Hermes (Mercury)

Hermes (Mercury)

by Ignazio Caloggero

Sarpedon carried by Hypnos and Thanatos observed by Hermes. Side A of the so-called Euphronios krater , ca. 515 BC (Wikipedia)

Reference page: Repertory of Cults and Myths

Origins of the Myth

Hermes, identified by the Romans with Mercury, was considered the son of Zeus and Maia. He was often seen as the interpreter of the divine will, but above all he was the protector of commerce and theft. As soon as he was born, he himself had been the author of a skilled theft against his brother Apollo. Born in a cave on Mount Cilene, south of Arcadia, he managed to free himself from the bandages that wrapped him up and went to Thessaly, where his brother Apollo was found who was a cowherd. Taking advantage of his brother's momentary absence, he stole part of his animals and brought them across Greece to Pylos, where he sacrificed two oxen. Hiding the rest of the animals, he returned to the cave where he was born. At the entrance to the cave he found a turtle, took it, emptied it and, with the intestines of the sacrificed oxen, built the lyre. An old man named Batto had witnessed his dexterity who told everything to Apollo, who went to Mount Cilene to complain to Maia about the robberies of his son. Maia then showed Apollo her brother in swaddling clothes and asked him how she could accuse such a small child of such feats. At this point Apollo asked for the intervention of Zeus who, knowing the truth, ordered the child to return the animals. Apollo, meanwhile, had gotten to see the lyre and hear the sounds that Hermes had managed to make it emit. Falling in love with the instrument, he asked and obtained from Hermes to exchange it for his oxen.

Hermes were dedicated along the streets and on the crossroads to Hermes, rectangular pillars whose upper part was modeled with a bust representing him, often equipped with very showy virile organs. It is probable, in fact, that the column was originally a phallic symbol, but its purpose was to indicate the right way to travellers; and in fact, among the various tasks attributed to Hermes, there was also that of being the protector of travelers on the roads.

Hermes was often represented with a large hat, with winged sandals that made him faster than the wind and with the caduceus, symbol of his functions as divine herald.

Note: The caduceus was a mace or staff used by heralds and ambassadors in times of war. In mythology, it was a staff topped with two small wings, with two figures of intertwined serpents forming an arch with the upper part of the body. The caduceus later became the emblem of pharmacists.

According to Diodorus Siculus (lib. I.16), the alphabet was invented thanks to Hermes; moreover, he was the first to establish the discipline of wrestling and taught the Greeks the faculty of expressing their thoughts (hermenia) and it is for this reason that he was given the name of Hermes. Again according to Diodorus, it was Hermes, and not Athena, who discovered the olive tree.

In addition to the lyre, Hermes is also credited with inventing the syringe or pan flute.

The Myth in Sicily

In Sicily he is seen above all as the father of Daphnis and his cult is related to that of Demeter and Persephone [Ciaceri Emanuele: Culti e Miti dell'Antica Sicilia. p. 181].

There is little information regarding the cult of Hermes: it is mentioned in the centers of Akray, Agrigento, Palermo, Enna, Menai and Alunzio.

In Morgantina, the cult of Hermes was likely linked to that of Gaea and Pluto. The three deities were, in fact, venerated in the same sanctuary, the remains of which are still visible east of the ancient theater. The attribution of the three deities to the sanctuary is supported by the discovery of several lead plates bearing their names.

The cult of Hermes was also present in Syracuse , where the Hermes were celebrated in his honor , festivals during which competitions and wrestling matches between children took place. Hermes, in fact, was considered the guardian and protector of youth, and similar festivals were held in many Greek cities.

The existence of the cult in Tyndaris is reportedly attested by Cicero, who recounts that governor Verres stole a statue of Mercury from the city. After the conquest of Carthage, Scipio Publius donated a statue of Mercury to the town of Tyndaris, but Verres demanded that it be removed and returned to him; however, the city senate opposed this. After several attempts, Verres summoned Sopater, the president of the local senate, to Syracuse. When he refused to hand over the statue, Verres responded by stripping him naked and tying him to a statue in the public square. Only when the Tyndaris senate allowed the statue of Mercury to be removed did Verres free the poor Sopater, who had nearly died of exposure.

Religious syncretism

With the Christian religion, the cult of St. Julian, protector of travelers and pilgrims, seems to have taken the place of that of Hermes, the pagan god, protector of wayfarers. An ancient Sicilian proverb says:

yes you junciri sanu

Nun ti scurdari lu Patrinnostru in S. Giulianu.

(If you want to arrive healthy, don't forget the Paternostro di S. Giuliano).

The paternoster consists of a prayer addressed to S. Giuliano by those who are about to embark on a journey that may present dangers [Giuseppe Pitrè: Spettacoli e feste Popolare Siciliane. p. 310].

Integration for the Esoteric Atlas cards

Relationships with other wise and initiatory figures

Throughout the history of the ancient Mediterranean and the Near East, the figure of Hermes was progressively associated with other figures considered to be the custodians of superior wisdom, giving rise to a complex network of symbolic and cultural identifications.

Hermes and Thoth

The most important connection concerns the Egyptian god Thoth (Ḏḥwty), deity of writing, wisdom, calculation, the ordering word and sacred knowledge.

During the Hellenistic period, particularly in Ptolemaic Egypt, Greek authors progressively identified Thoth with Hermes on the basis of several common functions:

mediation between the divine and human worlds;
invention of writing;
transmission of knowledge;
function of messenger of the gods;
role of guiding souls.

This identification was not the result of a simple religious equivalence, but of a long process of cultural syncretism between Greek and Egyptian traditions.

Main sources

Plato, Phaedrus (274c–275b)
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, I, 16
Jan Assmann, Moses the Egyptian (1997)
Garth Fowden, The Egyptian Hermes (1986)

Hermes and Hermes Trismegistus

The identification between Hermes and Thoth led to the birth of the figure of Hermes Trismegistus (“thrice great”), considered the wisdom author of the Hermetic texts.

Hermes Trismegistus does not represent a simple transformation of the Greek Hermes, but a new cultural figure developed in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt.

It includes:

aspects of Hermes;
aspects of Thot;
elements of Greek philosophy;
Egyptian cosmological and religious concepts.

Hermes Trismegistus will become the master and revealer of the Hermetic Tradition.

Main sources

Corpus Hermeticum
Asclepius
Brian P. Copenhaver, Hermetic (1992)
Garth Fowden, The Egyptian Hermes (1986)

Hermes and Orpheus

In late antiquity and especially in the Renaissance, Hermes and Orpheus were frequently considered to belong to the same genealogy of primordial wisdom.

Both were perceived as:

revealers of sacred knowledge;
mediators between the human and divine worlds;
founders of wisdom traditions.

Ancient sources do not directly identify the two figures, but Neoplatonic and Renaissance authors often placed them within the same chain of ancient wise men.

Marsilio Ficino, for example, placed Orpheus and Hermes in the tradition of prisca theologia , that is, of ancient primordial theology.

Main sources

Marsilio Ficino, Argumentum in Pimandrum
Frances A. Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (1964)
Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Esotericism and the Academy (2012)

Hermes and Solomon

The association between Hermes and Solomon does not belong to the ancient Greek world, but developed in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Solomon was considered:

the wise man par excellence;
knower of the secrets of nature;
possessor of knowledge about spirits and invisible forces.

For this reason, medieval magical, alchemical and esoteric literature progressively brought him closer to the figures of Hermes and Orpheus.

In the tradition of prisca sapientia , Solomon was often considered one of the great custodians of ancient wisdom.

Main sources

Testament of Solomon
Frances A. Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (1964)
Antoine Faivre, Access to Western Esotericism (1994)

Hermes and Al-Khidr

In some medieval Islamic traditions and in later esoteric interpretations, parallels have been proposed between Hermes and Al-Khidr (“the Green One”), a mysterious figure mentioned in the Quran (Sura XVIII).

Both share some symbolic characteristics:

driving function;
transmission of non-ordinary knowledge;
role of master initiator;
relationship with travel and the passage between different levels of reality.

It should be noted, however, that there is no universally accepted identification between Hermes and Al-Khidr.

These are mainly symbolic convergences developed by authors belonging to esoteric and Islamic philosophical currents.

In some circles of medieval Islamic Hermeticism, Al-Khidr was sometimes considered the heir or continuator of the wisdom attributed to Hermes.

Main sources

Quran, XVIII, 60-82
Henry Corbin, L'Homme de lumière dans le soufisme iranien (1971)
Pierre Lory, Alchemy and mystique in the lands of Islam (1989)
Kevin van Bladel, The Arabic Hermes (2009)

Interpretative note

From the perspective of Cultural Esotericism, Hermes, Thoth, Hermes Trismegistus, Orpheus, Solomon, and Al-Khidr should not be considered manifestations of the same historical or religious figure. They belong to different traditions and distinct cultural contexts. However, over the centuries they have frequently been associated because they were perceived as archetypes of wisdom, of the mediation between the human and the divine, and of the transmission of knowledge considered profound, secret, or transformative. The relationships between these figures therefore constitute an important phenomenon of cultural history, of symbolic construction, and of the transmission of wisdom traditions.

Highlights