Hermes
The quicksilver god who guides souls to the Underworld, protects travellers, and invented lying on the day he was born.
The Myth of Hermes
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. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Hermes
⚡ godMessenger of the gods, commerce, thieves, travelers, boundaries
The swift messenger of the gods and guide of souls to the underworld. Hermes was the cleverest of the Olympians, patron of merchants and thieves alike.
Hermes
⚡ godGod of travellers, thieves, and communication
Hermes was the messenger god, guide of souls, patron of travellers and thieves — the most versatile and likeable Olympian, born cunning.
Birth of Hermes
💭 conceptNarrative
The precocious god who invented the lyre and stole Apollo's cattle on the very day he was born
Apollo
⚡ godGod of light, music, prophecy, and plague
Apollo was the most complex Olympian — god of light, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, plague, and rational thought, the divine embodiment of Greek civilisation.
Hades
⚡ godKing of the dead
The ruler of the Underworld who received the dead, guarded by Cerberus and feared so deeply that Greeks avoided speaking his name.
Apollo
⚡ godGod of prophecy, music, and plague
The radiant god of light, prophecy, music, healing, and plague — the most complex deity in the Greek pantheon.
God of Messengers
💭 conceptMessages, travel, boundaries, commerce, thieves
Hermes serves as divine messenger and psychopomp, escorting both words and souls between worlds.
Hephaestus
⚡ godGod of the forge and craftsmanship
The lame god of metalwork and fire who crafted the weapons of the gods and the most wondrous automatons in mythology.
Zeus
⚡ godKing of gods and men
Zeus was the king of the Olympian gods, ruler of the sky, wielder of the thunderbolt — the supreme deity whose authority held the divine and mortal orders together.
Apollo
⚡ godGod of the sun, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, archery
God of light, music, poetry, and prophecy. Apollo embodied the Greek ideal of youthful masculine beauty and was patron of the Oracle at Delphi.
Autolycus
🗡 herotheft, cunning
The master thief and shapeshifter, grandfather of Odysseus, whose gift for deception was inherited by the most cunning hero in Greek mythology.
Pluto
⚡ godUnderworld, death, riches
Roman god of the underworld and mineral wealth, derived from the Greek Plouton, a euphemistic title of Hades