Hermes traveled to give the command to the mortal prince and escorted the goddesses to him to be judged. Rather than appear himself, Zeus often sent Hermes to issue orders or warnings, and to carry out other errands.įor example, when Zeus found himself unable to impartially judge which goddess should receive the golden apple that Eris had sent to Olympus, he and Hermes decided together that Prince Paris of Troy should choose. In particular, Hermes was one of the few gods allowed to travel freely into and out of the Underworld.Īs Zeus’s herald, he also had the power to speak Zeus’s commands and carry out his will. This gave Hermes the authority to travel anywhere Zeus sent him, crossing the borders between both earthly lands and cosmic realms. He made Hermes his messenger and herald to keep him constantly busy. Zeus quickly realized, however, that the young god would need to be kept occupied to avoid any more mischief. He offered Hermes a place of honor at Olympus, which the thrill-seeking young god greatly preferred over his mother’s quiet rural cave. The king of the gods, who was more often known to be stern and strict, was delighted by his mischievous new son. To everyone’s shock, newborn Hermes stood before his father and eloquently echoed his mother’s words that he was too young to do any of the things he had been accused of.Īpollo was dedicated to the truth and, although he and Hermes would later become friends, was furious at the blatant lie. Finding only Maia and her newborn in the cave, he ignored the nymph’s protests and knew that the infant god was the thief he sought.Īlthough Maia insisted that the newborn could not yet walk or talk, let alone travel many miles and drive away a herd of cattle, Apollo took the baby to Mount Olympus to be judged by Zeus. He killed a turtle, used its shell to craft the first lyre, and stole the prized cattle of his half-brother Apollo.Īpollo followed the signs to capture the thief and recognized, due to the omen of an eagle, that it was another of Zeus’s children who had stolen the herd. On his first night of life, the infant god snuck out of his mother’s home and began to immediately cause mischief.
He was born in the hidden cave she lived in, unbeknownst to any of the other gods. His mother was a reclusive nymph named Maia. The Ties Between Zeus and HermesĪccording to legend, Hermes was one of the many sons of Zeus. Because Hermes took on both of these roles, he was connected to Zeus in many ways. The idea of the trickster god also being the king’s herald was unique to the Greek world.īoth the trickster archetype and the role of messenger were, however, linked to the thunder king. How Zeus and his swift-footed son came to be so closely linked is due to the unique role Hermes played.
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While some rarely interacted with the king of Olympus, Hermes spoke with his father’s full authority and carried out his will. Hermes was therefore more closely linked to his father than many of Zeus’s other children were in their own legends. As the messenger of the gods, he was permitted to travel anywhere, including the Underworld. Hermes thus left behind his propensity for telling lies and instead carried the words of his father across the world. He welcomed his son, despite the fact that he was a mischievous thief, to Mount Olympus and appointed him as his herald to keep him occupied and take advantage of his speed. In Greek mythology, Zeus is the father of the clever messenger god, Hermes.
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