The rural deity, when thus become active, sly, and eloquent, was well adapted for the office which was assigned him of agent and messenger of the gods, to whom we also find him officiating as cup-bearer. As a being whose operations extended into the interior of the earth, Hermês would seem to have been in some points of view identified with Hadês. In Pindar, this latter deity himself performs the office generally assigned to Hermês, that of conducting the departed to Erebos. Possibly it may have been on this account, that Solon directed the Athenians to swear by Zeus, Poseidôn, and Hermês. The Grecian spirit completely modified the Egyptian Hermês, to produce the Hermês or Mercury of the Grecian mythology; where he is quite a different being. In Egypt he presides over the sciences, writing, medicine, and astronomy, and composes many divine works, containing the elements of these several departments of knowledge; in Greece he is the god of shepherds and merchandise. The interpreter of the gods in Egypt, he becomes in Greece only their messenger; and it is by virtue of this latter title that he preserves his wings, which were among the Egyptians merely an astronomical symbol. The god is usually represented with a chlamys, his petasus or winged cap, and his talaria or winged sandals, and the caduceus or wand presented to him by Apollô, which had the power of settling all differences, of putting any one to sleep, and of waking them again, and also of bringing souls out of Hell. The petasus and talaria were gifts from Zeus. The ancient statues of Hermês were merely wooden posts with a rude head and pointed beard carved on them. They were what is termed ithyphallic, and were set up on the roads and foot paths, also in the fields and gardens. From this representation he became with the Romans the god Terminus; but when they were made acquainted with the twelve great deities of the Athenians, they adopted the Grecian Hermês under the name of Mercurins. In honor of this deity, the Romans celebrated an annual festival in a temple near the Circus Maximus, when sacrifices and prayers were offered to him. An ancient gem exhibits the following accurate representation of Mercury As god of the roads, he stands before an altar, over which rises an antique milestone, which he touches with his wand. Upon the altar lies a staff, as an intimation of travel lers dedicating their walking staves to Mercury, after having accomplished a journey. As a sign of the safety of the roads, an olive branch is entwined around the stone. The god bears on his head the winged cap; as he is standing, the winged sandals are not fastened to his feet. The Council of Jupiter, the supreme divinity, was composed of six gods, namely, Jupiter, Neptune, Mercury, Apollo, Mars, and Vulcan, and six goddesses: Juno, Ceres, Vesta, Minerva, Diana, and Venus. To this assembly no other deities were admitted. As soon as fiction descends from Heaven to Earth, divine beings become more numerous. Imagination discovers life in fountains, groves, and hills;-and according to her pleasure, ascribes to this life corporeal form. In this manner all nature becomes sacred: deity fills the whole, and the whole is deity, revealed only in various forms. The ancients not only deified the virtues, but distempers, storms, and passions, and worshipped them that they might be saved from all harm. This practice of personifying natural and moral qualities, seems to have been coeval with Grecian poetry and religion. It was not, however, by any means peculiar to Greece; it will probably be found wherever poetry exists. But it was only in ancient Greece and Italy, that these personifications were made objects of worship, and regarded as having a real and personal existence. The Genii, or Demons were not considered as equal to the gods, but as superior to mortals. The four natures, Gods, Genii, Heroes, and Men, were first distinguished by Hesiod. |