Mercury (Hermes)

Hermes is the messenger of the gods, and is also the patron of boundaries, travelers, shepherds, thieves, wit, athletics and sports, invention, and commerce in general.

Hermes is the son of Zeus and Maia (one of the Pleiades, the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas and the sea-nymph Pleione)

The Pleiades, Elihu Vedder, 1885Hermes with Maia. Attic red-figure amphora, ca. 500 BCE

As the divine messenger, he wears a traveler’s hat (petasus) and sandals (talaria) and carries a herald’s wand (Caduceus), which often bears two snakes entwined. The entwined snakes are a symbol for Hermes as a fertility god, connected with the Underworld.

His symbols include the tortoise, the rooster, the winged sandals, the winged hat, and the caduceus.

Maia avoided the company of the gods in a cave. She was secretly impregnated by Zeus who had been visiting her nightly. After giving birth to the baby, Maia wrapped him in blankets and went to sleep.

The Birth and Childhood of Hermes

The Birth and Childhood of Hermes

Only hours old, Hermes snuck out to a cave and found a tortoise. He fashioned a lyre out of the tortoise shell

The Birth and Childhood of Hermes

Hermes left the cave and found Apollo’s sacred cattle. Hermes stole the cattle and hid them, walking them backwards to hide where he took them

Hermes and Apollo’s Cattle, Caeretan Black Figure, ca. 520 BCE

The Birth and Childhood of HermesWhen Apollo accused Hermes of the theft, Hermes attempted to deny it, but Zeus intervened and agreed with Apollo. During the argument Hermes began to play his lyre, which enchanted Apollo, and he agreed to let Hermes keep the cattle in exchange for the lyre.

Apollo and his Lyre

Statues of Hermes, called herms, were common in the ancient world and symbols of fertility. They were intended to bring prosperity and luck. A herm might be found outside any house; and these herms could be taken very seriously. They were square pillars equipped with male genitals; on top of each was the head of Hermes. They marked areas as sacred or designated the bounds of one’s home.

The functions of Hermes are characterized by his role as a creator and crosser of boundaries and an intermediary between two different worlds. His herms marked the boundaries between property lines. As a messenger of the gods, Hermes joins the human with the divine realm of the Olympians.

Hermes with Orpheus and Eurydice

As psychopompos (Leader of the Soul), he brings mortals across the barriers of the Underworld. As a god of young men, Hermes stands between youth and adulthood. Finally, he is associated with Hermaphroditus, who united the attributes of both sexes and transgresses the limitations of gender.

Hermes helps reunite Ceres and Proserpina

Hermaphroditus was the child of Aphrodite and Hermes. At the age of fifteen, he grew bored with his surroundings and left home. He encountered the nymph, Salmacis, in her pool. She was overcome by lust for the boy and tried to seduce him, but was rejected.

Hermaphroditus

Venus and Mercury

HermaphroditusWhen he thought her to be gone, Hermaphroditus undressed and entered the pool. Salmacis sprang out from behind a tree and jumped into the pool. She wrapped herself around the him and she called out to the gods that they should never part. Her wish was granted, and their bodies blended into one form, "a creature of both sexes"

Borghese Hermaphroditus, Roman copy 2nd century CE

Hermaphroditus

Hermaphroditus prayed to Hermes and Aphrodite that anyone else who bathed in the pool would be similarly transformed, and his wish was granted

Hermaphroditus statue from Pergamum, 3rd century BCE

Hermes and ArgusAfter Zeus seduced Io, he changed her into a white cow to hider her from Hera. Then Hera had the cunning to ask Zeus to give her the cow as a present, something Zeus could not deny her. Then she had the cow guarded by the giant Argus who had 100 eyes. Zeus sent Hermes to rescue Io; Hermes lulled Argus to sleep by telling him stories, and then cut off his head Io, Argus, and Mercury, Pinturicchio (1454-1513)

Mercury and Argus, Diego Velazquez, 1659

Mercurius

In early Rome, Mercurius was worshipped as a god of trading and profit (Latin Merces – merchandise). He became associated with the Greek Hermes and acquired Hermes’ other functions

Roman silver statuette of Mercury

Mercury in the Aeneid

After Dido fell deeply in love with Aeneas, he would have been content to stay with her had Mercury not appeared to him and delivered Jupiter’s message to sail away to fulfill his destiny in Italy.

Mercury Appearing to Aeneas, Giambattista Tiepolo, 1757

Mercury, Hendrick Goltzius, 1611

Mercury, Artus Quellinus, 1652