Hermes is the most mobile of the Greek gods. Messenger of Zeus, protector of travellers, merchants and even thieves, lord of roads and boundaries, he is also the one who escorts the souls of the dead to Hades. He is the god of passage in all its forms: from one place to another, from one world to another, from one condition to another. That is why, in a symbolic reading, Hermes is a key figure for understanding every kind of transformation.
His birth and first exploits
According to the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, the god is born in a cave on Mount Cyllene, in Arcadia, son of Zeus and the nymph Maia. His exploits begin on the very day of his birth, and they already form a complete portrait of his character:
- The invention of the lyre. Leaving the cave, the newborn finds a tortoise, hollows out its shell and stretches strings across it, creating the first instrument of its kind.
- The theft of the cattle. That same evening he steals fifty cattle from Apollo's herd and makes them walk backwards to confuse the tracks.
- Feigned innocence. He goes back to his cradle and, when Apollo accuses him, declares that he is only a newborn baby.
- The reconciliation. Brought before Zeus, the two brothers make peace: Hermes gives the lyre to Apollo, who is enchanted by it.
In a single day Hermes displays inventiveness, cunning and a gift for mediation. He turns a theft into an exchange, a conflict into an alliance.
His attributes
Hermes is recognisable by certain objects, each charged with meaning:
| Attribute | Meaning |
|---|---|
| The caduceus | the herald's staff, later shown with two intertwined serpents: mediation and the reconciling of opposites |
| The petasos | the traveller's broad-brimmed hat |
| The winged sandals | the swiftness of passing between worlds |
| The purse | trade and exchange |
The herms: the god at the boundaries
In ancient Greece, along roads, at crossroads and on property boundaries stood the herms: stone pillars topped with a carved head. They were linked to the god and marked his presence in places of passage.
This detail says a great deal. Hermes does not dwell at the centre, like Hestia, goddess of the hearth, but at the margin. He is present where one thing ends and another begins. His sacredness is that of thresholds.
The messenger
As messenger of the gods, Hermes carries the decisions of Olympus to humans and to other gods. In the Odyssey it is he who goes to the nymph Calypso to order her to let Odysseus leave, and he again who gives the hero the herb moly, which protects him from Circe's spells.
In this role Hermes represents communication between different levels of reality. He is the principle that makes dialogue possible between what is above and what is below, between the divine and the human.
The psychopomp
The title psychopomp, "guide of souls", names Hermes's most mysterious function. In the twenty-fourth book of the Odyssey the god leads the souls of the slain suitors towards Hades, guiding them with his golden wand while they follow him squeaking like bats. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter it is again he who goes down to the underworld to bring Persephone back to her mother.
Hermes is therefore the only one who can move freely between the world of the living, that of the gods and that of the dead. He belongs exclusively to none of the three: his nature is to cross.
Hermes as an inner principle
In a symbolic reading, Hermes represents a function of the psyche we all know in moments of transition:
- the capacity to pass through crises without getting stuck in a single condition;
- mobile intelligence, which finds unexpected solutions where force would fail;
- mediation, which reconciles conflicting parts, as the caduceus unites the two serpents;
- guidance in the dark, the part of us that can find its bearings even on unknown ground.
There is, however, a shadow side too. Hermes is the god of exchanges and of tricks: the same skill that mediates can manipulate. The tradition invites us to recognise this ambivalence and to cultivate an intelligence that serves the truth.
Hermes and threshold moments
Every life crosses thresholds: moving house, changing work or relationships, bereavements, new beginnings. These are Hermes's moments. In such passages the tradition suggests not rushing to define the new condition, but recognising the value of the in-between phase, when one is no longer what one was and not yet what one will become. That is where the god of thresholds does his work.
In short
- Hermes, son of Zeus and Maia, is born on Mount Cyllene and on his first day invents the lyre and steals Apollo's cattle.
- His attributes are the caduceus, the petasos, the winged sandals and the purse.
- The herms at boundaries and crossroads show that his realm is that of thresholds.
- As psychopomp he guides souls to Hades and brings Persephone back to the light.
- In inner terms he represents the ability to cross transitions and to mediate between opposites.
