aspects as Hermes

Hermes

Talaria

Talaria are winged Sandal s, a typical icon of the Greek Messenger God Hermes . They were said to be made of imperishable gold and flew the god as swift as any bird....
and a winged petasos

Petasos

A petasos is a style of hat, usually made of wool felt, leather or straw, with a broad, floppy brim. It was worn primarily by farmers and travellers in classical times, and was considered characteristic of rural people....
, and carrying the caduceus

Caduceus

The caduceus is typically depicted as a short herald's Staff entwined by two Serpent in the form of a double helix, and sometimes is surmounted by wings....
, a herald's staff with two entwined snakes that was Apollo

Apollo

In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Apollo , is one of the most important and many-sided of the Twelve Olympians. The ideal of the kouros , Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more....
's gift to Hermes. He was often accompanied by a cockerel, herald of the new day, a ram or goat, symbolizing fertility

Fertility

Fertility is the natural capability of giving life. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population....
, and a tortoise, referring to Mercury's legendary invention of the lyre

Lyre

The lyre is a string instrument well known for its use in classical antiquity and later. The recitations of the Ancient Greece were accompanied by lyre playing....
from a tortoise shell. Like Hermes, he was also a messenger of the gods and a god of trade, particularly of the grain

GRAIN

GRAIN is an international non-governmental organization based in Barcelona, Spain, which works toward sustainable agriculture. It was formed upon the realization that the genetic diversity of the world's food crops are being drastically eliminated....
trade. Mercury was also considered a god of abundance and commercial success, particularly in Gaul

Gaul

Gaul is the name used for the region of Western Europe comprising part of present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine....
. He was also, like Hermes, the Romans' psychopomp

Psychopomp

Many religions include a particular spiritual being, angel, or deity whose responsibility is to escort newly-deceased souls to the afterlife. These creatures are called psychopomps, from the Greek language word ????p??p?? , literally meaning the "guide of souls"....
, leading newly-deceased souls to the afterlife. Additionally, Ovid

Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso was a Roman Empire poet known as Ovid to the English language-speaking world, who wrote about love, seduction, and Roman mythology transformation....
wrote that Mercury carried Morpheus

Morpheus (mythology)

Morpheus is the Greek mythology God of dreams.Morpheus has the ability to take any human's form and appear in dreams. He is the son or brother of Hypnos, the god of sleep....
' dreams from the valley of Somnus

Hypnos

In Greek mythology, Hypnos was the personification of sleep; the Roman mythology equivalent was known as Somnus. His twin was Thanatos ; their mother was the goddess Nyx ....
to sleeping humans.

Mercury's temple in the Circus Maximus

Circus Maximus

The Circus Maximus is an ancient hippodrome and mass entertainment venue located in Rome. Situated in the valley between the Aventine Hill and Palatine Hill hills, it was the first and largest circus in ancient Rome....
, between the Aventine

Aventine Hill

The Aventine Hill is one of the Seven hills of Rome on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa , the twelfth rione, or ward, of Rome....
and Palatine

Palatine Hill

The Palatine Hill is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It stands 40 metres above the Roman Forum, looking down upon it on one side, and upon the Circus Maximus on the other....
hills, was built in 495 BC. This was a fitting place to worship a swift god of trade and travel, since it was a major center of commerce as well as a racetrack. Since it stood between the plebeian

Plebs

The Plebs was the general body of Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher class of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian ....
stronghold on the Aventine and the patrician

Patrician

The term "patrician" originally referred to a group of elitism citizens in ancient Rome, including both their natural and adopted members. In the late Roman empire, the class was broadened to include high council officials, and after the fall of the Western Empire became a term for Byzantine Imperial governors in the West....
center on the Palatine, it also emphasized the role of Mercury as a mediator

Meditation

Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the reflexive, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness....
.

Because Mercury was not one of the early deities surviving from the Roman Kingdom

Roman Kingdom

The Roman Kingdom was the monarchy government of the city of Rome and its territories. Little is certain about the history of the Roman Kingdom, as no written records from that time survive, and the histories about it were written during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire and are largely based on legend....
, he was not assigned a flamen
Flamen

A flamen was a name given to a priest assigned to a state-supported god or goddess in Roman religion. There were fifteen flamines in the Roman Republic....
("priest"), but he did have a major festival on May 15, the Mercuralia

Mercuralia

Mercuralia is a Ancient Rome celebration known also as the "Festival of Mercury". Mercury was thought to be the god of merchants and commerce. On May 15 merchants would sprinkle their heads, their ships and merchandise, and their businesses with water taken from the well at Porta Capena....
. During the Mercuralia, merchants sprinkled water from his sacred well near the Porta Capena

Porta Capena

The Porta Capena was a gate in the Servian Wall near the Caelian Hill, in Rome, according to Roman tradition the sacred grove where Numa Pompilius and the nymph Egeria used to meet....
on their heads.

Syncretism

When they described the gods of Celtic and Germanic tribes, rather than considering them separate deities, the Romans interpreted them as local manifestations or aspects of their own gods, a cultural trait called the interpretatio Romana. Mercury in particular was reported as becoming extremely popular among the nations the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
conquered; Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
wrote of Mercury being the most popular god in Britain and Gaul, regarded as the inventor of all the arts. This is probably because in the Roman syncretism

Syncretism

Celtic mythology

Celts mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure....
Lugus

Lugus

Lugus was a deity apparently worshipped widely in antiquity in the Celtic languages-speaking world. His name is rarely directly attested in inscriptions, but his importance can be inferred from placenames and ethnonyms, and his nature and attributes are deduced from the distinctive iconography of Gallo-Roman inscriptions to Mercury , who is w...
, and in this aspect was commonly accompanied by the Celtic goddess Rosmerta

Rosmerta

In Gallo-Roman religion, Rosmerta was a goddess of fertility and abundance, her attributes being those of plenty such as the cornucopia. Rosmerta is attested by statues, and by inscriptions....
. Although Lugus may originally have been a deity of light or the sun (though this is disputed), similar to the Roman Apollo

Apollo

In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Apollo , is one of the most important and many-sided of the Twelve Olympians. The ideal of the kouros , Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more....
, his importance as a god of trade and commerce made him more comparable to Mercury, and Apollo was instead equated with the Celtic deity Belenus

Belenus

In Celtic mythology, Belenus was a deity worshipped in Gaul, Ancient Britain and Celtic areas of Austria and Spain. He had shrines from Aquileia on the Adriatic to Kirkby Lonsdale in England....
.

Mercury was also strongly associated with the Germanic god

Germanic paganism

Germanic paganism refers to the religion beliefs of the Germanic peoples preceding Christianization. The best documented version of the Germanic pagan religions is 10th and 11th century Norse paganism, though other information can be found from Anglo-Saxon paganism and Continental Germanic mythology....
Wotan

Wodanaz

or is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic language name of a god of Germanic paganism, known as in Norse mythology, in Old English language, or in Old High German and in Lombardic language....
; 1st-century Roman writer Tacitus

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories —examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
identifies the two as being the same, and describes him as the chief god of the Germanic peoples. Julius Caesar, in a section of his "Gallic Wars" describing the customs of the German tribes, wrote "The Germans most worship Mercury," apparently identifiyng Wotan with Mercury.

In Celtic areas, Mercury was sometimes portrayed with three heads or faces, and at Tongeren

Tongeren

Tongeren is a city and Arrondissement_of_Tongeren located in the Provinces of Belgium of Limburg , Flanders, Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium....
, Belgium

Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
, a statuette of Mercury with three phalli

Phallus

Phallus can refer to a penis, or to an object shaped like a penis. The word comes from Vulgar Latin "phallus", from Ancient Greek "fa????" phallos, penis....
was found, with the extra two protruding from his head and replacing his nose; this was probably because the number 3

3 (number)

----3 is a number, Numeral system, and glyph. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4 ....
was considered magical, making such statues good luck and fertility charms. The Romans also made widespread use of small statues of Mercury, probably drawing from the ancient Greek tradition of herma

Herma

A Herma, herm or herme is a sculpture with a head, and perhaps a torso, above a plain, usually squared lower section, on which male genitals may also be carved at the appropriate height....
e markers.

Mercury and modern occultism

In occult circles Mercury is given primary rulership over things magical. This may in part be due to Mercury's association with Odhinn by way of the days of the week.

The name Wednesday

Wednesday

Wednesday is a day of the week in the Gregorian calendar. According to international standard ISO 8601, it is the third day of the week. This day is between Tuesday and Thursday....
comes from the Middle English

Middle English

Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman conquest of England of 1066 and about 1470, when the #Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the introduction of the printing press into England by William...
Wednes dei, which is from Old English

Old English language

Old English is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century....
Wednes dæg, meaning the day of the Germanic

Common Germanic deities

The article lists deity and goddesses that may be reconstructed for Proto-Germanic or Common Germanic Migration period Germanic paganism, or which figure in both West and North Germanic mythology; See Norse deities, Anglo-Saxon and German deities for deities particular to one of these traditions....
god Woden

Woden

Woden is a god in Anglo-Saxon paganism, together with Norse Odin representing a development of a Proto-Germanic god, *Wodanaz. Other West Germanic forms of the name include Old High German Wuotan, Low German and Dutch language Wodan....
(Wodan) who was a god of the Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
in England

England

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic languages that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
Oðinsdagr ("Odin's

Odin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
dies Mercurii ("Mercury's day"), though Mercury (the messenger of the gods) and Woden (the king of the Germanic gods) are not equivalent in most regards.Odin

Odin

Odin , is considered the chief ?sir in Norse paganism. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxons Woden and the Old High German Wotan, it is descended from Proto-Germanic *Wodanaz or *Wodanaz....
is the magical god, and also the head of the Norse pantheon.

Note that the French word for Wednesday is, in fact, "Mercredi", and the Spanish word is "Miercoles" and in Italian "Mercoledi" which means Mercurio's day.

Names and epithets

Mercury is known to the Romans as Mercurius and occasionally in earlier writings as Merqurius, Mirqurios or Mircurios, had a number of epithet

Epithet

An epithet is a descriptive word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing, which has become a fixed formula....
s representing different aspects or roles, or representing syncretisms with non-Roman deities. The most common and significant of these epithets included:

Mercurius Artaios, a combination of Mercury with the Celtic god Artaios
Artaios

Artaios is a name used to refer to a Celtic god which was merged with the Roman god Mercury during the Romano-Celtic period. An inscription to Mercury Artaios is evidenced at Beaucroissant in Is?re....
, a deity of bears and hunting who was worshiped at Beaucroissant
Beaucroissant

Beaucroissant is a Communes of France in the Is?re Departments of France in southeastern France....
, France.

Mercurius Arvernus, a combination of the Celtic Arvernus
Arvernus

In Gallo-Roman religion, Arvernus was an epithet of the Gaulish Mercury . Although the name refers to the Arverni, in whose territory Mercury had at important sanctuary at the Puy-de-D?me, all of the inscriptions to Mercury Arvernus are found farther away along the Rhine frontier....
with Mercury. Arvernus was worshiped in the Rhineland
Rhineland

The Rhineland is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany. After the collapse of the First French Empire in the early 19th century, the German-speaking regions at the middle and lower course of the Rhine were annexed to the kingdom of Prussia....
, possibly as a particular deity of the Arverni
Arverni

Category:Tribes involved in Caesar's Gallic WarsThe Arverni were a Gallic tribe that inhabited the present-day region of Clermont-Ferrand, France....
tribe, though no dedications to Mercurius Arvernus occur in their territory in the Auvergne
Auvergne (province)

Auvergne was a historic province of France in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the List of rulers of Auvergne. It is now the geographical and cultural area that corresponds to the former province....
region of central France.

Mercurius Cissonius, a combination of Mercury with the Celtic god Cissonius
Cissonius

Cissonius was an ancient Gaulish god. After Visucius, Cissonius was the most common name of the Gaulish Mercury ; around seventeen inscriptions dedicated to him extend from France and Southern Germany into Switzerland....
, who is written of in the area spanning from Cologne
Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants....
, Germany to Saintes
Saintes

Saintes is a Communes of France in western France, in the Charente-Maritime Departments of France of which it is a sous-pr?fecture....
, France.

Mercurius Esibraeus, a combination of the Iberian
Iberians

The Iberians were a set of peoples that Ancient Greece and ancient Rome sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC....
deity Esibraeus with the Roman deity Mercury. Esibraeus is mentioned only in an inscription found at Medelim, Portugal, and is possibly the same deity as Banda
Banda

Banda may refer to:...
Isibraiegus, who is invoked in an inscription from the nearby village of Bemposta
Bemposta

Bemposta may refer to:* Locations in Portugal:** Bemposta , a parish in the municipality of Abrantes.** Bemposta , a parish in the municipality of Mogadouro....
.

Mercurius Gebrinius, a combination of Mercury with the Celtic or Germanic Gebrinius
Gebrinius

Gebrinius is a local Celtic polytheism version of the god Mercury . In the 2nd century AD an altar was set up at Bonn to honour him. The stone depicts the god in full Roman aspect, but is nevertheless dedicated to "Mercury Gebrinius", perhaps of the name of a local divinity of the Ubii, whose cult was linked to that of the Roman god....
, known from an inscription on an altar in Bonn
Bonn

Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located about 20 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the Capital of Germany West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, Germany.

Mercurius Moccus, from a Celtic god, Moccus
Moccus

Moccus is a Celtic polytheism who was equated with Mercury . He may have been associated with hunting. "Moccus" is a Gaulish word for "pig" or "hog", and Mercury Moccus may have been the protector of boar hunters among the tribe of the Lingones, where he was invoked at the tribal centre, Langres....
, who was equated with Mercury, known from evidence at Langres
Langres

Langres is a commune in France in northeastern France. It is a sous-pr?fecture of the Haute-Marne d?partement in France in the Champagne-Ardenne r?gion in France....
, France. The name Moccus ("pig") implies that this deity was connected to boar-hunting.

Mercurius Visucius, a combination of the Celtic god Visucius
Visucius

Visucius was a Gallo-Roman religion god, usually interpretatio Romana with Mercury . He was worshipped primarily in the east of Gaul, around Trier and on the Rhine; his name is recorded on about ten dedicatory inscriptions....
with the Roman god Mercury, attested in an inscription from Stuttgart
Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-W?rttemberg in southern Germany. The list of cities in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 590,429 while the metropolitan area referred to as Stuttgart Region has a population of 2.7 million ....
, Germany. Visucius was worshiped primarily in the frontier area of the empire in Gaul and Germany. Although he was primarily associated with Mercury, Visucius was also sometimes linked to the Roman god Mars
Mars (mythology)

Mars was the Roman mythology warrior God , the son of Juno and Jupiter , husband of Bellona , and the lover of Venus . He was the most prominent of the military gods that were worshipped by the Roman legions....
, as a dedicatory inscription to "Mars Visucius" and Visucia, Visicius' female counterpart, was found in Gaul.