Hermes

Origin

The iconographic origin is the Bronze Age Mycenaean civilisation (c. 1600-1100 BCE) Mycenaean Linear B clay tablet inscription 'e-ma-a' (Hermes) — the decisive origin canon, and the decisive textual canon is the Homeric Hymns (Homeric Hymns) No. 4 — Hymn to Hermes (Hymn to Hermes) 580 lines of c. 7th-6th century BCE — the decisive canon in which Hermes, born in a cave on Mount Cyllene (Kyllene) in the Peloponnese as the son of Zeus (Zeus) and Maia (Maia), eldest of the seven Pleiades (Pleiades) sisters — on the day of his birth — invented the lyre (lyra) from a tortoise (chelys) shell — and reversely stole the sacred 50 cattle of his elder brother Apollo (Apollo) leaving the footprints in reverse — and after being discovered, reconciled by giving the lyre to Apollo. The Theogony (Theogony) lines 938-939 of Hesiod (Hesiod) of c. 8th-7th century BCE — the decisive canon of Hermes's birth as the son of Zeus and Maia — and the Iliad (Iliad) Book 24 lines 339-468 of Homer (Homer) of c. 8th century BCE — the decisive canon in which Hermes guides the Trojan king Priam (Priam) to the camp of Achilles (Achilles) — and the Odyssey (Odyssey) Book 5 lines 43-148 — the decisive canon in which Hermes delivers Zeus's message to Calypso (Calypso).

Features

• Young clever beautiful boy and youth god
• Winged hat Petasos (petasos) and winged sandals Talaria (talaria)
• Caduceus (kerykeion) staff with two intertwined snakes
• Symbols of the twin lamb and tortoise
• Born in a cave on Mount Cyllene
• Psychopompos (soul guide)

Stories

The Bronze Age Mycenaean 'e-ma-a' (Hermes) inscription is the decisive origin, and the decisive textual canon is the Homeric Hymns No. 4 Hymn to Hermes 580 lines of c. 7th-6th century BCE, Hesiod Theogony lines 938-939 of c. 8th-7th century BCE, and Homer Iliad Book 24 lines 339-468, Odyssey Book 5, and Book 24 lines 1-14 (Psychopompos — guiding the souls of the suitors to the underworld) of c. 8th century BCE. The Herma (Herma) — stone pillars with the face of Hermes carved — of Greece of c. 5th-3rd century BCE is the decisive religious canon of the Greek polis, and the marble statue Hermes and the Infant Dionysus (Hermes and the Infant Dionysus) — c. 2.13m, excavated at the Heraion of Olympia in 1877 — by the Greek sculptor Praxiteles (Praxiteles) of c. 340 BCE is the decisive art canon. The Metamorphoses (Metamorphoses) Book 1 lines 668-721 of Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) of c. 1st century CE — the decisive canon of the Argos (Argos) killing — and the Corpus Hermeticum (Corpus Hermeticum) of Hermes Trismegistus (Hermes Trismegistus) of the 2nd-3rd century Greco-Egyptian fusion — is the decisive religious canon. The Hermes (Hermes) of the 1980 D&D Deities & Demigods (Deities & Demigods) by TSR in the USA and the decisive 21st-century canon — the Hermes of Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (The Lightning Thief) of Rick Riordan published in the USA on 28 June 2005 — is the 21st-century decisive young-adult novel canon, and the sequel The Heroes of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus) published in the USA in August 2010 is the decisive canon.

Weakness

Hermes's weaknesses are: (1) mischief and trickster nature — the decisive canonical weakness in the c. 7th-6th-century-BCE Homeric Hymns No. 4 Hymn to Hermes canon — on the day of his birth, the decisive canon of reversely stealing Apollo's cattle — that drops trust — the decisive canon; (2) non-absolute authority — like other Olympian gods, the authority is not absolute and Hermes is treated as an errand-runner by various gods — the decisive canon; (3) Zeus's command — as messenger of Zeus, must follow command — the decisive canon; (4) elder brother Apollo — authority — the decisive canon; (5) thief nature — the unofficial canon weakness of being thieves and gamblers; (6) binding of borders — the binding of the decisive canon of Herma (stone pillars); (7) binding of soul guidance — the duty of Psychopompos (soul guide) with the dead — the decisive canon; (8) binding of the sacred domain — the decisive canon. The decisive canonical finale is the decisive mythological canon of the c. 7th-6th-century-BCE Homeric Hymns No. 4 Hymn to Hermes — Hermes reconciles by giving the lyre to Apollo — and the decisive canon in which Hermes receives the Caduceus (kerykeion) — staff with two intertwined snakes.

Cultural Significance

Hermes is not merely a messenger icon but the canonical iconographic figure of the decisive Greek-Roman-Hermetic canon, traversing the Bronze Age Mycenaean 'e-ma-a' inscription, the c. 8th-7th-century-BCE Hesiod Theogony, the c. 8th-century-BCE Homer Iliad and Odyssey, the c. 7th-6th-century-BCE Homeric Hymns No. 4 Hymn to Hermes, the c. 5th-3rd-century-BCE Herma (stone pillars), the c. 340 BCE Praxiteles Hermes and the Infant Dionysus, the c. 1st-century-CE Ovid Metamorphoses, and the 2nd-3rd-century Hermes Trismegistus and Corpus Hermeticum. The Bronze Age Mycenaean civilisation (c. 1600-1100 BCE) Mycenaean Linear B clay tablet inscription 'e-ma-a' (Hermes) is the decisive origin, and the decisive textual canon is the Homeric Hymns (Homeric Hymns) No. 4 Hymn to Hermes 580 lines of c. 7th-6th century BCE — the decisive canon in which Hermes, born in a cave on Mount Cyllene in the Peloponnese as the son of Zeus and Maia, eldest of the Pleiades — on the day of his birth — invents the lyre from a tortoise shell, steals the sacred 50 cattle of Apollo, and after being discovered, reconciles by giving the lyre to Apollo. The Odyssey (Odyssey) Book 24 lines 1-14 of Homer of c. 8th century BCE — the decisive canon in which Hermes, as Psychopompos (soul guide), leads the souls of the suitors to the underworld — and the Corpus Hermeticum (Corpus Hermeticum) of Hermes Trismegistus (Hermes Trismegistus) of the 2nd-3rd-century Greco-Egyptian fusion — 18 Greek texts — is the decisive religious and philosophical canon of Hermeticism. The Hermes of the 1980 D&D Deities & Demigods by TSR in the USA is the decisive fantasy RPG canon, and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief of Rick Riordan published in the USA on 28 June 2005 and the 2010 film Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (directed by Chris Columbus) are the decisive global canon.

In Popular Culture

Mycenaean Linear B 'e-ma-a' (Bronze Age) — decisive origin canonHesiod Theogony lines 938-939 (c. 8th-7th century BCE) — decisive birth canonHomer Iliad Book 24 lines 339-468 and Odyssey Books 5 and 24 (c. 8th century BCE) — decisive heroic-epic canonHomeric Hymns No. 4 Hymn to Hermes (c. 7th-6th century BCE) — decisive birth, lyre, and cattle-theft canonPraxiteles Hermes and the Infant Dionysus (c. 340 BCE) — decisive art canonOvid Metamorphoses Book 1 Argos killing (c. 1st century CE) — decisive Latin canonHermes Trismegistus Corpus Hermeticum (2nd-3rd centuries) — decisive Hermeticism canonTSR D&D Deities & Demigods, Hermes (1980) — decisive fantasy RPG canonRick Riordan Percy Jackson & the Olympians (2005-2024) — 21st-century decisive young-adult novel and film canon