Hermes, The Messenger God
My favourite god! Anyways...
God of: Travellers, tricksters, gamblers, thieves, liars - anyone who lives by their wits (lawyers also fit into this category); cunning, cleverness; public speaking (yes... there's a god for that), language, orators, eloquence, eloquent speech, communication - talking in general; roads, borders, and boundaries; athletics - epecially running, gymnastics, and boxing; merchants, trade, markets and commerce; invention; shepherds, cowherds, and cattle; speed and swiftness; heralds, messengers, omens (messages from the gods), prophetic dreams - he learned divination from Apollo or someone. Sort of a jack-of-all-trades; he takes all the jobs no one else does.
Job: Messenger of the gods, psychopomp/herald/guide for the dead (see Cool Fact #4)
Characteristics: Quite outgoing. The cleverest (Athena is the wisest), sharpest, shrewdest of the gods. He is also the most helpful and friendly (especially to mortals). Persuasive (some say he's married to Peitho, the goddess of persuasion and seduction, although most say he's not married). You've really got to watch your stuff around him, though. If gods could have human disorders he'd have kleptomania...
Appearance: A young, impish-looking athletic god who is easily distincted by his winged hat and sandals (which he always wears), although some say the wings on his sandals actually grows his heels. But that's just weird.
Symbols / Sacred Objects: Storks (not sure why), tortoise (see Hermes and Apollo), winged sandals, winged hat, Caduceus (see Hermes and Apollo)
Roman Name: Mercury
Popularity: Very popular guy, with gods and mortals. The greeks set up stone pillars (called "herms"), which had the bust of Hermes, around roads, marketplaces, houses, basically everywhere! They supposedly protected you from... I dunno. Something or other. Anyway, people thought they were sacred or something. Also, Hermes did flattery and charm very well (being the god of persuasion), and could convince the clothes off your back. Literally! And because he was the god of so many different things, his sphere of influence was very large, and all sorts of people - athletes, travelers, thieves, merchants, lawyers, you name it - prayed to him.
Also Known As: Swift-footed Hermes, fleet-foot, quikshoe Hermes (he does have "quick shoes"), Master Thief, King Of Thieves (his son Autolycus is the Prince), Divine Herald, Psychopompos ("The Psychopomp), Argeiphontes ("Slayer Of Argus), Kyllenios (meaning "from Kyllene", the mountain he was born in)
Parents: Son of Maia and Zeus.
Married to: See Characteristics (That's not who he's married to! I meant go to the Characteristics category above).
Strengths: See God Of (OK, description for Married To applies here).
Weaknesses: He has strong impulses to randomly steal. Cannot stay still.
Cool Facts:
#1 He's the only Olympian who can travel freely between all the different realms (Olympus, Underworld, Sea, Earth), since he's the god of boundaries and travellers.
#2 Hermes is considered the inventor of fire (see Prometheus).
#3 Hermes often plays supporting roles in myths (See Argus and Io, Abduction of Persephone, Paris, Circe's Island) but doesn't have a lot of major myths in which he's the main character
#4 Inventor of the lyre, dice, alphabet, flute, and, in some myths, the panpipe.
#5 He appears in more myths than anyone else.
#6 The second-youngest Olympian (older only than Dionysus)
#7 He stole Apollo's bow and arrows, Ares' sword, and Poseidon's trident, among billions of other things.
God of: Travellers, tricksters, gamblers, thieves, liars - anyone who lives by their wits (lawyers also fit into this category); cunning, cleverness; public speaking (yes... there's a god for that), language, orators, eloquence, eloquent speech, communication - talking in general; roads, borders, and boundaries; athletics - epecially running, gymnastics, and boxing; merchants, trade, markets and commerce; invention; shepherds, cowherds, and cattle; speed and swiftness; heralds, messengers, omens (messages from the gods), prophetic dreams - he learned divination from Apollo or someone. Sort of a jack-of-all-trades; he takes all the jobs no one else does.
Job: Messenger of the gods, psychopomp/herald/guide for the dead (see Cool Fact #4)
Characteristics: Quite outgoing. The cleverest (Athena is the wisest), sharpest, shrewdest of the gods. He is also the most helpful and friendly (especially to mortals). Persuasive (some say he's married to Peitho, the goddess of persuasion and seduction, although most say he's not married). You've really got to watch your stuff around him, though. If gods could have human disorders he'd have kleptomania...
Appearance: A young, impish-looking athletic god who is easily distincted by his winged hat and sandals (which he always wears), although some say the wings on his sandals actually grows his heels. But that's just weird.
Symbols / Sacred Objects: Storks (not sure why), tortoise (see Hermes and Apollo), winged sandals, winged hat, Caduceus (see Hermes and Apollo)
Roman Name: Mercury
Popularity: Very popular guy, with gods and mortals. The greeks set up stone pillars (called "herms"), which had the bust of Hermes, around roads, marketplaces, houses, basically everywhere! They supposedly protected you from... I dunno. Something or other. Anyway, people thought they were sacred or something. Also, Hermes did flattery and charm very well (being the god of persuasion), and could convince the clothes off your back. Literally! And because he was the god of so many different things, his sphere of influence was very large, and all sorts of people - athletes, travelers, thieves, merchants, lawyers, you name it - prayed to him.
Also Known As: Swift-footed Hermes, fleet-foot, quikshoe Hermes (he does have "quick shoes"), Master Thief, King Of Thieves (his son Autolycus is the Prince), Divine Herald, Psychopompos ("The Psychopomp), Argeiphontes ("Slayer Of Argus), Kyllenios (meaning "from Kyllene", the mountain he was born in)
Parents: Son of Maia and Zeus.
Married to: See Characteristics (That's not who he's married to! I meant go to the Characteristics category above).
Strengths: See God Of (OK, description for Married To applies here).
Weaknesses: He has strong impulses to randomly steal. Cannot stay still.
Cool Facts:
#1 He's the only Olympian who can travel freely between all the different realms (Olympus, Underworld, Sea, Earth), since he's the god of boundaries and travellers.
#2 Hermes is considered the inventor of fire (see Prometheus).
#3 Hermes often plays supporting roles in myths (See Argus and Io, Abduction of Persephone, Paris, Circe's Island) but doesn't have a lot of major myths in which he's the main character
#4 Inventor of the lyre, dice, alphabet, flute, and, in some myths, the panpipe.
#5 He appears in more myths than anyone else.
#6 The second-youngest Olympian (older only than Dionysus)
#7 He stole Apollo's bow and arrows, Ares' sword, and Poseidon's trident, among billions of other things.
Children...
According to most sources Hermes never marries, but he did have lots of kids. Here are most of the more well-known ones:
Autolycus, the Prince of Thieves (which makes Hermes the King Of Thieves!) and grandfather of Odysseus.
Aethalides, an Argonaut with unfailing memory, even after death.
Pan, in some sources, is a son of Hermes and the nymph Dryope. Apparently, when he was born, his goat-ish features frightened his mom so much she ran away. And his thought that his ugliness was funny, and took him up to Olympus for all the gods to laugh at. Great parenting skills, Hermes.
Myrtilus, the charioteer for King Oenamaus (see Pelops) and reputedly the swiftest in the land.
Abderus, friend of Heracles who was eaten by the Mares Of Diomedes
Eleusis, father of Triptolemus, who was taught farming by Demeter; and Demophon, who was almost made immortal by Demeter.
Autolycus, the Prince of Thieves (which makes Hermes the King Of Thieves!) and grandfather of Odysseus.
Aethalides, an Argonaut with unfailing memory, even after death.
Pan, in some sources, is a son of Hermes and the nymph Dryope. Apparently, when he was born, his goat-ish features frightened his mom so much she ran away. And his thought that his ugliness was funny, and took him up to Olympus for all the gods to laugh at. Great parenting skills, Hermes.
Myrtilus, the charioteer for King Oenamaus (see Pelops) and reputedly the swiftest in the land.
Abderus, friend of Heracles who was eaten by the Mares Of Diomedes
Eleusis, father of Triptolemus, who was taught farming by Demeter; and Demophon, who was almost made immortal by Demeter.
Hermes' Birth
Maia, Hermes' mom, was the oldest of the seven Pleaides (and most beautiful, apparently). Zeus had visited her in the middle of the night (so Hera wouldn't find out), and, surprisingly, she gave birth to Hermes the next morning in a cave on Mount Cyllene (also so that Hera wouldn't find out). Messed up right? Well, a lot of stuff is messed up in myths, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Anyways, Hermes and his mom weren't actually punished by Hera like most other illegitimate kids of Zeus. See why in Ares, a.k.a. Hermes. Then, she put Hermes into his cradle and went to sleep. After she had fallen asleep, the rapidly-growing Hermes crawled away to Thessaly to...
DUN DUN DUN! <Dramatic Music plays> STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO (which is right under this one and called Apollo's Cattle)!
DUN DUN DUN! <Dramatic Music plays> STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO (which is right under this one and called Apollo's Cattle)!
Apollo's Cattle
After Hermes' Birth (see above), he crawled out of his cradle and out of his cave, to Thessaly, where his older half-brother Apollo kept his sacred cows (sacred cows seem to be very popular... Helios has some, Geryon had some, now Apollo has some). He decided to steal fifty of them! How wise, stealing from the god of truth and light. Well, he was only born today, so cut him some slack. Anyway, being the god of thieves and cleverness, he made the cows wear branch-shoe thingies (sort of like snowshoes, without the snow) and made them walk backwards by blipping them on the nose, so they covered up their own tracks. Not sure how this works, but he has his ways. THen Hermes returned to the cave (his mom was still asleep) and tucked himself back intoHe would've gotten away with the theft too, if not for a tattletale mortal, who saw Hermes with the cows, and told Apollo. Apollo, at once, went to the cave (how did he find it?!) and demanded Hermes return the cattle. Hermes, of course, acted all innocent and baby-ish, and his mother Maia was incredulous (you'd be, too: "I'm supposed to believe a day-old baby stole fifty cows?!")
Inventions Of Hermes
Hermes was the cleverest and quickest of the gods, and he was also a gifted inventor (has to keep his mind moving!). Here are some of the things that he apparently invented:
- The alphabet
- Numbers
- Boxing
- Foot-Racing (the first ever competition in the ancient Olympic Games
- Gymnastics
- The lyre (which he gave to Apollo - see Apollo's Cattle, above)
- The flute
- Possibly the panpipe
- Dice
Stentor
Stentor was a herald for the Greek Army during the Trojan War. He's a seriously minor character. Stentor only appears for an incredibly brief amount of time in the Trojan War. His one great strength (sometimes weakness) was his VERY loud voice. Homer wrote that he had "the voices of 50 men". Whoa. However, he died after losing a shouting match against Hermes (moral: never try to beat a god. See Arachne and Athena. Or Apollo and Marsyas. Or... I think that's it). But good old Hermes didn't actually do anything to Stentor (unlike the two examples I gave above). I think Stentor just died of a really sore throat or something.