God Hermes: Interesting Facts

God Hermes in Greek mythology is considered a messenger of the gods. He is called the patron of travelers and the conductor of the souls of the dead. Hermes' father is Zeus, and his mother is a beautiful nymph of the Maya Mountains. They depict Hermes usually in the form of a young man who wears a hat (the edges of his hat are bent), in golden sandals ( winged sandals ) and with a golden rod (the wand is magical, it is a gift from Apollo, it is decorated with two snakes).

It is believed that the divine will appears most often in a dream, so Hermes, with the help of his magic wand sent prophetic dreams to people.

God Hermes is the mediator between the world of the dead and the world of the living. He possesses resourcefulness and dexterity, and also has the gift to open unnoticed any bonds. These qualities allow Hermes to be the patron of thieves and rogues, for it is not without reason that the crafty Moses was his grandson.

In addition, it is believed that Hermes invented a very interesting musical instrument - lyre. He was a joker, a jolly fellow, who liked rallies. It was for the sake of a joke that he stole the scepter from Zeus, the golden arrows with the bow of Apollo and the trident at Poseidon. It is worth noting that he used them only when it came to something noble. Hermes will surpass anyone by cunning, craftiness and ingenuity, it's not for nothing that his thieves and sharers regard him as their patron.

As for people, they valued Hermes for giving them weight and length measures that were invented by Centaur Chiron. He gave them numbers and alphabet, and also taught him to read and write. Hermes was honored as the patron of young athletes.

In honor of it, even stadiums were built, which were intended for various competitions of athletes, as well as schools where gymnastics was practiced. These schools were decorated with sculptures of Hermes.

The myth of how thanks to Hermes the love of Io and Zeus took place is interesting. Io was the lover of Zeus. The fact is that Zeus was very afraid of Hera's anger, so he turned Io into a white calf, but Hera guessed his cunning plan and asked this calf for herself as a gift. She put a giant guard of Argos on Io, his body was covered with eyes, and at the same time only two eyes were sleeping, respectively, he watched constantly. So God Hermes was able to outwit Argos and kill him, thereby freeing Io. The liberated woman wandered about Egypt, Asia, Greece, she was pursued by the gadfly that Hera sent. Only in Egypt, Io was able to regain her appearance, gave birth to the son of Epaph, who later became the ancestor of many heroes, such as Amphitron, Perseus, Hercules and others. When Io wandered and got to the Caucasus, she met Prometheus there, who foretold a great future that awaits the descendants of Io and Zeus.

Hermes - the god of what? In the time of the so-called classical mythology, its role is understood differently. He is already the patron of not thieves, but heroes. Hermes gives Perseus a sword, with which he kills Medusa Gorgon. Hermes reveals to Odysseus the secret of the magic grass, with which she escaped from the charms of Kirk. He guards during the wanderings of heroes.

God Hermes was in honor and at the feast of the memory of the dead and the awakening of spring, this feast was called An Antery. In gratitude, Zeus gave him a constellation, which is called Lira. Hermes is a god who, in Roman mythology, corresponds to the god Mercury, who is the patron of trade and various crafts.