Hermes / Mercury
Messenger of the gods, god of travellers, thieves and trade
Hermes is the quick-witted messenger of the gods, who flies between Olympus, earth and the Underworld in his winged sandals. He is the god of travellers, merchants, thieves and tricksters — and the guide who leads the souls of the dead to the afterlife.
How they were born
Hermes was the son of Zeus and Maia, a mountain nymph of the Pleiades, born in a cave on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. He was barely a few hours old when he slipped out of his cradle, found a tortoise, and turned its shell into the first lyre. Before the day was over he had also stolen fifty of his half-brother Apollo's sacred cattle, driving them backwards so their tracks pointed the wrong way. When Apollo tracked him down, the infant Hermes charmed his way out of trouble by playing the lyre, and Apollo gave him the herald's staff, the caduceus, in exchange for it.
The greatest stories
The Theft of Apollo's Cattle
On the very day he was born, Hermes crept out of his cave on Mount Cyllene and found a herd of Apollo's sacred cattle grazing in Pieria. He drove fifty of them away, making them walk backwards and wearing sandals of woven bark so no one could follow his own footprints. He slaughtered two of the cattle and offered them to the gods, then slipped back into his cradle and pretended to be an innocent baby. Apollo followed the strange tracks to the cave and dragged the infant before Zeus, but Hermes denied everything with a straight face. Zeus laughed at the little thief's cheek, and in the end Hermes gave Apollo the lyre he had invented from a tortoise shell. Delighted, Apollo gave him the caduceus and made him herald of the gods.
Hermes and Argus
Zeus had fallen in love with the princess Io, and to hide her from his wife Hera he turned her into a white cow. Hera was not fooled, and she set the giant Argus to guard the cow — Argus had a hundred eyes, and never closed them all at once, so he never slept. Zeus sent Hermes to free her. Hermes disguised himself as a shepherd, sat down near Argus, and played such sweet music on his pipes and told such long, drowsy stories that one by one all of Argus's eyes closed. The moment the last eye shut, Hermes drew his sword and struck off the giant's head. For this deed he earned the title Argeiphontes, 'Slayer of Argus', and Hera set Argus's eyes forever in the tail of the peacock.
Hermes Helps Perseus
When the young hero Perseus set out to kill Medusa, whose gaze turned men to stone, the gods armed him for the impossible task. Hermes gave him a curved, adamantine sickle sharp enough to cut off the Gorgon's head, and his own winged sandals, so Perseus could fly. Athena gave him a polished shield to use as a mirror, so he could see Medusa without looking at her directly. With Hermes's gifts and guidance, Perseus reached the Gorgons' lair, beheaded the sleeping Medusa, and flew away with her head in a magic satchel. Hermes appears again and again as the gods' helper of heroes, lending his speed and cunning to those on dangerous quests.
Hermes and Odysseus
Hermes was a constant helper of his great-grandson Odysseus. When Odysseus's men landed on the island of the sorceress Circe, she turned them into pigs with a wave of her wand. Hermes met Odysseus on the path to her house and gave him a magic herb called moly, with a black root and a white flower, telling him to eat it before he drank from Circe's cup. The herb protected him from her spells, and when Circe waved her wand at him, nothing happened. Odysseus drew his sword and made her swear to free his men and do them no more harm. Years later, when Odysseus was held captive on Calypso's island, it was Hermes who carried Zeus's order to the nymph: let him go.
Family & connections
Symbol, animal & weapon
Fun facts
- Hermes invented the lyre on the day he was born, stretching strings across a tortoise shell — and later he invented the panpipes too.
- Hermes is the only Olympian who can travel freely between Olympus, the world of humans, and the Underworld, which is why he guides the souls of the dead to Hades.
- Stone pillars called herms, carved with Hermes's head, stood at crossroads and boundaries all over Greece, and travellers would rub them or add a stone for luck.
- The planet Mercury and the chemical element mercury are both named after Hermes's Roman name, because the planet moves across the sky faster than any other.
- The word 'hermetic', meaning sealed airtight, comes from Hermes Trismegistus, a later figure who combined Hermes with the Egyptian god Thoth.
Gallery — sculpture & art
