Greek mythology and Olympian gods - Greeka.com 29 Greek myths | Ancient sites | Ancient Greece General information about Greek Mythology The most ancient works to portray the mythology was certainly Iliad and Odyssey, dating from the 8th century BC. The poem Theogony by Hesiod followed around 700 BC. As the name of the poem depicts (Theogony means the birth of Gods), it deals with the creation of the human world and the ancient Gods. The Greek mythology says that the Greek gods were living in Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. As all gods, they were immortal. The imagination of the people would not picture them as eternally young, but each god had a different age. For example, Zeus and Hera were middle-aged, while Apollo and Aphrodite were for ever young. To keep their eternal life, the Olympian Gods would eat ambrosia and drink nectar. The Olympian Gods were 12 in number. However, in Greek mythology stories, there were also many other smaller gods and deities that lived in the earth. For example, nymps of the sea lived in the waves and nymphs of the forest lived inside the boles of the trees.

For the ancient Greeks, many natural phenomena or nature itself were also personalized as gods. Aether was the god of the upper air, Hemera was the goddess of daylight, Erebus the god of darkness and Zephyros the god of the west wind. There were also special gods for feelings and situations, such as Themis for justice, Via for violence, Eris for discord, Hebe for youth, Hypnos for sleep, Mania for insanity and many others. The gods would usually mate to each other or with mortals and have children. For example, Aphrodite, goddess of beauty, and Ares, god of war, gave birth to Cupid, the god of love. Also, the coupling of Zeus and a mortal woman named Leto gave birth to two important gods, Apollo and Artemis. It was very frequent that the child of a god and a mortal was made god or at least had superficial powers. Let's take the example of Hercules, the son of Zeus and mortal Alcmena. Although he was not considered a god, he had inherited some extra-human powers. He had a great strength and could beat huge giants in battle.

Hercules is mostly known in mythology for his twelve labors, such as the slay of the Nemean Lion and of the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra, the steal of the Esperides Apples and the Capture of Cerberus. Another hero with superficial powers was Theseus , the son of mortal Aethra and the divine Poseidon. He is famous as a king of Athens and also for his difficult tasks: to kill the Minotaur and to win the legendary Amazons during their siege of Athens. Gods, for the ancient Greeks, had a very liberal attitude in life. Family unions were not applicable to them, that is why brothers could marry their sisters and have children or a son could kill his parents. How much liberal rules were for the gods, this would not apply for mortals. If a mortal broke up a moral rule, the punishment was severe. Particularly strong for the mortals was the anti-blasphemy rule, which banned people from talking unrespectfully against a god. If someone did so, the god would get angry and punish him. In general, the ancient Greeks would consider something bad in their lives as a punishment for gods.

If they had a disease, they would pray to the gods to forgive his sins. If a floud would occur and destroy their city, they would make a sacrifice to calm down the gods. From this, it can be seen that there was a sense of respect and fear between people and the gods and that people didn't feel free to live their lives, but thought that everything would come or be taken away from them. Mythology, Olympian Gods and deities Some facts about the Greek mytholgy (Theogony by Hesiod, Cronus takes over power, Zeus taking power) and the Olympian gods: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Aphrodite and more. Mythological facts Theogony by Hesiod Hesiod depicted universe as a chaotic place until the emergence of the divine beings Eros (Love), Abyss (Tartarus) and Erebus (Darkness). After them, Gaia (Earth) was born who gave birth to Uranos (the Sky).

Uranos fertilized Gaia to give birth to the twelve Titans, six males: Coeus, Crius, Cronus, Hyperion, Lapetus and Oceanus; and six females: Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Rhea, Theia, Themis and Tethys. They also gave birth to the three Cyclopes Arges (thunderbolt), Steropes (lightning), and Brontes (thunder) and the three Hecatoncheires. Hecatoncheires were massive creatures with 50 heads and 100 arms of great strength. Cronus takes over power Cronus, a second generation god, made war with his father for the rule of the universe. He eventually won, having his sister-wife Rhea as his consort and the other Titans as his court. However, Uranos and Gaia prophesized that Cronus would be put aside in the rule of the world by his own children, in the same way that Cronus put aside his father. Fearing that this would come true, Cronus swallowed the five children she had obtained with Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon.

That time, Rhea was pregnant to another child, Zeus, and fearing that this child would also be swallowed by Cronus, Rhea went to a mountain cave in Crete to give birth. Zeus was hidden there and he was raised by a goat named Amaltheia and some nymphs. Instead of a child, Rhea gave Cronus swallow a stone. Zeus taking power When Zeus grew up, he decided to revenge his father for all the bad things he had done to the family. Using a trick, Rhea made Cronus vomit her five children, who joined their brother Zeus in this family war. On one side, there was the Olympian Gods and the Cyclops and on the other side, there were Cronus, the Titans and the Giants. Zeus and the Olympian Gods finally won in the war that lasted for ten years. 12 Gods of Mount Olympus After the Titanomachy between the gods of new and older generation for the rule of the world, Gods chose Mount Olympus as their residence, the highest mountain in Greece. Zeus was their leader and Hera was his sister-wife. The twelve Olympian Gods actually consisted of Zeus and his siblings, as well as few children of Zeus who were born later.

People gave the gods special domains of rule and also attributed them human characteristics. Zeus Zeus was the god of the earth and the sky. His symbols were the thunderbolt, the eagle, the bull and the oak. Although he was married to Hera, his elder sister, he would frequently cheat on her with many mortal women, other goddesses and nymphs. He is usually depicted in statues and paintings as a middle-aged man seating on his throne or throwing a thunderbolt, the symbol of punishment. Hera Hera was the queen of the Gods. Pictured as a middle-aged still charming woman, Hera was the protector of women and marriage. She was jealous in character and when she knew about the infidelity of Zeus, his mistresses would suffer a lot. The peacock was her symbol. According to the myth, Hera was also the protector of the Amazons . Poseidon Poseidon, the god of the sea and the earthquakes, was much adored in ancient Greece. As many cities had a strong naval power, Poseidon was the protector of these cities. He usually mated with nymphs of the water and had many children. His symbols were the trident, the dolphin, the fish and the horse.

He was seen as an old man riding his horse-carriage out of the waves. Hades Hades, another brother of Zeus, was the ruler of the Underworld, the world of the dead. The ancient people depicted him as an old man with white hair and beard. His kingdom was found under the earth. Using a trick, this old man married a beautiful young girl, Persephone, the beloved daughter of goddess Demeter. Hestia Hestia was the goddess of the hearth and the household. She was the noblest and most lovable goddesses for the ancient Greeks and she symbolized harmony in the family and the city. Every household and public building in ancient Greece had an altar dedicated to Hestia in the centre of a room where fire would burn all day and night. Hestia was never married or had children. Not being able to bear the continuous quarrels between the gods, Hestia left Olympus and went to live somewhere quieter, giving her place in Olympus to Dionysus. Aphrodite Aphrodite was the goddess of beauty. She was forever beautiful and young. Shallow in nature, Aphrodite has a lot of affairs with mortals.

Her son was Cupid, the familiar young boy with wings who played with his arrows and made people fall in love. Aphrodite was no directly connected to Zeus. She was probably a generation older than the other Olympian Gods. The myth says that she was born out of the foam of the sea either near Paphos Cyrpus or near Kythira island . Demeter Demeter was the goddess of nature and fertility. She maintained the circle of life on the earth (the circle of young and old, life and death), alternating the seasons and reviving nature in spring. She is depicted in statues holding a tuft of grain. A very important festival, the Elefsenian Mysteries, was held every year dedicated to Demeter and her daughter Persephone. Apollo Apollo was another famous god, not a brother but a son of Zeus. Apollo and Artemis were twins that Zeus had with a mortal woman, Leto. Apollo was born in Delos , which later became his sacred island. He was the god of music and light, poetry and the arts, medicine, truth and prophecy. Note that the all oracles in ancient Greece were dedicated to god Apollo and people believed that god was actually speaking to them through the priests.

He was pictured as a young, handsome and sensitive man. Artemis Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo, was a fierce female. She enjoyed sports and particularly hunting. Her symbols were the bow and arrows. She used to hide in the forests with her companions. Wild in nature, Artemis had asked her father never to confine her with marriage and she kept her virginity for all her life. Her female companions were also obliged to remain virgins. Ares Ares, the god of warfare and violence, was son of Zeus and Hera. He was not a likable god in ancient Greece, which is why there are no many temples of Ares. However, people were afraid of his anger and included him in their offerings. Athena Athena was also a goddess of war, but more of strategic war, not of violence like Ares. She was also the goddess of wisdom and justice. The daughter of Zeus and a mortal woman, Athena was born out of the head of Zeus when her pregnant mother was killed out of Hera's jealousy. Noble in nature, Athena didn't match with men and would mostly deal with warfare. Hermes Hermes, also son of Zeus, was the most foxy of all the Olympian Gods.

He was the messenger of the Gods, which is why he knew all their secrets. He was also the guide to the Underworld and the protector of thieves, shepherds, orators, road travelers and merchants. He used wear winged sandals to fly and give messages quickly. Deities and nymphs Apart from these twelve gods, there are many other deities of less importance in Greek mythology, like nymphs, or of later generation, such as Dionysus, the protector of wine, festivals and theatre. Many of these gods were created by the mind of Greeks and have native characteristics, while other gods, like Dionysus, have been "imported" by eastern civilizations. One thing to notice is that the ancient Greek gods were divine because of their supernatural powers and eternity, not their character. They were far different from the modern notion of gods. The Olympian Gods were weak in nature and had faults, while they frequently merged with mortals and interfered with their lives. Actually, the ancient Greek gods were copies of human characters and society. Obviously they were immortals, but to keep their immortality they would eat ambrosia and drink nectar.

Interestingly enough, a mortal could also be made immortal by a god, following a certain ritual. Companies with Greek Names Return to Content Companies with Greek Names There are numerous renowned and successful companies with Greek names all over the world, most of them being European and American companies. You might recognize the names of certain companies as references to Greek heroes or persons from the Greek mythology, such as Amazon or Nike, but you might not have noticed references to mythology in many other familiar companies’ names. Here is a list of companies with Greek Names: Companies with Greek Names Amazon launched in 1995 and is one of the country’s largest booksellers and one of its most powerful online retail companies. In Greek mythology, the Amazons were a race of powerful women warriors trained in archery and combat. There are tales of hundreds of individual Amazons in Greek mythology. Atlas – The Titan Atlas was doomed to support the heavens on his shoulders. The name Atlas is used by a modern moving company (Atlas Van Lines). Also, Atlas Travel is a popular name for travel agencies all over the globe. Other companies with Atlas in their brand names are Atlas Railroad Company, Atlas Snowshoes, Atlas Games.

Ambrosia – In ancient Greek mythology, ambrosia is sometimes the food, sometimes the drink, of the Greek gods. There is Ambrosia Natural Foods, Ambrosia Software and the famous Ambrosia Salad. Amphion – Amphion is the son of Zeus and the nymph Antiope, the queen of Thebes. Amphion of Finland produces premium grade loudspeakers. Amphion Medical Solutions provides medical record transcription and coding to the health care industry. Antheia – A goddess from the island of Crete, Antheia was the goddess of vegetations, lowlands, marshlands, gardens, blossoms, the budding earth and human love. There is an Antheia Flowers, an Antheia Ballroom, and even an Antheia Hotel. Apollo – God of light, masculine beauty and music; Apollo Theater is a famous music hall in New York city. There’s also an Apollo Health and Beauty Care, Apollo Photonics provides photonic (light) integrated circuit and devices. Ares – the Greek god of war has become a popular car model. As well, Ares is a free open source file sharing program that enables users to share any digital file.

There is an Ares Lighting Systems and even an Ares Cuisine Supply company. Argos Panoptes was an all-seeing giant with a hundred eyes. Many businesses and companies use this god as their name. Argos Data Collection System oversees global satellite coverage for environmental data collection. Its numerous satellites and data collection platforms echo Argos’ hundred eyes. Delphi – Sanctuary to Apollo and home to his famous Oracles; Delphi Forums is an on-line meeting place to promote discussions and to find answers. Delphi is also the name of an international Automotive Group. Delphi Group specializes in global warming and Delphi Energy is into oil and natural gas Dionysus – God of Wine. There is a Dionysus Wine and Spirits Company, Dionysus Salon and Spa, Dionysus Winery. Echo – She was the beautiful nymph who fell in love with Narcissus, but he ignored her until she pined away and only an echo of her voice remained. Echo Power Equipment, E.C.H.O. (European Commission Humanitarian Organization) and Echo Digital Audio are some examples of use today. You will find community newspapers called the Echo all over. Elysium – The dwelling place of the blessed, where those chosen by the gods live.

There are the Elysium Gardens, Elysium Digital Design, Elysium Hotel on the island of Mykonos, Elysium Wealth Management and Elysium Hair Salon. Eos – Goddess of the Dawn. You’ll find Eos lip balm, the Canon Eos camera, the Volkswagen Eos vehicle, and even an Eos Golf Company. Europa – A beautiful maiden seduced by Zeus when he took the form of a white bull. Europa is the official web site of the European Union. There’s a Europa Nightclub, Europa Hotel in Belfast, and Europa Worldwide Logistics. Not to mention Europe as a continent anyway. Charon – Boatman who ferries the souls of the dead to the Underworld; Charon Internet and Charon Productions are two more modern uses. . Centaur – Mythological creatures that are part human and part horse. In modern society, you’ll find Centaur Theater Company, Centaur Floor Machines, Centaur Riding School, and Centaur Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures veterinarian medicine. Helicon – A woody mountain in Boeotia, Greece, dedicated to the Muses.

Helicon Software, Helicon Tech, Helicon Properties, Helicon Records and Helicon Publishing are some of the modern derivations. Helios – God who daily drove the sun chariot across the sky; sun god. There’s Helios Software, Helios Music, Helios Media Player, Helios Capital Management and Helios Heater. Hercules – Roman name for Heracles, the greatest Greek hero; the company called Hercules makes a top-selling video graphics card (their slogan is Legendary Strength, Quality and Performance); there is also the Hercules transport plane, used by the United States Air Force to carry large volumes of war material and food; Hercules Incorporated is a maker of chemicals and allied products. Hermes – Olympian Herald and Messenger god; popular brand of soap. Also, the FTD flower delivery company incorporates Hermes and his winged heels in their logo. The Hermes Boutique offers high end goods. Hermes Financial Group, Hermes Records and Hermes Hotel are further examples. Hyperion – Titan whose name means “he who goes before the sun”; Hyperion is a company that specializes in “business analysis software.” Also the name of a book publishing company.

Hyperion Records, Hyperion Power and Hyperion Sound Design also take their name from this Titan. Hydra – Sea serpent with nine heads, killed by Hercules; It’s the chosen name of the Internet Chess Club. There’s also Hydra Software and Hydra Browser. Midas –Nike has become such a household name for athletic equipment that some people will be surprised to learn that the word comes from Greek mythology. Minos – the King of Crete has given his name to numerous companies, such as Minos Consulting, Minos Medical Home, Minos EMI and so on. Nike was the goddess of victory, an appropriate namesake for a sports brand. In Greek illustrations of the goddess Nike she is often holding a palm branch, a symbol of victory. Nike was one of Styx’s four children. King with the golden touch, who transformed all he touched to gold; a famous muffler and brake chain of service stations. Midas Consoles makes live audio mixing consoles. Olympic: With references to Olympia and the Olympic Games you can find Olympic Air, Olympic Travel Agency, Olympic Case Company,Olympic Packaging Company and many many more.

Pandora is the Greek goddess best known for opening a box (pithos) full of evil spirits and freeing them to cause misery to mankind. The box also contained hope (Elpis). Pandora Radio (Pandora.com) invites users to type in a song or artist they like and then enjoy a radio station tailored to their interests. This use of the name Pandora is playful and ironic because Pandora radio will open a new world of music, rather than evils, for its users Selene – The mythological moon goddess. The Selene Team’s goal is “to land a remote-controlled lunar rover on the Moon which must then travel a minimum of 500 meters over the lunar surface, while at the same time, sending high-definition images and video as well as other data back to Earth.” Selene Furniture sells fine Italian office furnishings. Titans – Race of gods preceding the Olympians; Titan Tool & Die Company manufactures tools for industry. The Tennessee Titans play in the NFL. Parthenon – The temple of Athena, built on the Acropolis of Athens;there is Parthenon Software, Parthenon Insurance Company, Parthenon Travel Agency and so on.

Pegasus – Winged horse that was born from Medusa’s head when she was killed; Pegasus Expedite Company is a national delivery/courier service; Pegasus Satellite Systems is a provider of satellite entertainment services. The winged horse motif is used by dozens of companies. Phoenix – A mythical and one-of-a-kind bird that burns on a funeral pyre after a life of hundreds of years, only to be re-born from the ashes; also the name of a national photographic technology company. You’ll find Phoenix Technologies, Phoenix Suns basketball team, and even NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander. Poseidon – God of the Sea and brother of Zeus; Poseidon Travel is a common travel agency name; Poseidon Seafood is a national brand of seafood products. Neptune, the Roman version, is often also used by companies, as in Neptune Fresh Lobster Co. Prometheus – The Titan who stole fire from Olympus and whom Zeus sentenced to be chained to a rock and daily an eagle would feast on his liver. Prometheus Company, Prometheus Energy, Prometheus Books, Prometheus Real Estate, and more.

Odyssey – The 10-year sea voyage endured by the Trojan War hero, Odysseus, as he sought to return home to Ithica; Odyssey Travel is a well-known travel agency; Odyssey Records is a record company; there’s even an Odyssey Golf Club company, Odyssey BMX, Honda Odyssey and more. Olympus – Mt Olympus was the home of the Olympian gods. The mountain exists and it is the highest mountain in Greece (2,918 m). Olympus is the name of a well-known company that produces cameras and equipment for photographers. Also, Olympic Airlines is another variation of the name. Orion – A giant hunter slain by Artemis in Greek mythology; a motion picture production company, Orion Pictures. Also, Orion Car Audio, Orion Bus Company and Orion Pharma feature the name Orion. Spartan – Greek warrior state, devoted to discipline and the martial arts; Spartan Corporation is a financial advisory company; also, Spartan Tool & Die is a national manufacturer and supplier to the auto industry; Spartan Nutritional Products is a maker and distributor of health supplements. Spartan Scientific, Spartan Stores and Spartan Motors use the name.

Trojan – Inhabitants of the mighty city of Troia that was destroyed by the Greeks during the Trojan War, after a siege of ten years. Today Trojan is an international manufacturer of condoms and birth control products. The name Trojan is also used by Trojan Records and Trojan Tire. 2 Responses to Companies with Greek Names Anonymous March 12, 2012 at 23:43 # Very helpful indeed, because I am preparing a software that i want to dedicate to the Gods (Hermes & Apollo). I have already chosen an appropriate name & logo inline with greek mythology, still this information had been very useful. From Hermes to Eternity | Vanity Fair Twitter Artisans and their creations at the Hermès leather workshop in Pantin. Photographs by Todd Eberle. ‘The world is divided into two: those who know how to use tools, and those who do not." "We are an industrial company with 12 divisions, which designs, makes, and retails its products. We aren't a holding company." Atop 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré a statue, affectionately known as "l'artificier," waves Hermès scarves.

"We will continue to make things the way the grandfathers of our grandfathers did." For 28 years, from 1978 to 2006, the most quotable voice in retail—pragmatic, poetic—came from Jean-Louis Dumas, the head of a company that in every other way speaks with its hands. It is an old company with a Protestant spine and a Parisian perfectionism, one of the oldest family-owned-and-controlled companies in France. Its name alone prompts sighs of desire among those in the know, and those in the know run the gamut from French housewife to fashionista to queen (both kinds), from social climber to Olympic equestrian to C.E.O. The name itself is a sigh, a flight, and its proper pronunciation must often be taught. "Air-mez"—as in the messenger god with winged sandals. Mischievous, witty, ingenious Hermès. "We don't have a policy of image, we have a policy of product." Dumas, fifth generation of the Hermès family, was eminently quotable because he expressed clear concepts that made sense in any language.

Though Hermès is grouped with other luxury brands, it hovers ineffably higher, apart, and not only because it is more costly. Dumas himself pooh-poohed the term "luxury," disliking its arrogance, its hint of decadence. He preferred the word "refinement," and intrinsic to that refinement is what Hermès won't do. It does not boast, does not use celebrities in advertising, does not license its name, does not let imperfect work leave the atelier (imperfect work is destroyed), does not get its head turned by trends. What it does do—Dumas's "policy of product"—is create necessary objects made from the most beautiful materials on earth, each so intelligently designed and deeply well made it transcends fashion (which is good because the pieces last for generations). When Diane Johnson, in her best-seller of 1997, Le Divorce, describes a gift box from Hermès "set alluringly on the desk, like a cake on an altar," she catches that special blend of the senses and the soul inherent in an object from Hermès.

"Time is our greatest weapon." Inside that gift box is an Hermès handbag, a Kelly, the company classic renamed in 1956 for the actress Grace Kelly, who used one to shield her pregnancy from a paparazzo's lens. In Johnson's novel the Kelly is symbolic of an Old World transaction—the taking of a mistress. But under Dumas's brilliant leadership, Hermès became a brave-new-world company, growing global in a sustained, savvy, relatively debt-free ascent that was prepared for in the 80s, rocketed in the 90s, and continued to climb after 2000 even as other luxury brands slipped. Young women in Japan, China, and Russia now buy their own Kellys. Paris is no longer the only destination for those who want incomparable leather goods, scarves, ties, and iconic jewelry and watches—Hermès now has 283 stores worldwide, 4 of them flagships. Dumas set the tone for Hermès as a fierce competitor that competes only with itself and keeps winning. Upon his retirement, in March of last year, he handed the reins to members of the family's sixth generation, who must now find their own relationship with time.

It began with Thierry Hermès, the sixth child of an innkeeper. He was born a French citizen in the German town of Krefeld, land that in 1801 was part of Napoleon's empire. Having lost all of his family to disease and war, Hermès went to Paris an orphan, proved gifted in leatherwork, and opened a shop in 1837, the same year Charles Lewis Tiffany opened his doors in New York. Today the two companies have the most distinctive color signatures in retail—Hermès orange and Tiffany robin's-egg blue—but there the similarity ends. Where Tiffany began in stationery and costume jewelry, Hermès specialized in the horse harnesses required by society traps, calèches, and carriages. The dynamics of animal power and grace, movement and travel, energy controlled and the outdoors enjoyed, are deep in the lifeline of Hermès. It was a business built on the strength of a stitch that can only be done by hand, the saddle stitch, which has two needles working two waxed linen threads in tensile opposition. It is a handsome, graphic stitch, and done properly it will never come loose.

Saddle master Laurent Goblet and one of his craftsmen flank their handiwork. The clients of Thierry Hermès were rich: the Parisian beau monde and European royalty, including the emperor Napoléon III and his empress, Eugénie. But Thierry's true client—the wings on his sandals—was the horse, whose hauteur in this era was unrivaled. It was in equipage that the Hermès allure took form, born of a linear integrity, a tailored masculinity, its richness lying in the leather and in hardware honestly, elegantly designed. When Thierry's son, Émile-Charles, succeeded him, the family business moved to 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where it has been a limestone landmark—the home of Hermès—ever since. In that same year of 1880, saddlery was added, a custom business that required measurements from both horse and rider. Added as well in the 19th century, another Hermès institution: the wait. Because handstitched perfection cannot be rushed, royal coronations were sometimes delayed until Hermès fittings for the carriage and the guard had arrived.

In this century, the waitlist for items such as the hot-and-heavy Birkin, a handbag created in 1984 for the actress Jane Birkin, can stretch to five years. One Birkin takes 18 to 25 hours to make, and the Paris workrooms produce only five or so each week; these supply Hermès stores worldwide. In the third generation of Hermès, when Émile-Charles's sons, Adolphe and Émile-Maurice, succeeded him, lightning struck. Hermès Frères, as it was then called, was peerless in its field, adding Czar Nicholas II of Russia to its client list, along with royals and riders from around the world. Nevertheless, the century had turned and the centrality of the horse was diminishing. Elder brother Adolphe, shy and fearful of this epochal change, thought there was no future for Hermès in the age of the motor. Émile-Maurice, adventurous and inspired, thought otherwise.

"My grandfather," says Jérôme Guerrand, the chairman of the Hermès supervisory board and a cousin of Jean-Louis Dumas's, "during the war was sent as an officer to the States, and he met [Henry] Ford. At that time it was the best example for factories in the world. And in Canada he found a kind of zip, for the [canvas] roof of the cars. He thought it was something he could use in France—to make other things." Perhaps only a man named for the Greek god of swiftness would perceive the future in this quicksilver device. Émile-Maurice returned to Paris with a two-year European patent on the zipper. He saw Hermès zooming into the age of the automobile, which would no doubt require leather accessories. The zipper opened and closed in a flash, a perfect mechanism with which to secure a purse or jacket against high speeds.

The "Hermès Fastener," as it was called even after the patent had expired, would revolutionize clothing (made by Hermès, the first-ever leather jacket with a zip was worn by the Duke of Windsor), and the Hermès workrooms became so expert in its manipulation that other companies, including Coco Chanel's, came to learn from them. That zipper—not flat like today's, more like a skinny, silver snake skeleton—lies in a desk drawer in the hushed and beautiful room that was once Émile-Maurice's office and is now another of his legacies, the Hermès Museum. Secreted away on a floor above the store, the museum is a long rectangular room with old oak walls, windows curtained in moss-green velvet, and the dust-mote magic of another world. From the age of 12, when he bought his first piece, a walking stick, Émile-Maurice was an avid collector, and in this room he housed his treasures. His focus was the golden age of the horse, which spanned many centuries and even more cultures. Bejeweled saddles for Eastern warriors and Russian leather for Western kings, stirrups forged in Peru, bridles from Africa and India.

In this room there are phaetons and victorias made as tiny as toys, or scaled as salesman's models. A galloping horse on tricycle wheels, its horsehair face worn bald by too many kisses, belonged to Napoléon III's son, the Prince Imperial. (General George Patton's signature is in the museum guest book.) And a royal carriage on a table, created from paper slips rolled between finger and thumb—the art of paperole—is a masterpiece probably made by a nun. (Andy Warhol also visited the museum.) The severe black wool sidesaddle suit—or amazone—of Julie Hermès, Émile-Maurice's wife, recently served as inspiration for the Miss Julie–esque costuming of Madonna's Confessions tour. And if the collection's parasol made of pheasant feathers hadn't been so fragile, it would have taken part in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. Coppola did have use of an 18th-century hunting knife and a ray-skin spyglass called an indiscrète, which were accompanied to the set by Ménéhould de Bazelaire, the museum's curator since 1986.

"Ali Baba's cavern," "Gepetto's workshop"—these are ways de Bazelaire describes the collection. "In this room, the childhood spirit of Hermès is gathered. Not to be a prisoner of the past, not at all. Every time an artist, a designer for Hermès, comes here, they are excited. They feel energy from the craftsmanship." So while the collection has a Proustian power, it is more important in the way it acts as a bank of visual motifs from which Hermès designers may draw imagery, inspiration, for future projects. "We cannot do an ugly gadget," says de Bazelaire, "because we would be ashamed if we compared it to this." The collection as conscience? "Yes," she says. "Jiminy Cricket for Pinocchio." Émile-Maurice Hermès had four daughters, one of whom died young. When the other three married, their husbands' surnames—Dumas, Guerrand, Puech—became synonymous with the fourth generation of Hermès. Thus began a branching out in the family tree, a phase in Hermès history when more members of the family began working for the firm.

When Émile-Maurice died, in 1951, having added such classics to the company repertoire as the Hermès silk scarf, in 1937 (it grew out of Hermès racing silks), and the Collier de Chien, in the 40s (the cultish dog-collar bracelet, a waiting-list item today), son-in-law Robert Dumas took the helm, working in close collaboration with his brother-in-law Jean-René Guerrand. Presiding over a postwar era in which the Hermès presence in France was consolidated, Robert Dumas put the stress on new design. Artistic and more introverted than his father-in-law, Dumas turned his hand to belts and bags. He brought the Hermès tie to its sine qua non status as the power tie. And his focus on the Hermès scarf—"my first love," he called it—resulted in company scarves so recognizably Hermès that flagship stores fly them from their rooftops.

Thirty-six by 36 inches of the finest Chinese silk; engraved with an accuracy of one micrometer; screened with as many as 36 color frames; brought to completion over two and a half years; with 12 new designs a year (plus classics brought back): these virtuosic fantasias on culture, nature, and art are pure joie de vivre, something better than a status symbol. To receive one's first Hermès scarf—it's not about coming up in the world but about embracing it. Nine of the company's 10 best-selling scarves, including 1957's Brides de Gala (Gala Bridles, the all-time best-seller) and 1963's Astrologie (favorite of fashion designers), were made on Robert Dumas's watch. In fact, in the imagery of these two scarves—the ceremonial gravity of leather bridles and the overhead soaring of the spheres—we see the reverberating dynamic of Hermès: earth and air. It was this very dynamic that Jean-Louis Dumas would articulate when in 1978, upon his father Robert's death, the family made him head of the company. When he was C.E.O.

and artistic director of Hermès, Jean-Louis Dumas often said, "We are like peasants working the land to yield fruit." It is a sentiment he took from his mother, Jacqueline, and it expresses both the sense of stewardship each Hermès generation feels toward the firm and also the simple dignity inherent in work done by hands with tools—the awls, mallets, needles, knives, and stones that populate the workbench of every Hermès artisan (each of whom is five years in the making). Hermès is different from other luxury brands in that it is not so much a design identity as it is a culture, a rarefied world with its own values and ways of working ("the way the grandfathers of our grandfathers did"). Retired workers don't leave the company; they join its Club des Anciens—"the ancients"—which meets for monthly lunches and yearly trips and is a living library of company history and wisdom. The ancients are as much Hermès as the Hermès family members, who even with advanced degrees in other fields may find themselves drawn back to their native ground of leather, silk, and the saddle stitch.

When Jean-Louis, one of 17 cousins who constitute the family's fifth generation, took the reins, in 1978, Hermès was still lofty and a bit sleepy, especially in the leather-working atelier above the store, where, as Forbes reported, there wasn't enough work to keep the needles busy. Financial consultants suggested that the company close the atelier and hire outsiders to do the work—tantamount to cutting the heart out of Hermès. Dumas knew better. Equipped with degrees in both law and economics, keenly well read and well versed in the arts, a globe-trotting traveler who relished exotic climes and yet, having worked at Bloomingdale's for a year in the 60s, loved America as well, he looked up over the horizon, much as his grandfather Émile-Maurice once had, and saw a global Hermès, scarves snapping across the continents. It began with a jolt. In 1979, Dumas launched an advertising campaign, put up in Paris overnight, that pictured hip young Parisians wearing Hermès scarves with jeans—a look so radically high-low the whole house of Hermès protested, an uproar that lasted days.

"The idea is always the same at Hermès," Dumas would say in his lighthearted way, "to make tradition live by shaking it up." He'd recognized that retail had changed and if Hermès was to survive without compromise it had to reposition its products, make them relevant to more walks of life. Dumas expanded the Hermès profile by investing, usually at 35 percent, in companies that shared the Hermès ethic of No Compromise—companies like Leica optics and Jean Paul Gaultier's couture. He expanded the Hermès product line by buying entire companies that he believed in (the London bootmaker John Lobb) and that made sense within the context of Hermès's Art of Living department: Puiforcat silver, Saint-Louis crystal. (The company now has 14 divisions.) And he expanded the Hermès global presence with a steady increase in the number of boutiques and stand-alone stores, making few mistakes in a well-researched strategy of growth. From 1982 to 1989, sales grew from $82 million to $446.4 million.

And if you'd bought shares of Hermès in March of 1993, when 19 percent of the company was publicly floated (a way to allow family members to sell some shares without upsetting company structure), you'd be a happy camper. From December 1993 to December 2006, the cac 40 Index shows a rather flat line with a shallow rise around 1999, while the Hermès international share price climbs like Everest. As a Lehman Brothers analyst said of Hermès in 2000, "It's the only stock in its sector to be in its eighth-straight year of double-digit growth." Sales in 2006 reached an all-time high of $1.9 billion. It wasn't empire building per se, because Hermès could never be mass—and never wanted to be. It was more like ambassadorships. Dumas's vision, which he called "multi-local," saw Hermès stores outside of France operating with a great deal of independence, being Hermès, yes, but with a posture that was proper to each new environment.

It would be a dialogue, a dance, Hermès taking the pulse of the place, building relationships with new artists it admired, and often leading the local Zeitgeist, not only through avant-garde, often curated windows (also done locally, while following the lead of Leila Menchari, the acclaimed designer of Hermès's surreal Paris windows), but also through heavy sponsorship of events, art exhibitions, and mini film festivals. "Multi-local" inspired, as well, the way new stores were conceived, whether worked into existing, often landmark buildings or constructed from scratch, as in Dosan Park in Seoul, and in the Ginza district of Tokyo. When it comes to the evolving aesthetic of Hermès, almost incalculable is the influence of Rena Dumas, the wife of Jean-Louis. Born and raised in Greece, knowing she wanted to work with space ever since she was a girl, Rena met Jean-Louis in 1959 when she was studying architecture in Paris. The principal of a company she founded in 1970, Rena Dumas Architecture Intérieure (R.D.A.I.), she has designed the interiors of more than 150 Hermès stores.

Her style—clean, taut, extremely subtle, and highly resolved—might be described as abstract modernism, but with a sensation of sinuous play and kinetic daring. Architect Rena Dumas, influential wife of Hermès head Jean-Louis Dumas, in her Paris office. R.D.A.I.'s first job for Hermès was to design the interior of an addition to 24 Faubourg, made possible by the purchase of the building at 26. Rena said she could not do a replica of 24—she was interested only in doing something modern. "They gave me a very interesting answer, which guided me," Rena says. "They said, 'O.K., but we want the client who enters 24 and goes to 26 not to have a feeling of change, that he goes from the old store to the new store. We don't want the 24 Faubourg to become something old.'" From 24 Faubourg, Rena took "a code of elements," as she calls it: limestone, cherrywood, mosaics, leather, and light.

Her firm's stunning design for the company's facility in Pantin, where the leather workshops moved in 1992 to meet the huge increase in demand, is all windows, air, awash in light. It's a crystal palace born of a prism. Design of Hermès objects, always subtle, has increasingly partaken of this more abstract and architectural approach. The men's wear of Véronique Nichanian, who came on in 1988; the women's shoes and jewelry of Pierre Hardy, who joined the house in 1990; and the ready-to-wear of the esoteric Martin Margiela, engaged in 1997, much to the surprise of the fashion world: these three, all minimalists with an extravagant edge, brought a powerful coherence to Hermès design, a disciplined rigor and sly wit. Indeed, one might say that the Hermès allure is today more dressage than equipage, concentrated yet cool. In fact, the saddles used by the Academy of Equestrian Arts, located in Versailles, are provided by Hermès. The first years of the new millennium saw Dumas making his last hires, and they were important ones.

In 2003, when the press-phobic Margiela decided not to renew his contract with Hermès, wanting to devote himself to his own line, Dumas again surprised the industry, this time by hiring Jean Paul Gaultier—bad-boy couturier, costumer of Madonna, and out-there showman. And Gaultier, who'd turned down many offers to design for other houses, surprised himself by wanting the job. Dumas had asked him for suggestions about who could take Margiela's place. "I threw out a few names," Gaultier recalls, "but finally when I got home, I said to myself, 'Me. I would love to do it.' It's a house that allows for great creative freedom with no limits." The press fretted over the choice: Could Gaultier rein in his wildness? He could. Gaultier understood the Hermès ethic of au point—"just at the right point"—and his collections for Hermès, always in the most sumptuous materials, have ridden that fine line between respect and irreverence. "My mother used to wear Calèche, and through the scent, Hermès was in my childhood memory.

That's why I play with the Hermès codes, giving them a twist." And in the fragrance department: despite the classic Calèche, introduced in 1961, and other successes through the decades—Équipage; Amazone; 24, Faubourg—this was the one Hermès division that underperformed through much of the 90s. In Jean-Claude Ellena, hired in 2004, the company found its nose. Sophisticated, cerebral, with a poet's sense of the mystery of his subject, Ellena creates fragrances that are like organic architecture. His line of Hermessences—lighter, more ethereal mixes—have the feeling of musical airs or inventions, the buoyant play of Hermès. Come 2005, Dumas began to loosen the reins and relinquish responsibilities. It was during this time of quiet transition that Hermès suffered the loudest, and possibly worst, publicity in its history.

What has been called a controversy and a "Crash moment," but is better termed a misunderstanding, unfolded on June 14, when Oprah Winfrey and friends arrived at 24 Faubourg at 6:45 p.m. and were told the store was closed. It was true, Hermès closes at 6:30 p.m. But on this particular evening, because the staff was preparing for a fashion show, the store still looked open. "The doors were not locked," Winfrey later said on her television show. "There was much discussion among the staff about whether or not to let me in. That's what was embarrassing." Newspapers and the Internet whipped it up. Hate mail poured into Hermès. The family was mortified. Dumas himself, had he been in better health, would have taken a flight to meet Winfrey, to explain that Hermès never closes its doors to anyone. In his place, Robert Chavez, the president and C.E.O. of Hermès U.S.A., appeared on Winfrey's show to say how sorry the company was. She accepted the apology.

"What is the future of Hermès?" Dumas once answered this question with a single word: "Idea." In early 2006, when Dumas announced he'd be retiring, Hermès was faced with that future: Who would fill the shoes of Jean-Louis Dumas? As it turned out, three people. With the unanimous approval of the Hermès board, Dumas named company veteran Patrick Thomas the new C.E.O. and designated as co–artistic directors his son, Pierre-Alexis Dumas, and his niece, Pascale Mussard. Thomas spoke for all when he said, "This is a family company with a long-term vision. There will be no revolution." And yet, when leadership moves from one generation to the next, there is always a leap, if only of faith. ‘One very important feeling for me," says Pierre-Alexis Dumas, "is the feeling of humility. That came about very early, that I never took Hermès for granted. It was a house, our house, and a highly respected institution." By age 10, Dumas was asking to learn the saddle stitch. "It's not really about the stitch," he says.

"It's about being aware of the sense of touch, being able to stitch with your eyes closed, being able to represent yourself and the object you're making in space, being able to listen to what your hands tell you. These are fundamental acts which built our civilization. When I was able to control my hands, I was so proud." Dumas graduated with a degree in visual arts from Brown University, where fellow students sometimes confused Hermès with Aramis, a hot American fragrance in the 80s. "I was shocked," he recalls. "But this brand is full of paradoxes. It's been around for 170 years, and yet it's a very young brand, because its geographical expansion happened in the last 20 years." Mussard, like Dumas, doesn't "have any memory without Hermès." Descended from the Guerrand line of the Hermès family, she remembers that "the key of my parents' apartment was the same key as all the offices and the safe of Hermès. My uncles could come every day, at any hour." After school Mussard would go to the Hermès upstairs atelier to watch the leather workers or to play on the terrace.

After studying law and obtaining a degree in business, she began at Hermès as a fabric buyer in 1978, when her uncle Jean-Louis took over. "I knew that my heart was with Hermès, but I always thought I was not good enough." (Company policy: a family member never gets the job over a more qualified outsider.) "When Jean-Louis asked me to join, I was astonished. He said to me, 'You know every corner at Hermès, you know every person.'" Though Mussard is shy, her uncle promoted her into advertising and P.R. Be natural, he told her; say what you want to. "He helped a lot of people to bloom," she says. And in critiquing a window she'd dressed, one she was proud of, Dumas taught Mussard an important lesson in Hermès allure. "He said, 'It's not a good window—everything is too Hermès. You are like a good pupil, and a window is not about that. You have to make a reaction. You have to surprise. You have to astonish yourself. Be always on a wire, a thread.'" Pierre-Alexis Dumas reiterates this ideal. "My father was always anxious.

He had stage fright, convinced that when everything was prepared, at the greatest events, it will not work. And it was always a success. I understand today that that attitude is a wise one. If you just say everything is O.K., you're not taking risks. The brand is going to be affected by that. Slowly it's going to become banal." Dumas is in charge of all the silk, textile accessories, and ready-to-wear, and Mussard oversees leather, jewelry, and non-textile accessories. "Pierre is very abstract," she says. "He loves paintings, he wants to be a painter, he loves things flat. I love three dimensions. I love objects. And so we are very complementary." And they are aesthetically in sync. Like Dumas's mother, Mussard's father, the late Pierre Siegrist, was an architect. Having both grown up with modernist values, Dumas and Mussard share a love of clean shapes with strong energy. They want the company to grow slim and fit, its touch light but not too light. "We've known each other for a long time," says Mussard. "We understand right away if it's Hermès or not. If we like it or not.

If we've gone too far away." "We've got to remain true to ourselves," says Dumas, "but we've got to change constantly. And it's that tension which is at the heart of Hermès." And something else. Something Mussard was searching for, a key, when she came into the company. "It's from Jean-Louis's father, Robert Dumas," she explains. "I asked him, What is it about Hermès? If you can say one thing, what is it? And he said to me, 'Hermès is different because we are making a product that we can repair.' It's so simple. And it's not so simple. Think that you can repair something because you know how to repair it and why it has been damaged. You have the hands. Think that you can repair it because you want to keep it. And think that you can repair it because you want to give it to someone else. I think it's right. It's what Hermès is about." Laura Jacobs is a Vanity Fair contributing editor. Share What does Mercury mean?

Webster Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition: Mercury(noun) a Latin god of commerce and gain; -- treated by the poets as identical with the Greek Hermes, messenger of the gods, conductor of souls to the lower world, and god of eloquence Mercury(noun) a metallic element mostly obtained by reduction from cinnabar, one of its ores. It is a heavy, opaque, glistening liquid (commonly called quicksilver), and is used in barometers, thermometers, ect. Specific gravity 13.6. Symbol Hg (Hydrargyrum). Atomic weight 199.8. Mercury has a molecule which consists of only one atom. It was named by the alchemists after the god Mercury, and designated by his symbol, / Mercury(noun) one of the planets of the solar system, being the one nearest the sun, from which its mean distance is about 36,000,000 miles. Its period is 88 days, and its diameter 3,000 miles Mercury(noun) to wash with a preparation of mercury Origin: [L.

Mercurius; akin to merx wares.] Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Mercury Mercury was an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's namesake brand. From 1945 to 2011, it was the Mercury half of the Lincoln - Mercury division of Ford. Using badge engineering, the majority of Mercury models were based on Ford platforms. The name "Mercury" is derived from the messenger of the gods of Roman mythology, and during its early years, the Mercury brand was known for performance, which was briefly revived in 2003 with the Mercury Marauder. The brand was sold in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Middle East. In 1999, the Mercury brand was dropped in Canada, although the Grand Marquis was still marketed there wearing a Mercury badge through 2007.

The Mercury brand was phased out in 2011, as Ford Motor Company refocused its marketing and engineering efforts on the Ford and Lincoln brands. Production of Mercury vehicles ceased in the fourth quarter of 2010. The final Mercury automobile, a Grand Marquis, rolled off the assembly line on January 4, 2011. Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Mercury mėr′kū-ri, n. the god of merchandise and eloquence, and the messenger of the gods: the planet nearest the sun: a white, liquid metal, also called quicksilver: the column of mercury in a thermometer or barometer: a messenger: a newspaper.—adj. Mercū′rial, having the qualities said to belong to the god Mercury: active: sprightly: often changing: of or pertaining to trade: containing, or consisting of, mercury—also Mercū′ric.—v.t. Mercū′rialise (med.), to affect with mercury: to expose to the vapour of mercury.—n. Mercū′rialist.—adv. Mercū′rially.—n. Mercurificā′tion.—v.t.

Mercū′rify.—adj. Mer′cūrous. [Fr.,—L. Mercurius—merx, mercis, merchandise.] The Nuttall Encyclopedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Mercury the Roman name for the Greek Hermes, the son of Jupiter and Maia, the messenger of the gods, the patron of merchants and travellers, and the conductor of the souls of the dead to the nether world. Mercury an interior planet of the Solar system, whose orbit is nearest the sun, the greatest distance being nearly 43,000,000 m. and the least over 28,000,000, is one-seventeenth the size of the earth, but is of greater density, and accomplishes its revolution in about 84 days; it is visible just before the sun rises and after it sets, but that very seldom owing to the sun's neighbourhood. U.S. National Library of Medicine(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Mercury A silver metallic element that exists as a liquid at room temperature.

It has the atomic symbol Hg (from hydrargyrum, liquid silver), atomic number 80, and atomic weight 200.59. Mercury is used in many industrial applications and its salts have been employed therapeutically as purgatives, antisyphilitics, disinfectants, and astringents. It can be absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes which leads to MERCURY POISONING. Because of its toxicity, the clinical use of mercury and mercurials is diminishing. Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Mercury A planet in the solar system. Mercury is 1 of eight planets in the Solar System. mercury Is a chemical element with a known symbol and atomic number and a silver white metal. Mercury readily combines with aluminium to form a mercury-aluminium amalgam when the two pure metals come into contact. Numerology The numerical value of Mercury in Chaldean Numerology is: 5 Pythagorean Numerology Greek names of the planets, how are planets named in Greek Helios is the Greek name of the Sun, the center of our solar system.

Earth – Ge (from the ancient Greek name Gaia or Gaea) Gaia was the great mother of all, creator and giver of birth to the Earth and all the Universe, the heavenly gods, the Titans, and the Giants. The gods were born from her union with Uranus (the sky), while the sea-gods were born from her union with Pontus (the sea). Mercury – Ermis Ermis is the Greek name of the planet Mercury, which is the closest planet to the sun. It is named after the Greek God of commerce, Ermis or Hermes, who was also the messenger of the Ancient Greek gods. Venus – Aphrodite Aphrodite is the Greek name of the planet Venus, which is named after Aphrodite, the goddess of Love. Mars – Aris Aris is the Greek name of the planet Mars, the fourth planet from the sun, also known as the Red planet. Aris or Ares was the Greek god of War. Jupiter – Dias Jupiter, the fifth planet from the sun, is the largest planet in our solar system. In Greek the name of the planet Jupiter is Dias, the Greek name of god Zeus.

Jupiter has many moons orbiting around the planet. The largest one is Ganymede and it is named after Ganymedes, the hero of the Greek mythology. Saturn – Kronos Saturn is the second largest planet of our system and the sixth planet from the sun. The Greek name of the planet Saturn is Kronos. The Titan Cronus was the father of Zeus, while Saturn was the Roman God of agriculture. Uranus – Ouranos Ouranos is the Greek name of the planet Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun. This planet is named after the creator of the sky, God Uranus or Ouranos, which means sky in the Greek language. He was the father of Cronus and the Titans, as well as of the Cyclopes. Neptune – Poseidon Neptune or Poseidon as is its Greek name, was the God of the Seas. It is the eight planet from the sun, and its predominant color is blue, which makes its name a rather excellent choice. Pluto – Pluton The god of the Underworld, Pluto or Pluton in Greek is the farthest planet from the sun and one of the least observed planets in our solar system.

Other Greek names in our galaxy Greek names were given also to several stars and planetary features in our Galaxy. The names of stars are chosen by their discoverers as well. Some of them are: Cerberus. The three headed dog – guardian of the gates of the Underworld, known with the name Kerveros in Greek, is given to the large black spot on the surface of planet Mars. On Mars, there is also the Olympus Mons, the largest volcano of the planet, referring to Mount Olympus or Olympos in Greek, the mountain of the gods in the Greek mythology. Planet Venus also has its volcano, named Rhea Mons, after Rhea or Rea, the mother of Zeus, daughter of Uranus and Gaia. Read more:

Question: What French luxury company shares its name with the Greek messenger god?
Answer: Hermes