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good " walk " among Christians, e.g. in Vis. iii. 5-7 ; Mand. viii. ; Sim. viii. Iliad (xiv. 490) and the later epic hymn to Hermes; and his Homeric titles aK&K71ra, Eptouvtos, &rrwp Mwv, probably refer to him as the giver of fertility. In the Odyssey, however, he appears mainly as the messenger of the gods, and the conductor of the dead to Hades. Hence in later times he is often represented in See also:

art and See also:

MYTHOLOGY

mythology as a See also:

HERALD (O. Fr. heraut, herault; the origin is uncertain, but O.H.G. heren, to call, or hariwald, leader of an army, have been proposed; the Gr. equivalent is Kddpvi : Lat. praeco, caduceator, fetialis)

herald. The conductor of souls was naturally a chthonian god; at Athens there was a festival in See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour of Hermes and the souls of the dead, and See also:

AESCHYLUS (525–456 B.c.)

Aeschylus (Persae, 628) invokes Hermes, with See also:

Earth and Hades, in summoning a spirit from the underworld. The See also:

FUNCTION

function of a messenger-god may have originated the conception of Hermes as a See also:

DREAM (from a root dreug, connected with Germ. trugen, to deceive)

dream-god; he is called the " conductor of dreams " (iryirrwp Opel paw), and the Greeks offered to him the last See also:

LIBATION (Lat. libatio, from libare, to take a portion of something, to taste, hence to pour out as an offering to a deity, &c.; cf. Gr. Aeid3ew)

libation before See also:

SLEEP (0. Eng. slcepan; Ger. schlafen; cf. Lat. labi, to glide, and " slip ")

sleep. As a messenger he may also have become the god of roads and See also:

DOOR (corresponding to the Gr. Bbpa,. Lat. fores or valvae; the English word, with other forms common in allied languages, comes from the same Indo-European stem as the Gr. Obpa and Lat. fares)

door-ways; he was the See also:

PROTECTOR

protector of travellers and his images were •used for boundary-marks (see HERMAE). It was a See also:

CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

custom to make a See also:

CAIRN (in Gaelic and Welsh, Carn)

cairn of stones near the wayside statues of Hermes, each passer-by adding a See also:

stone; the significance of the practice; which is found in many countries, is discussed by Frazer (See also:

GOLDEN

Golden Bough, and ed., iii. to f.) and Hartland (See also:

LEGEND (through the French from the med. Lat. legenda, things to be read, from legere, to read)

Legend of See also:

PERSEUS

Perseus, ii. 228).

Treasure found in the road (tpµatov) was the See also:

GIFT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger. die Gift, gift, das Gift, poison, formed from the Teut. stem gab-, to give, cf. Dutch geven, Ger. geben; in O. Eng. the word appears with initial y, the guttural of later English is due to Scandinavian influence)

gift of Hermes, and any stroke of good See also:

LUCK

luck was attributed to him; but it may be doubted whether his patronage of luck in See also:

general was See also:

DEVELOPED

developed from his function as a god of roads. As the giver of luck he became a deity of gain and See also:

commerce (KepSmos, a'yopaios), an aspect which caused his See also:

IDENTIFICATION (Lat. idem, the same)

identification with Mercury, the See also:

ROMAN

Roman god of See also:

trade. From this conception his thievish character may have been evolved. The trickery and cunning of Hermes is a prominent theme in literature from See also:

HOMER, WINSLOW (1836-191o)

Homer downwards, although it is very rarely recognized in See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official cult.2 In the hymn to Hermes the god figures as a precocious See also:

child (a type See also:

FAMILIAR (through the Fr. familier, from Lat. familiaris, of or belonging to the familia, family)

familiar in folk-See also:

lore), who when a new-See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born babe steals the cows of See also:

APOLLO (Gr. 'A2r6XXwv,'Airkkhwv)

Apollo. In addition to these characteristics various other functions were assigned to Hermes, who developed, perhaps, into the most See also:

COMPLETE

complete type of the versatile Greek. In many respects he was a counterpart of Apollo, less dignified and powerful, but more human than his greater See also:

BROTHER

brother. Hermes was a See also:

PATRON

patron of See also:

MUSIC

music, like Apollo, and invented the See also:

CITHARA (Assyrian chetarah; Gr. KcOhpa; Lat, cithara; perhaps Heb. kinura, kinnor)

cithara; he presided over the See also:

GAMES, CLASSICAL

games, with Apollo and Heracles, and his statues were See also:

COMMON

common in the stadia and gymnasia. He became, in fact, the ideal Greek youth, equally proficient in the " musical " and " gymnastic " branches of Greek See also:

EDUCATION

education. On the " musical " See also:

side he was the See also:

SPECIAL

special patron of eloquence (Myws); in gymnastic, he was the giver of See also:

grace rather than of strength, which was the See also:

province of Heracles. Though athletic, he was one of the least militant of the gods; a title 7rpb iaxor, the Defender, is found only in connexion with a victory of See also:

young men (" ephebes ") in a See also:

BATTLE

battle at Tanagra. A further point of contact between Hermes and Apollo may here be noted: both had prophetic See also:

POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

powers, although Hermes held a See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place far inferior to that of the Pythian god, and possessed no famous See also:

ORACLE (Lat. oraculum, from ora' to pray; the corresponding Greek word is uavreiov or Xpnuri7pwov)

oracle. Certain forms of popular See also:

divination were, however, under his patronage, notably the See also:

WORLD

world-wide See also:

PROCESS

process of divination by pebbles (Optat).

The " Homeric " Hymn to Hermes explains these See also:

minor gifts of prophecy as delegated by Apollo, who alone knew the mind of See also:

ZEUS

Zeus. Only a single oracle is recorded for Hermes, in the See also:

MARKET (Lat. mercatus, trade or place of trade)

market-place of Pharae in See also:

ACHAEA

Achaea, and here the See also:

PROCEDURE (Fr. procedure, from Lat. procedere, to go for-ward)

procedure was akin to popular divination. An See also:

ALTAR (Lat. altare, from alias, high; some ancient etymological guesses are recorded by St Isidore of Seville in Etymologiae xv. 4)

altar, furnished with lamps, was placed before the statue; the inquirer, after See also:

LIGHTING

lighting the lamps and offering See also:

INCENSE

incense, placed a See also:

coin in the right See also:

hand of the god; he then whispered his question into the See also:

EAR (common Teut.; O.E. are, Ger. Ohr, Du. oor, akin to Lat. auris, Gr. ovs)

ear of the statue, and, stopping his own ears, See also:

LEFT

left the market place. The first See also:

sound which he heard outside was an See also:

OMEN (a Latin word, either connected with os, mouth, or more probably with auris (Gr. ois, ear; apparently, meaning " a thing heard " or " spoken ")

omen. ' From the foregoing See also:

account it will be seen that it is difficult to derive the many-sided character of Hermes from a single elemental conception. The various theories which identified him with the See also:

sun, the See also:

moon or the See also:

DAWN (the 16th-century form of the earlier " Jawing " or " dawning," from an old verb " daw," O. Eng. dagian, to become day; cf. Dutch dagen, and Ger. tagen)

dawn, may be dismissed, as they do not See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest on See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence to which value would now be attached. The Arcadian or " Pelasgic " Hermes may have been an earth-deity, as his connexion with fertility suggests; but his See also:

SYMBOL (Gr. o-uµ(3oXov, a sign)

symbol at Cyllene 2 We only hear of a Hermes Saws at Pellene (Paus. vii. 27. I) and of the custom of allowing promiscuous thieving during the festival of Hermes at See also:

SAMOS

Samos (Plut. Quaest. Graec. 55).

rather points to a mere personification of reproductive powers. According to See also:

Plutarch the ancients " set Hermes by the side of See also:

APHRODITE

Aphrodite," i.e. the male,and See also:

FEMALE

female principles of See also:

GENERATION (from Lat. generare, to beget, procreate; genus, stock, race)

generation; and the two deities were worshipped together in See also:

ARGOS

Argos and else-where. But this phallic character does not explain other aspects of Hermes, as the messenger-god, the See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master-thief or the ideal Greek ephebe. It is impossible to adopt the view that the Homeric poets turned the See also:

RUDE, FRANCOIS (1784–1855)

rude shepherd-god of Arcadia into a messenger, in See also:

order to provide him with a place in the Olympian circle. To their Achaean See also:

AUDIENCE (from Lat. audire, to hear)

audience Hermes must have been more than a phallic god. It is more probable that the Olympian Hermes represents the See also:

FUSION

fusion of several distinct deities. Some scholars hold that the various functions of Hermes may have originated from the See also:

IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of good luck which is so closely See also:

BOUND, or BOUNDARY (from O. Fr. bonde, Med. Lat. bodena or butina, a frontier line)

bound up with his character. As a pastoral god he would give luck to the flocks and herds; when worshipped by townspeople, he would give luck to the See also:

MERCHANT (O. Fr. marcheant, modern marchand; from Lat. mercari, to trade, merx, goods, merchandise)

merchant, the orator, the traveller and the See also:

ATHLETE (Gr. aOX177'7r; Lat. athleta)

athlete. But though the notion of luck plays an important See also:

PART

part in See also:

early thought, it seems improbable that the primitive Greeks would have personified a mere See also:

ABSTRACTION (Lat. abs and trahere)

abstraction. Another theory, which has much to commend it, has been advanced by See also:

ROSCHER, WILHELM GEORG FRIEDRICH (1817–1894)

Roscher, who See also:

SEES

sees in Hermes a See also:

wind-god. His strongest arguments are that the wind would easily develop into the messenger of the gods (Au oupos), and that it was often thought to promote fertility in crops and cattle. Thus the two aspects of Hermes which seem most discordant are referred to a single origin.

The Homeric epithet 'Apyeidbvriis, which the Greeks interpreted as " the slayer of See also:

ARGUS

Argus," inventing a myth to account for Argus, is explained as originally an epithet of the wind (apye rr? s), which dears away the mists (apybs, 4aivw). The uncertainty of the wind might well suggest the trickery of a thief, and its whistling might contain the germ from which a god of music should be developed. But many of Roscher's arguments are forced, and his method of See also:

INTERPRETATION (from Lat. interpretari, to expound, explain, inter pres, an agent, go-between, interpreter; inter, between, and the root pret-, possibly connected with that seen either in Greek 4 p4'ew, to speak, or irpa-rrecv, to do)

interpretation is not altogether sound. For example, the last See also:

ARGUMENT

argument would equally apply to Apollo, and would See also:

lead to the improbable conclusion that Apollo was a wind-god. It must, in fact, be remembered that men make their gods after their own likeness; and, whatever his origin, Hermes in particular was endowed with many of the qualities and habits of the Greek See also:

RACE

race. If he was evolved from the wind, his character had become so anthropomorphic that the Greeks had practically lost the knowledge of his primitive significance; nor did Greek cult ever See also:

ASSOCIATE (Lat. associates, from ad, to, and sociare to join)

associate him with the wind. The See also:

OLDEST

oldest See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form under which Hermes was represented was that of the Hermae mentioned above. See also:

ALCAMENES

Alcamenes, the See also:

RIVAL

rival or See also:

PUPIL (Lat. pupillus, orphan, minor, dim. of pupus, boy, allied to puer, from root pm- or peu-, to beget, cf. "pupa," Lat. for " doll," the name given to the stage intervening between the larval and imaginal stages in certain insects)

pupil of See also:

PHEIDIAS

Pheidias, was the sculptor of a herm at Athens, a copy of which, dating from Roman times, was discovered at See also:

PERGAMUM, or PERGAMTS (mod. Bergama)

Pergamum in 1903. But side by side with the Hermae there See also:

GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew up a more anthropomorphic conception of the god. In archaic art he was portrayed as a full-grown and bearded See also:

man, clothed in a See also:

long See also:

CHITON

chiton, and often wearing a cap (Kuvi) or a broad-brimmed See also:

hat (9rErauoc), and winged boots. Sometimes he was represented in his pastoral character, as when he bears a sheep on his shoulders; at other times he appears as the messenger or herald of the gods with the K71pVK€Zov, or herald's See also:

STAFF (O. Eng. staef, cf. Du. staf, Ger. Stab, &c.; Icel. stafr meant also a written letter, and O. Eng. stafas, the letters of the alphabet; " stave," one of the thin pieces of wood of which a cask is made, is a doublet)

staff, which is his most frequent attribute. From the latter part of the 5th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century his art-type was changed in conformity with the general development of Greek See also:

sculpture.

He now became a nude and beardless youth, the type of the young athlete. In the 4th century this type was probably fixed by See also:

PRAXITELES

Praxiteles in his statue of Hermes at See also:

OLYMPIA

Olympia.

End of Article: HERMES

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