Hermes (Mercury)

Herald and messenger of the gods. Hermes was son of Zeus and Maia (a Pleiad, see the Pleiades), a daughter of Atlas and Pleïone (Pleione). He was identified as the Roman god Mercury. Hermes was born in a cave within the forest near the mountain of Cyllene.

Hermes was a god known for his invention and for theft. Before the end of his first day after his birth, he had invented the lyre made of a tortoise's shell, and he had also stolen Apollo's cattle from the mountains of Pieria. Hermes was ever resourceful and knew that someone would pursue him, possibly even Apollo himself. So the young god forced the herd of cattle to walk backward. He also walked in reverse, hoping to confuse the tracker. Only one old farmer saw Hermes and the cattle. When Hermes reached home, twelve of the bulls were sacrificed to the Twelve Gods, and Hermes ate the meat of the last bull. Hermes then cleverly hid the other cattle in Pylos.

Then Hermes snuck back to his cradle before his mother returned. Yet Maia suspected that her son was up to no good and called him "rogue", despite him feigning innocence. Hermes claimed that he was only an infant.

That night, Apollo discovered the missing cows among his cattle so he followed the tracks. Although the tracks had been meant to confuse him, Apollo met the old man who told him what he had seen, so the god easily managed to follow the tracks of the thief and his cattle back to the mountain of Cyllene.

When Apollo entered the cave, Hermes pretended that he was only an infant sleeping in the cradle. Apollo was however not fooled by the feigned innocence of Hermes and demanded the whereabouts of his cattle, threatening to throw the infant god into the fathomless depth of Tartarus. Hermes answered with crafty words that he didn't know what Apollo was talking about, like "what is this cattle?".

Apollo took the infant with him to Olympus, presenting him before their father, the mighty ruler of gods and men. Zeus was delighted as he listened to his two sons arguing - the eldest accusing the rogue, while the other defended himself. Zeus was quite amused by Hermes' feigned innocence and cleverness, but he finally ordered his youngest son to return the cattle to Apollo.

So Hermes took Apollo to Pylos where the cattle were hidden, but the sun god saw that twelve of his finest bulls were missing. Hermes explained to the sun god that he had sacrificed the bulls to the twelve great gods of Olympus. Apollo told him there were only eleven gods, but Hermes told his elder half-brother that he himself was to be the twelfth Olympian.

As Apollo was deciding on Hermes' punishment, he heard Hermes play the lyre. Apollo liked the music coming from the instrument so much that he decided to give Hermes his cattle and his shepherd staff in exchange for the lyre. The two half-brothers were finally reconciled. Apollo even taught Hermes the art of divining using pebbles.

---

Hermes had many skills and attributes, but his primary duty was to act as a messenger or herald for the gods. Hermes was frequently on an errand for his father (Zeus). His feminine opposite was the goddess Iris, who also often served as messenger for Zeus. Hermes often communicated to the mortals for the gods, so he was a guide. Hermes was the patron god of heralds and messengers.

Hermes had the badges of his office as a herald, especially the herald staff known as Caduceus. According to one myth, two snakes were attacking one another but when Hermes separated the snakes with his staff, they made peace. The snakes attached themselves to the staff and became permanently entwined around the Caduceus. Hermes could also be recognised by his winged helmet, called a Petasus, and more importantly a pair of winged sandals called Talaria. The sandals, and possibly the helmet, allowed Hermes to fly. The main difference between Hermes and Iris (apart from their genders) was that Iris didn't need sandals to fly because she had wings.

Hermes often helped and guided humans in their activities. He gave a "Sickle of Adamant" to Perseus, which the hero used to sever Medusa's head. He killed Argus Panoptes who was guarding the Argive heroine Io, while in the form of a heifer.

After the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Zeus ordered Hermes to take the three powerful goddesses to Paris. Paris was asked to judge who of the three goddesses was the fairest. See Judgement of Paris.

Hermes even rescued Zeus and restored his sinews, when Zeus encountered the monster Typhon. Similarly, he rescued Ares, who was confined in a bronze storage jar for thirteen months when the god of war was captured by Otus and Ephialtes.

Hermes was also the guide and patron of travellers. Hermes was a guide to Perseus as the hero journeyed to find the Gorgons. Probably because Odysseus was his great-grandson, Hermes gave him a plant known as moly which made the hero immune to the magic of Circe.

Hermes also had the strange duty of guiding departed souls to the Underworld. The shades of the dead followed Hermes' Caduceus through the passages of Hades. It was through this duty that Hermes earned the epithet Psychopompus – conductor of souls to the Underworld. In the Odyssey, Hermes guided the souls of Penelope's suitors that Odysseus had killed to Hades' domain, where they encountered Agamemnon.

As can be seen after his birth, Hermes was quite inventive, so it was natural that he was the god of inventions and science, and possibly of astronomy.

As mentioned before, Hermes shared some of the attributes of Apollo. He was god of the flocks and patron of the shepherds. Hermes also was god of divining using pebbles. With Apollo, Hermes was the god of athletic contests and patron of athletes.

Hermes was god of commerce and the market, which made him the patron of merchants, but at the same time he was also the patron of thieves and rogues.

---

Like the other younger Olympian gods, Hermes had many children from many mistresses. Like Apollo, Hermes never married. However he had many famous liaisons and children.

The only notable affair with a goddess was with Aphrodite. She was, however, not interested in Hermes. Zeus, taking pity on his son, had his eagle steal Aphrodite's favourite sandal. She gave in to Hermes' lust in return for her sandal. Hermes became the father of Hermaphroditus. Obviously, Hermaphroditus was named after his parents, Hermes and Aphrodite.

Hermes raped Chione, daughter of Daedalion. From this union, Hermes was the father of Autolycus who followed one of his father's occupations as a thief. Autolycus was a master thief, inheriting his father's cunning and resourcefulness. Autolycus was the father of Anticleia and grandfather of Odysseus. Apollo raped Chione on the same day (well, at night), so she was mother of twins: her other son by Apollo was named Philammon the Bard.

Hermes was said to be the father of the woodland god Pan by Penelope, wife of Odysseus.

Hermes was the father of the Argonaut Aethalides by Eupolemeia. Aethalides was notable because he served as the herald or messenger for the Argonauts. Hermes had two other sons, Echion and Erytus, who sailed with Jason and the Argonauts.

---

Hermes had a number of epithets: Argiphontes (slayer of Argus Panoptes), Cylleneius, Epimelios (guardian of flocks), Hodios (patron of traveller and wayfarers), Nomios, Oneiropompus (conductor of dreams), and Psychopompus (conductor of souls to the Underworld).