Hermes (Trickster God)
godThe quicksilver god who guides souls to the Underworld, protects travellers, and invented lying on the day he was born.
The Myth
Hermes was born in a cave on Mount Cyllene at dawn, and by noon he had invented the lyre from a tortoise shell and stolen Apollo's sacred cattle. When confronted, the day-old god lied to Apollo and even to Zeus with such charm that both were more amused than angry. Zeus appointed him the gods' messenger, psychopomp (guide of the dead), and patron of boundaries, travellers, merchants, and thieves. His attributes — winged sandals, the caduceus staff, and the petasos hat — made him the most recognisable god in Greek art. Hermes appears in more myths than almost any other god, always as a helper and facilitator: he gives Perseus the adamantine harpe and the sandals of flight, leads Priam safely through the Greek camp to ransom Hector, guides Odysseus to the moly herb that protects against Circe, and escorts Persephone back from the Underworld. He fathered Pan with a nymph, and Hermaphroditus with Aphrodite. Herms — stone pillars with his head — stood at every crossroads in Greece.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
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Hermaphroditus
godSon of Hermes and Aphrodite who was fused with the nymph Salmacis into a single being of both sexes.
Hermes
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Hermes Psychopompos
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Pan
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