Within Greek mythology, Hermes stands out for being a particularly versatile god, although not always exemplary in his behavior.

origin of the god Hermes

Originally, it seems that Hermes was related to the pastoral world, although he soon became associated with the brotherhood of thieves.. Nothing strange if one takes into account that in a society as marked by precariousness as that of primitive Greece, the appropriation of other people’s livestock was seen as a faster and more effective way to increase one’s assets than waiting for cows, sheep or goats to have offspring.

Hermes thus found himself the patron saint of shepherds and thieves, guilds that were eventually joined by travelers, pilgrims and merchants, people who, like flocks, moved from one place to another following paths and roads. In the case of merchants, furthermore, Their activity was not considered at the time so far removed from deception and theft…

Why Hermes is the messenger of the gods

Hermes’ relationship with cattle, but also with the art of stealing and deception or the ability to invent, are already present in a myth that highlights the astonishing precocity of the god. According to what is narrated in it, on the same day of his birth the son of Zeus, the ruler of the divinities of Olympus, and Maya, one of the seven Pleiades, left the cave of Cylene in which he had come into the world to go to distant Thessaly and steal some of the cattle that Apollo, another of Zeus’s sons, herded.

While carrying his loot to safety he came across a tortoise, emptied it and, adding seven ropes made of lamb guts to the shell, He invented the lyre and, with it, music. That was not the only example of inventiveness that he showed: driven by hunger, he sacrificed a couple of the stolen cows and, to roast their meat, he began to rub a couple of wooden sticks until a spark arose from them. He had invented a way to make fire.

Hermes He then returned to Cilene, where, wrapped in swaddling clothes, He tried hard to appear like an innocent and charming baby. Apollo, however, was not fooled: thanks to his divination skills, he knew that the boy was the thief of his cows and he set out to recover them by hook or by crook. But in the end both brothers ended up understanding each other: in exchange for the flock, Hermes offered Apollo the lyre. He, for his part, taught Hermes the art of divination and gave him a golden wand, the caduceus. Maya’s son thus obtained what would be one of his distinctive attributes. The other two, the winged sandals that allowed him to move as fast as the wind and the petasus, the wide-brimmed hat typical of travelers, would arrive later, when Hermes, at the wish of his father Zeus, He became the messenger of the gods.

Hermes and the underworld

From that moment on, most myths in which Hermes appears show him fulfilling that divine messenger function or, no less important, the conductor of the souls of the deceased to the underworld, the dark kingdom of his uncle Hades. However, there are also those that evoke his role in episodes such as the fight that the gods waged against the giants who intended to assault Olympus or the creation of the first woman, Pandora, to whom, like the rest of the Olympians, he conferred a quality: an inconstant heart given to falsehood and lies.

FAMILY OF GOD Hermes

Other myths refer to Hermes’ love adventures with goddesses, nymphs and women with whom he had countless children. From his relationship with the goddess of love, Aphrodite, Hermaphroditus was borna young man so ravishingly beautiful that the nymph Salmacis asked the gods to fuse her body with his; In this way, Hermaphroditus ended up being both a man and a woman.

With another nymph she had Pan, god of fertility of the fields and flocks, unmistakable for his legs, tail, horns and goat ears, while the princess Philonide gave him to Autolycus, who inherited from his divine father the ability to deceive and take possession of other people’s property without being discovered. Through this Autolycus, Hermes was the great-grandfather of the ingenious Ulysses, the protagonist of Homer’s Odyssey.

OBJECTS RELATED TO THE GOD HERMES

Despite his deceitful, deceitful and unpredictable character, Hermes was one of the most esteemed gods in the Greek pantheon, especially for the role he played as a mediator between gods and humans and, as such, dispenser of good and evil. However, there is no record of any temple dedicated to him.

However, there are many stone pillars called hermai, crowned by a male head, generally that of the god, and his virile attributes clearly visible in the center. These pillars were erected on roads, crossroads, borders, boundaries and gates of cities, sanctuaries and private homes to protect their inhabitants and travelers from the action of evil forces. Likewise, The Hermeas were dedicated to Hermes, festivals that were celebrated throughout the Hellenic geography. and which, evoking the god’s condition as a fast and tireless runner, consisted of different sporting events, such as races on foot, in a chariot or with torches.