Highlights of Greek Mythology: Hermes, a God with Many Faces

In works of art, Hermes is often portrayed wearing his trademark winged hat (the petasos or petasus), but in his mythological adventures he wore many more hats. Shall we count the ways?

Hermes was the creator of the world's first lyre, messenger of the gods and official emissary of Zeus, guide of the souls of the dead to Hades (Hermes Psychopompos), god of luck and commerce, protector of traders (agoraios), shepherds, and livestock, patron of thieves and liars, master trickster(polutropos), prankster,and schemer(dolios), bringer of dreams(hegetor oneiron); he is credited with lighting the world's first fire, being an ardent student of astronomy, the founder of alchemy and astrology, an accomplished orator (logios)and interpreter; god of travel, hospitality, divination, literature, and athletic contests (enagonios); witty, wily, and shrewd; fast, loyal, and irresistibly charming.

Stories about Hermes, his feats and escapades abound in Greek mythology. Hermes helped Perseus slaughter the Gorgon Medusa; he helped Odysseus (Ulysses) in his encounter with the sorceress Kirke (-- and no wonder, since Odysseus' grandfather, Autolycus, was directly descended from Hermes). It was Hermes that led the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite to Paris on Mount Ida, so that he would pass a judgment as to which was the fairest (kalliste). And it was Hermes that killed Argos (Argus), the hundred-eyed monster that guarded the nymph Io, lover of Zeus. (Ever wondered where all the eyes on a peacock's tail came from?) By slaying Argos, Hermes added yet another epithet to his prodigious collection, that of Hermes Argeiphontes (slayer of Argos).