Hermes: The Messenger God

 

Hermes is an Olympian god in Greek Mythology and he is the son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia. (His siblings being; Ares, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Hebe, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Hephaestus, Perseus, Minos, the Muses, and the Graces). He is second youngest of the Olympian gods. He is the little baby Olympian!

 

Hermes is a god of transitions and boundaries. He is the messenger of the gods. He is also the god of trade, thieves, travelers, sports, athletes, and border crossings. He is a guide to the Underworld. He is said to be very quick and cunning. After all, how else is he expected to travel between worlds? He is one of the only people to go to the Underworld and come back alive (Or as alive as an immortal god could really be, I suppose…). Hermes was quite a troublemaker as a child and caused problems for many of his siblings. Hermes once stole his brother, Apollo's, cattle when he was born. Hermes had jumped out of his crib and hid Apollo’s cattle. Just when Apollo finally realized that his cattle was gone, Hermes had jumped back into his little crib and pretended to be an innocent little angel. Such a devious little boy. Apollo was obviously not buying his brother’s little act. Apollo took Hermes by the scruff of the neck and took him to his father, Zeus, in hopes of his little brother’s punishment. Apollo said he was unhappy with the way his brother was treating him and his belongings. Instead of Hermes being punished, as Apollo would have wanted and expected, Zeus actually just laughed it off and thought it was simply hilarious to Apollo’s disgruntled disbelief.

        I myself find Hermes to be an underrated god. He is mentioned in many movies and books of mythology; Percy Jackson: Lightening Thief, Hercules. He is briefly mentioned in these works, but they only describe him as the messenger god. Hermes is so much more than just a messenger. His maneuvering and transportation between the divine worlds is otherwise unheard of except for in his case and in specific scenarios, usually of a demigod or hero trying to prove his worth. I simply believe that Hermes should get more props than he is given.