Hermes - Revision history

Irlandos at 11:10, July 23, 2007

2007-07-23T11:10:11Z

Irlandos: /* Portrayal */

2005-10-22T11:10:58Z

Portrayal

Irlandos at 11:10, October 22, 2005

2005-10-22T11:10:13Z

Irlandos at 11:09, October 22, 2005

2005-10-22T11:09:40Z

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'''Hermes''' (Greek: 'Έρμης': 'pile of marker stones'), in [[Greek mythology]], is the god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of orators, literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures and invention and commerce in general, of the cunning of thieves, and the messenger from the gods to humans. A lucky find was a ''hermaion''. An interpreter who bridges the boundaries with strangers is a ''hermeneus.'' Hermes gives us our word "hermeneutics" for the art of interpreting hidden meaning.

Among the Hellenes, as the related word Herma ‘a boundary stone, crossing point’ would suggest, Hermes is the Spirit of Crossing-Over. As such he was seen to be manifest in any kind of interchange, transfer, transgressions, transcendence, transition, transit or traversal, all of which activities involve some form of crossing in some sense. This explains his connection with transitions in one’s fortunes, with the interchanges of goods, words and information involved in trade, interpreting, oratory, writing, with the way in which the wind may transfer objects from one place to another, and with the transition to the afterlife.

==Portrayal==
In [[Greek mythology]] Hermes and [[Dionysus]] are the youngest of the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian pantheon]]. Son of [[Zeus]] and a primordial [[nymph]] named [[Maia]], Hermes was born in a cave on Mt. [[Cyllene]] in [[Peloponnesus]], between [[Achaea prefecture|Achaea]] and [[Arcadia]]. His origin on Mt. Cyllene explains the origin of an epithet for Hermes: ''Hermes Cylleneius''. He was also referred to as '''Enagonios'''.

The Romans found that Hermes was equivalent to their characteristic god Mercury, who may have been the descendent of the Etruscan Turms.

The modern post office in [[Greece]] uses Hermes as its symbol and the first Greek stamps ever issued portrayed his head.

== Cult ==

Though temples to Hermes existed throughout [[Greece]], a center of his cult was at Pheneos in [[Arcadia prefecture|Arcadia]], where festivals in his honor were called ''Hermoea''.

As a crosser of boundaries, ''Hermēs Psychopompos''' ("conductor of the soul") was a [[psychopomp]], meaning he brought newly-dead souls to the underworld, [[Hades]]. In the Homeric ''Hymn to Demeter'' Hermes conducts the [[Kore]] safely back to [[Demeter]]. He also brought dreams to living mortals.

Hermes as an inventor of fire is a parallel of the titan [[Prometheus]]. In addition to the [[syrinx]] and the [[lyre]], Hermes invented many types of racing and the sport of boxing. In the 6th century the traditional bearded phallic Hermes was reimagined as an athletic youth, statues of the new type of Hermes stood at stadia and gymnasiums throughout Greece.

=== [[Herma|Hermai]] ===
In very ancient Greece, Hermes was a phallic god of boundaries. His name in the form ''herma'' referred to a wayside marker pile of stones; each traveller added a stone to the pile. In the 6th century, Hipparchos, the son of [[Pisistratus]] replaced the cairns that marked the midway point between each village ''[[deme]]'' at the central ''[[agora]]'' of Athens with a square or rectangular pillar of stone or bronze topped by a bust of Hermes usually with a beard; an erect phallus rose from the base. In the more primitive "Cyllenian" herms, the standing stone or wooden pillar was frankly simply a phallus. The ''hermai'' were used to mark roads and boundaries. In [[Athens]], they were placed outside houses for good luck.

In [[415 BCE]], when the Athenian fleet was about to set sail for [[Syracuse]] during the [[Peloponnesian War]], all of the Athenian hermai were vandalized. The Athenians at the time believed it was the work of saboteurs, either from Syracuse or the anti-war faction within Athens itself. [[Socrates]]' pupil [[Alcibiades]] was suspected to have been involved, and Socrates indirectly paid for the impiety with his life.

=== Hermes' [[iconography]] ===
Hermes was usually portrayed wearing a broad-brimmed traveller's hat or a winged cap (petasos or more commonly [[petasus]]), wearing winged sandals ([[talaria]]) and carrying his Near Eastern herald's staff, entwined by copulating serpents, called the ''kerykeion'', more familiar in its Latinized form, the ''[[caduceus]]''. He wore the garments of a traveler, worker or shepherd. He was represented by purses, roosters and tortoises.

== Birth ==
Hermes was born on [[Mount Kyllini|Mount Cyllene]] in [[Arcadia prefecture|Arcadia]] to [[Maia]]. As the story is told in the [[Homeric Hymn]], the ''[[Hymn to Hermes]],'' Maia was a nymph, but Greeks generally applied the name to a midwife or a wise and gentle old woman, so the nymph appears to have been an ancient one, one of the [[Pleiades (mythology)|Pleiades]] taking refuge in a cave of Arcadia.

The god was precocious: on the day of his birth, by midday he had invented the lyre, using the shell of a tortoise, and by nightfall he had rustled the immortal cattle of [[Apollo]]. For the first Olympian sacrifice, the taboos surrounding the sacred kine of Apollo had to be transgressed, and the trickster god of boundaries was the one to do it.

His epithet ''Argeiphontes'', or Argus-slayer, recalls his slaying of the many-eyed giant [[Argos]] who was watching over the heifer-nymph [[Io]] in the sanctuary of Lady [[Hera]] herself in Argos. Putting Argos to sleep, Hermes dispatched him with a cast stone, like a hero faced by a giant in the land of Canaan.

== Hermēs' offspring ==

=== [[Abderus]] ===
[[Abderus]] was a son of Hermes who was devoured by the [[Mares of Diomedes]]. He had gone to the Mares with his friend, [[Herakles]].

=== [[Hermaphroditus]] ===
[[Hermaphroditus]] was the third son of Hermes, with [[Aphrodite]]. He was changed into a hermaphrodite by the gods, responding to the pleas of [[Salmacis]], whose love Hermaphroditus spurned.

== Other stories ==

=== [[Herse]]/[[Aglaulus]]/[[Pandrosus]] ===
When Hermēs loved [[Herse]], a jealous [[Aglaulus]] stood between them and refused to move. Hermēs changed her to stone. [[Cephalus]] was the son of Hermes and Herse. Hermēs also had a son, [[Ceryx]], with Herse's other sister, [[Pandrosus]]. With Aglaulus, Hermēs was the father of [[Eumolpus]].

=== [[Argus]]/[[Io (mythology)|Io]] ===

[[Zeus]] loved the [[Argos|Argive]] princess [[Io (mythology)|Io]] and changed her into a cow to protect her from Hera. Hera suspected his deception and asked for the cow as a present. Zeus was unable to refuse and she placed the watchman [[Argus]] to guard the cow. Hermēs, at the request of Zeus, lulled Argus to sleep and rescued Io but Hera sent a gadfly to sting her as she wandered the earth in cow form. Zeus eventually changed her back to human form, and she became—through [[Epaphus]], her son with Zeus—the ancestress of [[Heracles]].

=== Other roles ===

Hermes saved [[Odysseus]] from both [[Calypso]] and [[Circe]], by convincing the first to let Odysseus go and then protecting him from the latter by bestowing upon him an herb that would protect him from Circe's spell. In addition, Hermes brought [[Eurydice]] back to Hades after [[Orpheus]] looked back towards his wife for a second time. He also changed the [[Minyades]] into bats. He taught the [[Thriae]] the arts of fortune-telling and divination.

King [[Atreus]] of [[Mycenae]] retook the throne from his brother, [[Thyestes]] using advice he received from the wise trickster Hermes. Thyestes agreed to give the kingdom back when the sun moved backwards in the sky, a feat that [[Zeus]] accomplished. Atreus retook the throne and banished Thyestes.

Consorts/Children
# [[Aphrodite]]
## [[Eunomia]]
## [[Hermaphroditus]]
## [[Peitho]]
## [[Rhodos]]
## [[Tyche]]
# [[Aglaulus]]
## [[Eumolpus]]
# [[Herse]]
## [[Cephalus]]
# [[Pandrosus]]
## [[Ceryx]]
# [[Dryope]]
## [[Pan (mythology)|Pan]]
# Unknown mother
## [[Abderus]]
## [[Aethalides]]
## [[Echion (Argonaut)|Echion]]
## [[Myrtilus]]
# Unknown [[Sicily|Sicilian]] [[nymph]]
## [[Daphnis]]
# Krokus

==External links==
*[http://www.theoi.com/Cult/HermesCult.html Cult of Hermes]
*You can find more information, original sources and images at http://www.elolimpo.com/?nombre=hermes&s=per

==References==
*[[Walter Burkert]], 1985. ''Greek Religion,''
*Antoine Faivre, 1995.''The Eternal Hermes : From Greek God to Alchemical Magus'' translated by Josceleyn Godwin (Phanes) ISBN 0-933999-52-6.

[[Category:Greek gods]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:10, October 22, 2005
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	'''Hermes''' (Greek: ~~'Έρμης'~~: 'pile of marker stones'), in [[Greek mythology]], is the god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of orators, literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures and invention and commerce in general, of the cunning of thieves, and the messenger from the gods to humans. A lucky find was a ''hermaion''. An interpreter who bridges the boundaries with strangers is a ''hermeneus.'' Hermes gives us our word "hermeneutics" for the art of interpreting hidden meaning.	+	'''Hermes''' (Greek: Ερμής: 'pile of marker stones'), in [[Greek mythology]], is the god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of orators, literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures and invention and commerce in general, of the cunning of thieves, and the messenger from the gods to humans. A lucky find was a ''hermaion''. An interpreter who bridges the boundaries with strangers is a ''hermeneus.'' Hermes gives us our word "hermeneutics" for the art of interpreting hidden meaning.

	Among the Hellenes, as the related word Herma ‘a boundary stone, crossing point’ would suggest, Hermes is the Spirit of Crossing-Over. As such he was seen to be manifest in any kind of interchange, transfer, transgressions, transcendence, transition, transit or traversal, all of which activities involve some form of crossing in some sense. This explains his connection with transitions in one’s fortunes, with the interchanges of goods, words and information involved in trade, interpreting, oratory, writing, with the way in which the wind may transfer objects from one place to another, and with the transition to the afterlife.		Among the Hellenes, as the related word Herma ‘a boundary stone, crossing point’ would suggest, Hermes is the Spirit of Crossing-Over. As such he was seen to be manifest in any kind of interchange, transfer, transgressions, transcendence, transition, transit or traversal, all of which activities involve some form of crossing in some sense. This explains his connection with transitions in one’s fortunes, with the interchanges of goods, words and information involved in trade, interpreting, oratory, writing, with the way in which the wind may transfer objects from one place to another, and with the transition to the afterlife.

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 ==Portrayal==
-In [[Greek mythology]] Hermes and [[Dionysus]] are the youngest of the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian pantheon]]. Son of [[Zeus]] and a primordial [[nymph]] named [[Maia]], Hermes was born in a cave on Mt. [[Cyllene]] in [[Peloponnesus]], between [[Achaea prefecture|Achaea]] and [[Arcadia prefecture|Arcadia]].  His origin on Mt. Cyllene explains the origin of an epithet for Hermes: ''Hermes Cylleneius''.  He was also referred to as '''Enagonios'''.
+In [[Greek mythology]] Hermes and [[Dionysus]] are the youngest of the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian pantheon]]. Son of [[Zeus]] and a primordial [[nymph]] named [[Maia]], Hermes was born in a cave on Mt. [[Cyllene]] in [[Peloponnesus]], between [[Achaea prefecture|Achaea]] and [[Arcadia]].  His origin on Mt. Cyllene explains the origin of an epithet for Hermes: ''Hermes Cylleneius''.  He was also referred to as '''Enagonios'''.
 The Romans found that Hermes was equivalent to their characteristic god Mercury, who may have been the descendent of the Etruscan Turms.
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 == Cult ==
-Though temples to Hermes existed throughout [[Greece]], a center of his cult was at Pheneos in [[Arcadia prefecture|Arcadia]], where festivals in his honor were called ''Hermoea''.
+Though temples to Hermes existed throughout [[Greece]], a center of his cult was at Pheneos in [[Arcadia]], where festivals in his honor were called ''Hermoea''.
-As a crosser of boundaries, ''Herm&#275;s Psychopompos''' ("conductor of the soul") was a [[psychopomp]], meaning he brought newly-dead souls to the underworld, [[Hades]].  In the Homeric ''Hymn to Demeter'' Hermes conducts the [[Kore]] safely back to [[Demeter]]. He also brought dreams to living mortals.
+As a crosser of boundaries, ''Herm&#275;s Psychopompos''' ("conductor of the soul") was a psychopomp, meaning he brought newly-dead souls to the underworld, [[Hades]].  In the Homeric ''Hymn to Demeter'' Hermes conducts the [[Kore]] safely back to [[Demeter]]. He also brought dreams to living mortals.
 Hermes as an inventor of fire is a parallel of the titan [[Prometheus]]. In addition to the [[syrinx]] and the [[lyre]], Hermes invented many types of racing and the sport of boxing.  In the 6th century the traditional bearded phallic Hermes was reimagined as an athletic youth, statues of the new type of Hermes stood at stadia and gymnasiums throughout Greece.
@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 In very ancient Greece, Hermes was a phallic god of boundaries.  His name in the form ''herma'' referred to a wayside marker pile of stones; each traveller added a stone to the pile. In the 6th century, Hipparchos, the son of [[Pisistratus]] replaced the cairns that marked the midway point between each village ''[[deme]]'' at the central ''[[agora]]'' of Athens with  a square or rectangular pillar of stone or bronze topped by a bust of Hermes usually with a beard; an erect phallus rose from the base. In the more primitive "Cyllenian" herms, the standing stone or wooden pillar was frankly simply a phallus.  The ''hermai'' were used to mark roads and boundaries.  In [[Athens]], they were placed outside houses for good luck.
-In [[415 BCE]], when the Athenian fleet was about to set sail for [[Syracuse]] during the [[Peloponnesian War]], all of the Athenian hermai were vandalized.  The Athenians at the time believed it was the work of saboteurs, either from Syracuse or the anti-war faction within Athens itself. [[Socrates]]' pupil [[Alcibiades]] was suspected to have been involved, and Socrates indirectly paid for the impiety with his life.
+In [[415 BC]], when the Athenian fleet was about to set sail for [[Syracuse]] during the [[Peloponnesian War]], all of the Athenian hermai were vandalized.  The Athenians at the time believed it was the work of saboteurs, either from Syracuse or the anti-war faction within Athens itself. [[Socrates]]' pupil [[Alcibiades]] was suspected to have been involved, and Socrates indirectly paid for the impiety with his life.
-=== Hermes' [[iconography]] ===
+=== Hermes' iconography ===
 Hermes was usually portrayed wearing a broad-brimmed traveller's hat or a winged cap (petasos or more commonly [[petasus]]), wearing winged sandals ([[talaria]]) and carrying his Near Eastern herald's staff, entwined by copulating serpents, called the ''kerykeion'', more familiar in its Latinized form, the ''[[caduceus]]''. He wore the garments of a traveler, worker or shepherd. He was represented by purses, roosters and tortoises.
 == Birth ==
-Hermes was born on [[Mount Kyllini|Mount Cyllene]] in [[Arcadia prefecture|Arcadia]] to [[Maia]]. As the story is told in the [[Homeric Hymn]], the ''[[Hymn to Hermes]],'' Maia was a nymph, but Greeks generally applied the name to a midwife or a wise and gentle old woman, so the nymph appears to have been an ancient one, one of the [[Pleiades (mythology)|Pleiades]] taking refuge in a cave of Arcadia.
+Hermes was born on [[Mount Kyllini|Mount Cyllene]] in [[Arcadia]] to [[Maia]]. As the story is told in the [[Homeric Hymn]], the ''[[Hymn to Hermes]],'' Maia was a nymph, but Greeks generally applied the name to a midwife or a wise and gentle old woman, so the nymph appears to have been an ancient one, one of the [[Pleiades (mythology)|Pleiades]] taking refuge in a cave of Arcadia.
 The god was precocious: on the day of his birth, by midday he had invented the lyre, using the shell of a tortoise, and by nightfall he had rustled the immortal cattle of [[Apollo]]. For the first Olympian sacrifice, the taboos surrounding the sacred kine of Apollo had to be transgressed, and the trickster god of boundaries was the one to do it.
@@ Line 88: / Line 88: @@
 ==References==
-*[[Walter Burkert]], 1985. ''Greek Religion,''
+*Walter Burkert, 1985. ''Greek Religion,''
 *Antoine Faivre, 1995.''The Eternal Hermes : From Greek God to Alchemical Magus'' translated by Josceleyn Godwin (Phanes) ISBN 0-933999-52-6.
 [[Category:Greek gods]]