Highlights of Greek Mythology: Hermes, a God with Many Faces

In works of art, Hermes is often portrayed wearing his trademark winged hat (the petasos or petasus), but in his mythological adventures he wore many more hats. Shall we count the ways?

Hermes was the creator of the world's first lyre, messenger of the gods and official emissary of Zeus, guide of the souls of the dead to Hades (Hermes Psychopompos), god of luck and commerce, protector of traders (agoraios), shepherds, and livestock, patron of thieves and liars, master trickster(polutropos), prankster,and schemer(dolios), bringer of dreams(hegetor oneiron); he is credited with lighting the world's first fire, being an ardent student of astronomy, the founder of alchemy and astrology, an accomplished orator (logios)and interpreter; god of travel, hospitality, divination, literature, and athletic contests (enagonios); witty, wily, and shrewd; fast, loyal, and irresistibly charming.

Stories about Hermes, his feats and escapades abound in Greek mythology. Hermes helped Perseus slaughter the Gorgon Medusa; he helped Odysseus (Ulysses) in his encounter with the sorceress Kirke (-- and no wonder, since Odysseus' grandfather, Autolycus, was directly descended from Hermes). It was Hermes that led the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite to Paris on Mount Ida, so that he would pass a judgment as to which was the fairest (kalliste). And it was Hermes that killed Argos (Argus), the hundred-eyed monster that guarded the nymph Io, lover of Zeus. (Ever wondered where all the eyes on a peacock's tail came from?) By slaying Argos, Hermes added yet another epithet to his prodigious collection, that of Hermes Argeiphontes (slayer of Argos).

Maybe the most famous myth about Hermes is the one about the very first day of his life. The newborn Hermes invented the lyre (he made it out of a tortoise shell), and stole a whole lot of cows from his half-brother Apollo's herds. He made the cows walk backwards, so that their footprints would point to the opposite direction to the route they really took. He then slaughtered a couple cows, lit a fire and cooked them, hid the rest, and jumped back into his cradle to resume the role of the innocent infant. Needless to say, when Apollo found out, all hell (Hades?) broke loose. The reconciliation involved a bit of gift exchanging: Hermes gave Apollo the lyre, while Apollo (delighted with the music) gave Hermes a shepherd's staff. This is how Apollo became the god of music and Hermes the god of husbandry. And he was hardly two days old.

Hermes is depicted either as an athletic, beardless youth or as a bearded middle-aged man. The latter portrayal we find in the hermai (herms), rectangular pillars of stone with a bust of Hermes on top. The hermai were essentially boundary markers (placed at crossroads and borders), but the ancient Athenians used to keep them outside their front doors for good luck.

It is hardly surprising that Hermes made his mark on the Greek language: the words herm, hermaphrodite, hermeneutic, and hermetic are derived from the name of this ancient and extraordinary divinity. The word hermaion was used in ancient times to denote an object found by sheer luck, by serendipity; the word is very much in use in Modern Greek, albeit with a different meaning.

Popular culture also reflects the impact of Hermes. A winged head of Hermes is the logo of the Greek postal system. Hermes (in his Roman version of Mercury) is used as a logo by the flowers and specialty gift marketer FTD, while a winged sandal (a symbol of Hermes) is the logo of the tire company Goodyear.