Hermes.
    One of the most complex of the Olympian deities, Hermes was the god of travelers, commerce, manual skill, eloquence, thieves, and the wind. He was the son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Maia, one of the Pleiades, and many of the traits by which he is known —— from his oratorical skills to his cunning and thievery —— are vividly illustrated in the summary of his early life, given in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. The hymn also highlights the similarities between him and his half-brother and rival Apollo: both are pastoral deities with interests in flocks, music, and fertility.
    Hermes’ most important role is that of divine messenger, usually for Zeus. In this guise, he wears a broad-brimmed hat (petasus) and sandals (talaria) and carries a caduceus (herald’s wand), which sometimes bears entwined snakes. In post-classical iconography, his headware is often winged. According to differing accounts, Hermes invented the caduceus or received it from Apollo in exchange for his lyre or a shepherd’s pipe, both of which he also invented. As the divine messenger he guides souls to the Underworld (with the epithet “psychopomp(os)”) and serves as emissary from the gods to mortals. He led the goddesses Athena (Minerva), Hera (Juno), and Aphrodite (Venus) to the Judgment of Paris, escorted Pandora to earth and Psyche to Olympus, helped Odysseus (Ulysses) on the islands of Calypso and Circe, commanded Aeneas to forsake Dido, and accompanied Zeus on his visit to Baucis and Philemon, among many other duties. He is also known as leader of the Graces.
    Hermes united with Aphrodite, who bore him the child Hermaphroditus, and with Herse, daughter of King Cecrops of Athens, who bore him Cephalus (sometimes confused with the huntsman loved by Eos). He is generally thought to be the father of Pan and of the Argonauts Autolycus (with Chione) and Eurytus. As a fertility god, he was often represented in antiquity by stone pillars with protruding phalluses (herms).
    Hermes may be among the earliest of the Greek gods; his name appears on a Linear B tablet from Pylos and his cult center was in the Peloponnesian province of Arcadia. He seems to have been absorbed directly into the Roman pantheon as Mercury (or Mercurius); no Italianate or pre-Roman cult to such a god has been discovered. His main function in the Roman context is as a god of commerce, and a festival of merchants was celebrated on 15 May at his temple on the Aventine.
    
Further Reference: Brown, Norman Oliver. 1947. Hermes the Thief: the evolution of a myth. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.


Hermes listings are arranged also under:
Infancy


See also:
Aeneas and Dido; Amphitryon; Baucis and Philemon; Creusa; Dionysus Infancy; Eros Education; Gods and Goddesses; Graces; Herse and Aglauros; Io; Odysseus and Circe; Odysseus and Calypso; Pandora; Paris Judgment; Persephone; Perseus and Medusa; Prometheus Bound; Psyche; Zeus