More Than a Messenger
Hermes' duties went beyond being the deities' messenger. As the protector of travelers, for example, Hermes was said to remove stones from the roads. These stones were often collected and piled around pillars that lined the roads, becoming mini-shrines dedicated to Hermes. In time, these shrines became more elaborate and resembled phalluses, because Hermes was also a fertility god. In fact, several ancient Greek pillars contain carvings that show only the god's face and genitals.
The name Hermes is said to derive from the Greek word herma, meaning “a pile of marker stones.” This explains why the small road-side shrines built in his honor took the form of a pile of stones.
An athletic god, Hermes was associated with athletes and games. He is credited with the invention of boxing, wrestling, and gymnastics. Games were held in Hermes' honor at Pheneus. Gymnasiums were built in his name and displayed his statues. All of the gymnasiums and athletes of Greece were under his protection.
In addition to sports and musical instruments, Hermes took credit for several other inventions. For example, he was said to have worked with the Fates to create the Greek alphabet. The myths also say that he invented astronomy, weights and measures, and the musical scale, and some even say he invented numbers.
Hermes was responsible for guiding the shades of the dead to the Underworld. This important task had previously been undertaken by Hades. Hermes escorted the shades from the upper world to the lower regions as far as the Styx, where Charon ferried them across the river. Hermes was the god who retrieved Persephone from the Underworld. He also escorted Eurydice back into the Underworld when she had almost gained — and then lost — her freedom.
Hermes was the god of eloquence and speech, crops, mining, and buried treasure. He was also the god of prudence, cunning, sleep, fraud, perjury, and theft.
Hermes had a natural inclination toward music. However, Apollo was already the god of music, so Hermes became a minor patron of poetry.
A jack-of-all-trades, Hermes resembled his half-brother Apollo in his diverse talents. He also resembled Apollo in physique: Most depictions show Hermes as a handsome, muscular man, usually wearing the winged sandals and hat given to him by Zeus and dressed as a traveler or herald. Many representations show him carrying his herald's staff or accompanied by a lamb or a ram.
