Hermes, Harold of the Gods

If you know anything about Greek Mythology you know who Hermes is, a messenger, guide, and most of all a thief. He represents a sort of leniency in the Gods of old Greek Mythology. Whilst the other Gods are strict, and stubborn, Hermes is coy, mischievous and a child at heart, he is the protector of all those who push the boundaries of unacceptable behavior, the majority of high school students included. But, most of these things are common knowledge. There is so much more to the herald of the Gods than we give him credit for.

Hermes was born of the God, Zeus and the Pleiade, Maia. Within days of his birth, even though he was still a babe, he had already mentally matured in a full-grown man. It took him a matter of days to reach the mentality of his adult form, which would explain his mischievous and light-hearted mentality. That’s a small part of how he became a God. You see, when Hermes was a baby he lived in a cave with his mother Maia away for fear of immortal prying eyes.

One day, Hermes once snuck out of his cradle to Pieria, in Northern Greece in search of meat. On his adventurous journey he wandered upon his half brother, Apollo’s cattle grazing in the pastures. Upon impulse he stole the cattle, seeing as only another God’s cattle would satisfy the tricky immortal, guiding them towards his desired destination…backwards. He lead the cattle backwards so as not to make it seem like a thief had led the herd away (What a cunning and a deliberately deceiving technique. Although in another version, Hermes binds the cattle’s feet in the same grass as the pasture and simply leads them away. But, this one is more commonly known). When Apollo returned to the pasture, only to find them missing he was infuriated and searched all ar...

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...ny things are modeled after Hermes. For example, the chemical, Mercury, which also happens to be Hermes’ Roman name. They have a funny saying that goes with it “Dabbling with Mercury can lead you to the Underworld”, because Hermes is the guide to the Underworld and Mercury is a dangerous chemical. He also seen on the corner of some newspapers, and let’s not forget his golden staff, or more commonly known as the Caduceus. The Caduceus is a staff with wings and two serpents surrounding it; they are most commonly seen on ambulances. His children are very much an impact on modern culture too, like Pan and the disease of Panic, and his child Hermaphroditis, whom is the first hermaphrodite.

Hermes is what people would a childish God, but he’s, in reality, a sensible God of culture and coy intelligence. He’s the medium and peacemaker of every side and a spectacular God.