Hermes

Son of Zeus and Maia, herald of the gods, guide of souls and trickster.

Parentage

• father: ZeusHesiod, Theogony 938–939 (primary)
• mother: MaiaHesiod, Theogony 938–939 (primary)

Children

• Autolycus
• Pan

Domains

• heralds and travel
• boundaries and trade

Powers

• Conducts the souls of the dead to the underworld
• Lulls or wakes mortals with a touch of his wand
• Carries the decrees of Zeus to gods and men

Epithets

• Ἀργειφόντης greek · Argeiphontes · HomericSlayer of Argos (the hundred-eyed); standard Homeric epithetHom. Il. 2.103; Od. 1.38; Hes. Theog. 68 (primary)
• Ψυχοπομπός greek · Psychopompos · cultGuide of souls; conductor of the dead to the underworldDiod. Sic. 1.96; cf. Hom. Od. 24.1-10 (Hermes leading the suitors' souls) (primary)
• Διάκτορος greek · Diaktoros · HomericThe messenger / guide (or 'runner'); recurrent Homeric epithetHom. Il. 2.103; Od. 5.43 (διάκτορος Ἀργειφόντης) (primary)
• ἐριούνιος greek · eriounios · HomericBringer of luck / the ready helper; Homeric epithetHom. Il. 20.34; 24.360 (primary)
• Ἀγοραῖος greek · Agoraios · cultOf the marketplace; patron of commerce, trade and public assemblyPaus. 1.15.1; 2.9.8; Aristoph. Knights 297 (primary)
• Λόγιος greek · Logios · literaryOf speech / eloquence; god of language and persuasionLucian, Hermes Logios (Heracles 1-7) (primary)
• χρυσόρραπις greek · khrysórrhapis · literaryOf the golden wand (the kerykeion)Homer, Odyssey 5.87; Homeric Hymn to Demeter (2) 335 (primary)
• ἐύσκοπος greek · eúskopos · literaryThe keen-sighted; sharp-eyed watcherHomer, Iliad 24.24; Odyssey 1.38 (primary)
• Κριοφόρος greek · Kriophóros · cultRam-bearer; who carried a ram round Tanagra to avert plaguePausanias 9.22.1 (primary)

Relations

• sibling: HebeFull sibling; shares the same complete attested parentage.
• sibling: AresFull sibling; shares the same complete attested parentage.
• sibling: ApolloFull sibling; shares the same complete attested parentage.
• sibling: AeacusFull sibling; shares the same complete attested parentage.
• sibling: AthenaFull sibling; shares the same complete attested parentage.
• sibling: DionysusFull sibling; shares the same complete attested parentage.
• sibling: ArtemisFull sibling; shares the same complete attested parentage.
• interpretatio: ThothStandard equation, later flowering as Hermes Trismegistus. Preserves the inventor-of-writing, messenger-mediator role; breaks on Thoth's lunar reckoning and judgment-hall gravity vs Hermes' trickery.Cicero, De natura deorum 3.56 (primary); Plato, Phaedrus 274c-d (Theuth as inventor of letters) (primary)
• syncretism: AnubisDocumented fusion-deity Hermanubis: Hermes psychopompos merged with the jackal embalmer-guide. Preserves the soul-guide function precisely; breaks on Anubis's funerary craft, alien to Hermes.Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride 61 (primary); Hermanubis dedications, Greco-Roman Egypt (secondary)
• interpretatio: Kadmilos, the Divine Attendant of the Great GodsAncient scholiasts identify Kasmilos/Kadmilos of the Samothracian Great Gods as Hermes. Preserves the attendant-herald function within the mysteries; the Samothracian figure has no general cult.Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.917 (Kasmilos identified as Hermes) (primary)
• father: ZeusHesiod, Theogony 938–939 (primary)
• mother: MaiaHesiod, Theogony 938–939 (primary)
• counterpart of: MercuriusLatin mythographic counterpart of the Greek record; identities and accounts remain distinct.Hyginus, Fabulae, Preface; Hesiod, Theogony 453–458, 912–939 (primary)
• counterpart of: HermesThe hymn addresses this deity in an Orphic ritual context; Greek genealogy is not imported.Orphic Hymns, 27 (Thomas Taylor numbering; modern hymn 28) (primary)
• ally: PerseusResolved an existing explicit counterpart identification to its registered record; no parentage inferred.Apollod. 2.4.2 (lends the harpe and winged sandals) (primary)
• lover: PolymeleResolved an existing explicit counterpart identification to its registered record; no parentage inferred.Hom. Il. 16.179-186 (primary)
• lover: Chione of PhocisResolved an existing explicit counterpart identification to its registered record; no parentage inferred.Pherecydes fr. 120; Apollod. 3.10.2; Ov. Met. 11.301-317 (primary)
• equated with: MercuriusResolved an existing explicit counterpart identification to its registered record; no parentage inferred.Standard interpretatio Graeca/Romana scholarship; Beard, North & Price, Religions of Rome (1998); Wissowa, Religion und Kultus der Römer (1912) (secondary)
• interpretatio: MercuriusResolved an existing explicit counterpart identification to its registered record; no parentage inferred.Cic. Nat. D. 3.56 (primary)
• equated with: TurmsResolved an existing explicit counterpart identification to its registered record; no parentage inferred.Standard interpretatio Graeca/Romana scholarship; Beard, North & Price, Religions of Rome (1998); Wissowa, Religion und Kultus der Römer (1912) (secondary)
• interpretatio: TurmsResolved an existing explicit counterpart identification to its registered record; no parentage inferred.Bonfante 1986 (primary)

Sources

• existence: Hesiod, Theogony 938-939 (primary)