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Hermes

Hermes an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves,[4] merchants, and orators.[5][6] He is able to move quickly and freely between the worlds of the mortal and the divine, aided by his winged sandals. Hermes plays the role of the psychopomp or "soul guide"—a conductor of souls into the afterlife.

In myth, Hermes functions as the emissary and messenger of the gods,[9] and is often presented as the son of Zeus and Maia, the Pleiad. Hermes is regarded as "the divine trickster,"[10] about which the Homeric Hymn to Hermes offers the most well-known account.

His attributes and symbols include the herma, the rooster, the tortoise, satchel or pouch, talaria (winged sandals), and winged helmet or simple petasos, as well as the palm tree, goat, the number four, several kinds of fish, and incense.[12] However, his main symbol is the caduceus, a winged staff intertwined with two snakes copulating and carvings of the other gods.[13] His attributes had previously influenced the earlier Etruscan god Turms, a name borrowed from the Greek "herma".

In Roman mythology and religion many of Hermes' characteristics belong to Mercury,[15] a name derived from the Latin merx, meaning "merchandise," and the origin of the words "merchant" and "commerce."

The earliest form of the name Hermes is the Mycenaean Greek hermāhās,[17] written 𐀁𐀔𐁀 e-ma-a2 (e-ma-ha) in the Linear B syllabic script.[18] Most scholars derive "Hermes" from Greek ἕρμα (herma),[19] "stone heap."

The etymology of ἕρμα itself is unknown, but is probably not a Proto-Indo-European word.[17] R. S. P. Beekes rejects the connection with herma and suggests a Pre-Greek origin.[17] However, the stone etymology is also linked to Indo-European ser- ("to bind, put together"). Scholarly speculation that "Hermes" derives from a more primitive form meaning "one cairn" is disputed.[21] Other scholars have suggested that Hermes may be a cognate of the Vedic Sarama.

It is likely that Hermes is a pre-Hellenic god, though the exact origins of his worship, and its original nature, remain unclear. Frothingham thought the god to have existed as a Mesopotamian snake-god, similar or identical to Ningishzida, a god who served as mediator between humans and the divine, especially Ishtar, and who was depicted in art as a Caduceus.[24][25] Angelo (1997) thinks Hermes to be based on the Thoth archetype.[26] The absorbing ("combining") of the attributes of Hermes to Thoth developed after the time of Homer amongst Greeks and Romans; Herodotus was the first to identify the Greek god with the Egyptian (Hermopolis), Plutarch and Diodorus also, although Plato thought the gods to be dis-similar (Friedlander 1992).

His cult was established in Greece in remote regions, likely making him originally a god of nature, farmers, and shepherds. It is also possible that since the beginning he has been a deity with shamanic attributes linked to divination, reconciliation, magic, sacrifices, and initiation and contact with other planes of existence, a role of mediator between the worlds of the visible and invisible.[29] According to a theory that has received considerable scholarly acceptance, Hermes originated as a form of the god Pan, who has been identified as a reflex of the Proto-Indo-European pastoral god *Péh2usōn,[30][31][original research?] in his aspect as the god of boundary markers. Later, the epithet supplanted the original name itself and Hermes took over the roles as god of messengers, travelers, and boundaries, which had originally belonged to Pan, while Pan himself continued to be venerated by his original name in his more rustic aspect as the god of the wild in the relatively isolated mountainous region of Arcadia. In later myths, after the cult of Pan was reintroduced to Attica, Pan was said to be Hermes's son.

There are only three temples known to have been specifically dedicated to Hermes during the Classical Greek period, all of them in Arcadia. Though there are a few references in ancient literature to "numerous" temples of Hermes,[33][67] this may be poetic license describing the ubiquitous herms, or other, smaller shrines to Hermes located in the temples of other deities.[25] One of the oldest places of worship for Hermes was Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, where some myths say he was born. Tradition holds that his first temple was built by Lycaon. From there, the Hermes cult would have been taken to Athens, from which it radiated to the whole of Greece.[33] In the Roman period, additional temples to Hermes (Mercury) were constructed across the Empire, including several in modern-day Tunisia. Mercury's temple in Rome was situated in the Circus Maximus, between the Aventine and Palatine hills, and was built in 495 BC.

In most places, temples were consecrated to Hermes in conjunction with Aphrodite, as in Attica, Arcadia, Crete, Samos and in Magna Graecia. Several ex-votos found in his temples revealed his role as initiator of young adulthood, among them soldiers and hunters, since war and certain forms of hunting were seen as ceremonial initiatory ordeals. This function of Hermes explains why some images in temples and other vessels show him as a teenager.

As a patron of the gym and fighting, Hermes had statues in gyms and he was also worshiped in the sanctuary of the Twelve Gods in Olympia where Greeks celebrated the Olympic Games. His statue was held there on an altar dedicated to him and Apollo together.[69] A temple within the Aventine was consecrated in 495 BC.

Pausanias wrote that during his time, at Megalopolis people could see the ruins of the temple of Hermes Acacesius.[72] In addition, the Tricrena (Τρίκρηνα, meaning Three Springs) mountains at Pheneus were sacred to Hermes, because three springs were there and according to the legend, Hermes was washed in them, after birth, by the nymphs of the mountain.[73] Furthermore, at Pharae there was a water sacred to Hermes. The name of the spring was Hermes' stream and the fish in it were not caught, being considered sacred to the god.

Sacrifices to Hermes involved honey, cakes, pigs, goats, and lambs. In the city of Tanagra, it was believed that Hermes had been nursed under a wild strawberry tree, the remains of which were held there in the shrine of Hermes Promachus,[75] and in the hills Phene ran three waterways that were sacred to him, because he was believed to have been bathed there at birth.

Festivals

Hermes' feast was the Hermaea, which was celebrated with sacrifices to the god and with athletics and gymnastics, possibly having been established in the 6th century BC, but no documentation on the festival before the 4th century BC survives. However, Plato said that Socrates attended a Hermaea. Of all the festivals involving Greek games, these were the most like initiations because participation in them was restricted to young boys and excluded adults.

Epithets

Hermes was also called Atlantiades (Greek: Ατλαντιάδης), because his mother, Maia was the daughter of Atlas.

Hermes' epithet Argeïphontes (Ancient Greek: Ἀργειφόντης; Latin: Argicida), meaning "slayer of Argus",[79][80] recalls the slaying of the hundred-eyed giant Argus Panoptes by the messenger god. Argus was watching over the heifer-nymph Io in the sanctuary of Queen Hera, herself in Argos. Hermes placed a charm on Argus' eyes with the caduceus to cause the giant to sleep, after which he slew the giant.[19] The eyes were then put into the tail of the peacock, a symbol of the goddess Hera.

Hellenistic Greek source

Several writers of the Hellenistic period expanded the list of Hermes's achievements. Callimachus said that Hermes disguised himself as a Cyclops to scare the Oceanids and was disobedient to his mother.[citation needed] One of the Orphic Hymns Khthonios is dedicated to Hermes, indicating that he was also a god of the underworld. Aeschylus had called him by this epithet several times.[143] Another is the Orphic Hymn to Hermes, where his association with the athletic games held is mystic in tone.

Phlegon of Tralles said he was invoked to ward off ghosts,[145] and the Bibliotheca reported several events involving Hermes. He participated in the Gigantomachy in defense of Olympus; was given the task of bringing baby Dionysus to be cared for by Ino and Athamas and later by nymphs of Asia, followed Hera, Athena and Aphrodite in a beauty contest; favored the young Hercules by giving him a sword when he finished his education and lent his sandals to Perseus.[146] The Thracian princes identified him with their god Zalmoxis, considering his ancestor.

Anyte of Tegea of the 3rd century BC,[148] in the translation by Richard Aldington, wrote, I Hermes stand here at the crossroads by the wind beaten orchard, near the hoary grey coast; and I keep a resting place for weary men. And the cool stainless spring gushes out.[149]

Lovers, victims and children

Peitho, the goddess of seduction and persuasion, was said by Nonnus to be the wife of Hermes.[150]

Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, was wooed by Hermes. After she had rejected him, Hermes sought the help of Zeus to seduce her. Zeus, out of pity, sent his eagle to take away Aphrodite's sandal when she was bathing, and gave it to Hermes. When Aphrodite came looking for the sandal, Hermes made love to her. She bore him a son, Hermaphroditus.[151]

Daeira, an Oceanid and an underworld goddess, mated with Hermes and gave birth to a son named Eleusis.[152]

Apemosyne, a princess of Crete, was travelling to Rhodes one day with her brother Althaemenes. Hermes saw her and fell in love with her, but Apemosyne fled from him. Hermes could not catch her because she ran faster than him. The god then devised a plan and laid some freshly skinned hides across her path. Later, on her way back from a spring, Apemosyne slipped on those hides and fell. At that moment, Hermes caught her and raped her. When Apemosyne told her brother what had happened, he became angry, thinking that she was lying about being molested by the god. In his anger, he kicked her to death.[153]

Chione, a princess of Phokis, attracted the attention of Hermes. He used his wand to put her to sleep and slept with her. To Hermes she bore a son, Autolycus.[154]

Herse, an Athenian princess was loved by Hermes and bore a son named Cephalus to him.

Iphthime, a princess of Doros was loved by Hermes and bore him three Satyroi – named Pherespondos, Lykos and Pronomos.

Lara was a water nymph who had informed Hera about one of Zeus' affairs. Angered, Zeus cut off her tongue and ordered Hermes to conduct her to the underworld. On the way, Hermes raped her and as a result, she bore twin gods named Lares, who were the guards of the cross roads. Lara was later renamed as Muta.[155]

Penelopeia, an Arcadian nymph, was loved by Hermes. It is said that Hermes had sex with her in the form of a goat, which resulted in their son, the god Pan, having goat legs.[156] She has been confused or conflated with Penelope, the wife of Odysseus.

The Oreads, the nymphs of the mountains were said to mate with Hermes in the highlands, breeding more of their kind.

Tanagra was a nymph for whom the gods Ares and Hermes competed in a boxing match. Hermes won and carried her off to Tanagra in Boeotia.

According to Hyginus' Fabula, Pan, the Greek god of nature, shepherds and flocks, is the son of Hermes through the nymph Dryope.[158] It is likely that the worship of Hermes himself actually originated as an aspect of Pan as the god of boundaries, which could explain their association as parent and child in Hyginus. In other sources, the god Priapus is understood as a son of Hermes.

According to Pseudo-Apollodorus' Bibliotheca, Autolycus, the Prince of Thieves, was a son of Hermes and Chione, making Hermes a great-grandfather of Odysseus.

Photius wrote that Polydeuces, one of the Dioscuri, was a lover of Hermes.

Once, Hermes chased either Persephone or Hecate with the aim to rape her; but the goddess snored or roared in anger, frightening him off so that he desisted, hence her earning the name "Brimo"

Courtesy--wikipedia
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