Hermes

## Relevant Pages

“

> Messenger of the gods and god of trade, thieves, travelers, sports, athletes, border crossings, guide to the Underworld.
>
>
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”

—Hesiod or Homersrc

**Hermes** is a character in Hesiod and Homer's myth. He débuts, with his appearance in around 700 B.C. and usually ends at around the 9th Century.

Hermes is the greek messenger god and god of trade in Greek Mythology.

## History

Hermes is a deity and the son of Zeus *and* Maia, on all accounts. When the Olympian gods defeated the titans in the titanomachy, the titans were destroyed and Mount Olympus was made.

Hermes is considered a god of transitions and boundaries. He is described as quick and cunning, moving freely between the worlds of the mortal and divine. He is also portrayed as an emissary and messenger of the gods; an intercessor between mortals and the divine, and conductor of souls into the afterlife. He has been viewed as the protector and patron of herdsmen, thieves, oratory and wit, literature and poetry, athletics and sports, invention and trade, roads, boundaries and travelers.

In some myths, he is a trickster and outwits other gods for his own satisfaction or for the sake of humankind. His attributes and symbols include the herma, the rooster, the tortoise, purse or pouch, winged sandals, and winged cap. His main symbol is the Greek kerykeion or Latin caduceus, which appears in a form of two snakes wrapped around a winged staff.

Homer and Hesiod portrayed Hermes as the author of skilled or deceptive acts and also as a benefactor of mortals. In the Iliad, he is called "the bringer of good luck", "guide and guardian", and "excellent in all the tricks". He was a divine ally of the Greeks against the Trojans. However, he did protect Priam when he went to the Greek camp to retrieve the body of his son Hector and accompanied them back to Troy.

He also rescued Ares from a brazen vessel where he had been imprisoned by Otus and Ephialtes. In the Odyssey, Hermes helps his great-grand son, the protagonist Odysseus, by informing him about the fate of his companions, who were turned into animals by the power of Circe. Hermes instructed Odysseus to protect himself by chewing a magic herb; he also told Calypso of Zeus' order to free Odysseus from her island to allow him to continue his journey back home. When Odysseus killed the suitors of his wife, Hermes led their souls to Hades. In The Works and Days, when Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create Pandora to disgrace humanity by punishing Prometheus's act of giving fire to man, every god gave her a gift, and Hermes' gifts were lies, seductive words, and a dubious character. Hermes was then instructed to take her as wife to Epimetheus.

## Family

URANUS †---------------------------------------------------------------------------GAIA

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CRONUS †---------------------------------------------------------------------------RHEA

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HESTIA \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_DEMETER\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ HERA\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ HADES\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ POSEIDON\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ZEUS--MAIA

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                                                                         **HERMES**

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*Notes:*

* Solid lines denote parent-child blood relationships
* Dashed lines denote marriage relationships that result in offspring
* **†** denotes the deceased

### Notes

* **Hermes** had only one consort but many lovers.
	+ His consort is Hecate.