Hermes, a multifaceted deity

vickaboleyn (65)Verified✔️ / Delegator 🏅in Writing & Reviews • 3 years ago

Author's note: The following article was published in Spanish language on my Blurt blog, in September 9th, 2021.

Image edited with Canva. Source of the image: Wikipedia

In the last post we talked about Demeter, goddess of Agriculture and a well-known figure in the myth of Persephone's abduction. We addressed the different rituals that were carried out in Greece and Rome, with the Eleusinian Mysteries and Cerialia being the highest festivities in her honor. Likewise, other myths that account for her firm and tenacious personality were mentioned.

Today we'll expose a deity whose main functions are linked to diplomacy and commerce: Hermes.

Who was Hermes in the Greco-Latin pantheon?

According to Gordon Cheers (2019) and Ángel María Garibay K. (2020), Hermes was the son of Zeus with the nymph Maia. The Greeks and the Romans considered him a multifaceted god, since his cult was linked to trade, athletics, livestock, mining, diplomacy, travel, divination and theft. He also had an important role as a guide of souls to the Underworld and as a messenger of the gods.

On his consorts and descendants, Cheers and Garibay mention Antianeira and Philonis as his main consorts. With Antianeira, daughter of Menetes, he fathered the Argonauts Echiones and Eurytus. With Philonis, daughter of king Deion, he was the father of Autolycus, king of thieves. On the other hand, Robin Hard (2009) adds that Hermes also had Aphrodite and a daughter of Dryops, king of the Dryopians, as consorts. From their respective unions he had fathered Hermaphroditus, a human being of both sexes; and Pan, god of the forests.

Hard also mentions another consorts, the sisters Herse, Aglaurus and Pandrosus, Athena's priests. Respectively, with each one of them Hermes was the father of the Athenian heroes Cephalus, Ceryx and Eumolpus. Another known descendant was Daphnis, inventor of Eclogues or Pastoral poetry; he was born from the union with a nymph (2009: 225).

The theft of Apollo's cattle and the exchange between deities

One of the most known storys about this god mentions the theft of Apollo's cattle. Hermann Steuding (1961) explains that he escaped from Mount Kyllini short time after he was born, and began to explore Greece. During the trip, he stopped at Pieria, where he spotted a herd of oxen that was under Apollo's care. Taking advantage of his brother's absence, he took all or part of the cattle and hid them near a cave. Upon discovering the author of the theft, Apollo brought him before the gods. There, Hermes admitted the theft and agreed to return the cattle; however, Hermes warned that he sacrificed two oxen in honor of the twelve gods, being himself the twelfth. In this way, the young god escaped the punishment of Zeus.

The bases of commercial exchange arise from this robbery. A few days after losing his trial against Hermes, Apollo hears a beautiful melody coming from a cave in Pylos; there, he discovered Hermes with a lyre, an instrument made from the shell of a tortoise and the guts of sacrificed oxen. In exchange for forgiving his crime and keeping the cattle, Apollo obtained the lyre.

Later, both gods made a second commercial transaction. Hermes had made a flute, the notes of which immediately Apollo was enchanted with. Apollo didn't hesitate to offer him the functions of the god of livestock in exchange for the flute; however, Hermes added one more request: that he would be also the god of the divinatory arts. Apollo agreed to his request after a brief deliberation. Aware of both exchanges, Zeus granted Hermes the appointment of messenger of the gods and in charge of presiding over public and private treaties (Cheers, 2019: 80).

Cult in Greece

William Smith, William Wayte and G. E. Marindin (1890) point out that the cult of Hermes was practiced in different regions of Greece, mainly in the region of Arcadia and Crete. The main festival to this deity was the Hermeia. This festival was celebrated at the gyms, since Hermes was the patron of the athletes; games, banquets and contests were organized.

Depending of their functions, some sector of Greek society invoked him through the following epithets:

Travelers: Hodios (god of the roads), Hegemenos or Agetor (leader or guide), due to his nature as a traveler between the world of the living and the dead.
Merchants and, probably, thieves: Logios (orator, god of eloquence), Agoraeus or Empolaios (merchant), due to his ability to convince others.
Shepherds: Poimandres (shepherd, herd guide).

Francisco Diez de Velasco (1988) points out that the epithets Epitermius (god of limits) and Psychopompos (guide of souls) are the most important in terms of his quality as one of the two divinities that could enter and leave the Underworld ( the other one was Persephone).

Cult in Rome

The Romans equated Hermes with their local god, Mercury, since they had the same multifaceted and physical attributes (wings on feet, pilgrim's hat, cape, and the kerykeion or caduceus). However, they added to his figure a new element: the money bag, which symbolized the profits obtained from business and good luck. Likewise, they came to compare him with Woden or Odin, the god of the Germans, in terms of his quality as a guide of souls (Masiá Veriscat, 2017: 55; Streeter, 2009: 93).

On his cult, it's known that there was no chief priest who offered sacrifices and prayers in his temple, located in Porta Capena, near the Colosseum. Instead, merchants organized and celebrated the Mercuralia on May 15. During these festivities, merchants poured water from the temple's well in hopes of having a prosperous year in their trade.

Another myths of Hermes

Although Hermes was limited to being one of the messengers of the gods in most mythical stories, in some stories he had a leading role, either linking him to the fatherhood of some well-known heroes or inflicting punishment on those who deserved it. These stories include the following:

The punishment of Battus. Battus was a talkative shepherd who lived in Pieria, near where the theft of Apollo's cattle occurred. Hermes promised him a great reward if he didn't reveal to anyone his identity as the author of the robbery. However, Battus denounced him to Apollo once he asked him about his oxen. Furious, Hermes punished him by turning him into a stone (Hard, 2009: 224).
The serpents in the caduceus. One day, Hermes saw two snakes fighting. Seeking to separate them, he placed between them the caduceus, a hazelnut stick that Apollo gave him. The serpents immediately coiled up, both facing each other. From that moment on, Hermes would carry that rod as a symbol of his attribute as the god of diplomacy (Masiá Veriscat, 2017: 55).

Consulted sources (in Spanish)

Cheers, Gordon (Editor). 2019. Mitología. España. RBA Editorial. Original version of the book: Mythology: Myths, Legends and Fantasies.
Diez de Velasco, Francisco. 1988. "Un aspecto del simbolismo del Kerykeion de Hermes", en: Gerión, núm. 6. Editorial de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Pp. 39 - 45. Obtained from: https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/GERI/issue/view/GERI888812
Garibay K., Ángel María. 2020. Mitología griega. México. Editorial Porrúa. Colección "Sepan cuántos...", núm. 31.
Hard, Robin. 2009. El gran libro de la mitología griega. España. Editorial La Esfera de los Libros S.L. Original version of the book: A Handbook of Greek Mythology.
"Hermes", en: Wikipedia. Consulted in September 9th, 2021.
Masiá Veriscat, Concepción. 2017. Mitología romana. España. Albor Libros.
"Mercurio", en: Wikipedia. Consulted in September 9th, 2021. Wikipedia's English version.
Smith, Willian; Wayte, William, y Marindin, G. E. (editores). 1890. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquies. Consulted in: Perseus Digital Library, September 8th, 2021.
Steuding, Herman. 1961. Mitología griega y romana. España. Editorial Labor. English version of the book: Greek and Roman Mythology.
Streeter, Michael. 2009. Mundos perdidos: Romanos. China. Ediciones Paraninfo. Original version of the book: The Romans (Lost Worlds).