March 3rd and 5th: Hermes and Hestia

Chapter 7 – Hermes and Hestia

I. What Distinguishes Greek Gods?

  • Walter F. Otto argues that Greek gods are anthropomorphic but not shaped by circumstances like humans.

  • They are perfect, whole, and unchanging.

  • Each god has a defining essence (“majestic singularity”).

  • Hermes’ “majestic singularity” (Otto) is joy and the ability to seize the kairos (the favorable moment).

  • Jean-Pierre Vernant instead interprets Hermes through structural opposition (especially in contrast with Hestia).


II. Hermes

A. From Herms to Hermes

  • Herms were square stone pillars with a bearded head and erect phallus.

  • Placed at crossroads, gates, graves, homes, shops, and temples.

  • Possibly derived from rock piles called “Hermes’ hills.”

  • They marked boundaries and protected travelers.

  • Hermes is often depicted as the messenger of the gods.

  • Patron of heralds.

  • Carries the kerykeion (caduceus), later confused with the medical staff of Asclepius.


B. Functions and Associations

  • Psychopomp: escorts souls to the Underworld.

  • Invoked on curse tablets.

  • Honored during the Anthesteria festival (primarily for Dionysus), when the dead were believed to temporarily return.

  • Associated with luck and sudden gain (hermaia).

  • Protector of herd animals and herders.

  • Patron god of thieves.


C. Ithyphallic Symbolism

  • The erect phallus has been interpreted as:

    • A fertility symbol (especially for livestock).

    • An apotropaic device (warding off evil).


D. Hermes and Pan

  • Hermes protected cities (e.g., Tanagra from plague via a ram-carrying ritual).

  • Pan, Hermes’ son:

    • Sometimes ithyphallic.

    • Associated with satyrs and Dionysus.

    • Source of the word “panic.”

    • Appeared to Pheidippides after the Battle of Marathon (Herodotus).


E. Beardless (Youthful) Hermes

  • Associated with the transition of boys into adult men.

  • Connected to athletic and musical contests (Hermes Enagonius, “of contests”).

  • Cattle raiding functioned as a rite of passage.

  • In the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, Hermes steals Apollo’s cattle.

  • The theft ultimately strengthens social bonds.

  • Reinforces Hermes as a trickster and boundary-crosser.


III. Hestia

  • Firstborn child of Cronus and Rhea.

  • Virgin goddess of the hearth.

  • Her name literally means “hearth.”

  • Has very few temples or independent cults.

  • Worshiped in the home.

  • Represents the fixed center of home and family life.


IV. Structural Opposition: Hermes vs. Hestia

Structuralism (Vernant) argues meaning comes from oppositions within a culture.

Hestia represents stability, the fixed center, the home, and the domestic interior.

Hermes represents movement, exchange, travel, and the public sphere.

Hestia is interior, stable, and centered.

Hermes is exterior, mobile, and boundary-crossing.


V. Hermes as the “Medium of Movement”

Hermes enables contacts and exchanges.

He connects males with public places.

Above all, he represents movement of:

  • People

  • Animals

  • Goods (natural and manufactured)

  • Ideas


Movement occurs through:

  • Thievery

  • Trade

  • Travel

  • Conversation

  • Commerce

  • Political assemblies

Hermes symbolizes circulation, mediation, and liminality.


VI. Reception: Hermaphroditus

  • Son of Hermes and Aphrodite.

  • Both male and female.

  • Associated with fertility and sexual abundance.

  • In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, merges with the nymph Salmacis and becomes androgynous.

  • Retains the trickster quality of Hermes.


VII. Hermaphroditus in 19th-Century Art

Edward Burne-Jones (Pre-Raphaelite):

  • Depicts androgynous figures that challenge Victorian gender norms.

  • The Tree of Forgiveness presents lovers as near mirror images.

  • Gender roles destabilized (active female, passive male).


Aubrey Beardsley (Art Nouveau):

  • Uses Hermaphroditus to critique Victorian sexual double standards.

  • Revives the ambiguity and trickster nature of the myth.


Core Concepts to Know for Exams

  • Hermes = movement, mediation, exchange, liminality, trickster.

  • Hestia = stability, center, domestic order.

  • Structural opposition explains their meaning.

  • Hermes bridges boundaries: life/death, public/private, order/disorder.