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I didn't do it...

I'm the good kid

Created on 2007-08-20 21:33:11 (#13640517), last updated 2009-11-11

473 comments received, 5,605 comments posted

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113 Journal Entries, 27 Tags, 123 Memories, <10 ScrapBook Files, 2 Virtual Gifts, 98 Userpics

Basic Info

Name:	Hermes
Website:	God Checker

Bio

HERMES

BASIC INFORMATION

[Name:] Hermes, Greek Messenger et al.
[Age:] Immortal
[Birthday:] During the rise of Mercury, in the Late Summer, Early Fall.
[Pantheon:] Greek/Roman
[Sexual Orientation:] He is a little of everything.
[Family:]Zeus, father; Maia, mother; Ares, Apollo, Dionysus, Hercules, brothers; Athena, Artemis, Persephone, sisters.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Hermes stands about 5 feet nine inches. He has a slender build, like a long distance runner. His hair is a curly blonde, which adds to his whole childish sort of appearance. He usually appears between the ages of 12 and 20.

PERSONALITY

Hermes is a classic trickster. He finds non-funny things funny and has a hard time taking anything seriously.

HISTORY

Hermes, in Greek mythology, is the Olympian god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures, of invention, of commerce in general, and of the cunning of thieves and liars. The Homeric hymn to Hermes invokes him as the one "of many shifts (polutropos), blandly cunning, a robber, a cattle driver, a bringer of dreams, a watcher by night, a thief at the gates, one who was soon to show forth wonderful deeds among the deathless gods."

As a translator, Hermes is a messenger from the gods to humans, sharing this with Iris. An interpreter who bridges the boundaries with strangers is a hermeneus. Hermes gives us our word "hermeneutics" for the art of interpreting hidden meaning. In Greek a lucky find was a hermaion.

Hermes, as an inventor of fire, is a parallel of the Titan, Prometheus. In addition to the syrinx and the lyre, Hermes was believed to have invented many types of racing and the sport of boxing, and therefore was a patron of athletes. Modern mythographers have connected Hermes with the trickster gods of other cultures.

Hermes also served as a psychopomp, or an escort for the dead to help them find their way to the afterlife (the Underworld in the Greek myths). In many Greek myths, Hermes was depicted as the only god besides Hades and Persephone who could enter and leave the Underworld without hindrance.

In the fully-developed Olympian pantheon, Hermes was the son of Zeus and the Pleiade Maia, a daughter of the Titan Atlas. Hermes' symbols were the rooster and the tortoise, and he can be recognized by his purse or pouch, winged sandals, winged cap, and the herald's staff, the kerykeion. Hermes was the god of thieves because he was very cunning and shrewd and was a thief himself from the night he was born, when he slipped away from Maia and ran away to steal his elder brother Apollo's cattle.

Hermes was loyal to his father Zeus. When the nymph Io, one of Zeus' consorts, was trapped by Hera and guarded over by the many-eyed giant Argus Panoptes, Hermes saved her by lulling the giant to sleep with stories and then decapitating him with a crescent-shaped sword.

In the Roman adaptation of the Greek religion, Hermes was identified with the Roman god Mercury, who, though inherited from the Etruscans, developed many similar characteristics, such as being the patron of commerce.

EPITHETS

Argeiphontes

Hermes' epithet Argeiphontes, or Argus-slayer, recalls his slaying of the many-eyed giant Argus Panoptes, who was watching over the heifer-nymph Io in the sanctuary of Queen Hera herself in Argos. Putting Argus to sleep, Hermes used a spell to permanently close all of Argus's eyes and then slew the giant. Argus's eyes were then put into the tail of the peacock, symbol of the goddess Hera.

Logios

His epithet of Logios is the representation of the god in the act of speaking, as orator, or as the god of eloquence. Indeed, together with Athena, he was the standard divine representation of eloquence in classical Greece. The Homeric Hymn to Hermes (probably 6th century BC) describes Hermes making a successful speech from the cradle to defend himself from the (true) charge of cattle theft. Somewhat later, Proclus' commentary on Plato's Republic describes Hermes as the god of persuasion. Yet later, Neoplatonists viewed Hermes Logios more mystically as origin of a "Hermaic chain" of light and radiance emanating from the divine intellect (nous). This epithet also produced a sculptural type.

Other epithets included:

Agoraios, of the agora | Acacesius, of Acacus | Charidotes, giver of charm | Criophorus, ram-bearer | Cyllenius, born on Mount Cyllene | Diaktoros, the messenger | Dolios, the schemer | Enagonios, of the (Olympic) games | Enodios, on the road | Epimelius, keeper of flocks | Eriounios, luck bringer | Polygius | Psychopompos, conveyor of souls

DOMAIN

Animal Husbandry, Roads and Travel (and Hospitality), Heralds, Trade and Merchants, Thieves and Trickery, Language and Writing, Persuasion and Craftiness, Athletic Contests and Gymnasiums, Inventor of Rustic Tools and Arts, Bird Omens, Feast and Banquets, Protector of the Home, Guard Dogs, Guide of the Dead, Astronomy and the Calendar, Divinitation by Pebbles, and Dreams of Omens.

OUT OF CHARACTER

[PB:] Currently...varies

The icons in this journal aren't all mine, they were made by talented people I don't remember the names of. If you spot any that belong to you, tell me and I'll credit you.

[Disclaimer:] Hermes is a creation of my own mind, and Mythology, Alex Pettyfer, however, does belong to himself. The entries posted here, or any RP done here is of my own creative interest. Do not steal/copy/reproduce please. There may also be sexual situations, so please no minors.

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