HW6 / Lecture7 --- Hermes the Trickster God

Pt1: Hermes character and responsibilities

Who is Hermes the son of?

Zeus and Maia

Pt2: Hermes character and responsibilities

Who is Maia?

Maia is a nymph (young and divine)

Daughter of Atlas

Shy and an outsider (does not live with her sisters, lives on her own)

Pt3: Hermes character and responsibilities

Where does Maia live? What happens to her?

She lives in a cave in Arcadia

Zeus finds her and have her one and only child, Hermes

Pt4: Hermes character and responsibilities

Hermes is a ____ god. Why? Who is another example of this?

“Trickster” god

• boundary-crossing (boundaries that gods don’t cross, such as Hemes being nice to humans)

• rebellious

• shape-shifting —> can turn from a baby into a mist

• another example is Prometheus

Pt1: Hermes and Prometheus

What are their similarities and differences? How about connection?

Similarities:

• both tricksters

Differences:

• Hermes really wants attention from Zeus because he wants a sense of belonging with the gods

Connection:

• If Hermes’ grandfather is Atlas (Atlas is Prometheus’ brother), Prometheus is his great uncle

Pt1: Hermes characteristics

What is his characteristics?

• quick wit —> humorous and quick on his feet

• ‘friendly to humans’ —> Zeus eventually gives him the job to go down to the mortals

• speed —> speed of mind and his speed to fly from Olympus to Earth

Pt1: Herme Responsibilities

What are his responsibilities?

• messenger/speaks for Zeus to the humans

• exchange/theft (Hermes is a god of theft, ex: Hermes got Apollo’s previous job which is the guardian of animals, and Apollo got Hermes’ job after getting his lyre of being the god of music)

• travellers —> Hermes is a protector of traveler

• psychopompos —> guardian in a particular travel, psychopompos which is leading the souls to death

• flocls and herds —> god of animals

Pt1: The Tortoise and the lyre

What was the Hymn to Hermes like?

• “favor exchange” —> prayer ended with the word Chaire. This means be happy because I did a favor for you and you did one for me, so lets both be happy

• individuality —> matches Hermes’ humorous and playful personality

Pt2: The Tortoise and the lyre

Hermes and the tortoise. What happens? What type of myth is this?

• Hermes has just been born, and as a psychotic baby, the first thing he does is crawl out of his home and kills a tortoise

• He uses the tortoise to make a lyre

• This is an aetiological myth because it explains where a lyre comes from

Pt3: The Tortoise and the lyre

How is exchange symbolized here?

He exchanged a tortoise for a musical instrument

Before he killed it, he already saw it as a symbolon. A symbolon is a gift you give to other gods. It turned into a symbol or a sign

Pt1: The theft of Apollos’s cattle

What is the story?

• Hermes not satisfied with just killing the tortoise

• He steals Apollo’s cattle with a trick: he makes the cattle walk backwards so Apollo will be confused with which way the cattle moved

• Return to Maia’s cave by turning into a mist to fit into the keyhole

• Apollo confronts Maia

• Maia confronts Hermes

Pt2: The theft of Apollos’s cattle

What happens when Apollo confronts Hermes?

• Apollo goes to the cave to confront Hermes

• Hermes responds that he is crazy and he is just a little baby

• Apollo takes Hermes in trial on Olympus where Zeus is the judicator

Pt3: The theft of Apollos’s cattle

What does Zeus make them do?

• Zeus knows what happened and told Hermes to bring Apollo to the hiding place and give the cattle back

Pt4: The theft of Apollos’s cattle

What is the reconciliation and exchange?

• At first, Apollo was a god of flocks and herd, and Hermes made the lyre

• To reconcile, they exchanged roles. Apollo became the god of music, and Hermes became the god of flocks and herds. Hermes got an additional task from Zeus to be the messenger

Pt5: The theft of Apollos’s cattle

What are the themes? Is this disruption or change? Is this order or rebellion?

• a new Olympian (at the end of the story, Hermes is included among the Olympians)

• In the Hymn, Hermes made fire from sticks and people were scared he was going to be like Prometheus

• In the end, Hermes was so glad to be included that he did not rebel against Zeus like Prometheus did —> order, not rebellion

Pt1: From Hermes to Mercury

What are Romans’ perspective of time?

They had late developments, at least 500 years later

Romans say they are late, but they existed a long time ago (it is because they saw the Greeks and Babylons and believed the Romans are at the end of time)

Pt2: From Hermes to Mercury

What is their “creative transformation'“?

Romans took from a lot of other cultures’ gods and equalized them to their own gods

Pt3: From Hermes to Mercury

What is the cultural blend?

Since they took from many other cultures, Mercury has a whole different personality from Hermes

Pt4: From Hermes to Mercury

How is Mercury like?

• god of business and commerce (associated with the word, merchandise)

• peace

• not associated with

  • theft

  • flocks

  • trickster

Pt5: From Hermes to Mercury

How is Maia like in Rome?

• Maia in Latin means ‘more’ —> goddess of more —> can pray to her to give more crops, etc. —> in honor, the fifth month is named after her (now called May)

Pt6: From Hermes to Mercury

NEVER ___ = ____

NEVER Greek god = Roman god

Pt7: From Hermes to Mercury

What is the biggest differences?

• Theft to commerce

• Maia goes from margin to center

• overlaps but differences