Who is Hermes?

Hermes, the herald of the Olympian gods, is the son of Zeus and the nymph Maia, daughter of Atlas and one of the Pleiades. Hermes is the god of shepherds, land travel, merchants, weights and measures, oratory, literature, athletics and thieves, and known for his cunning and shrewdness. Most importantly, he is the messenger of the gods. Hermes was also a great inventor; he invented the lyre from a tortoise the first day he was born. According to myths he also invented the syrinx, measures, weights, musical scales and the science of astronomy. He is also considered as the patron of athletes since he is the inventor of many kinds of sports and races. Originally Hermes was a phallic god, being attached to fertility and good fortune, and also a patron of roads and boundaries.  These were used for road and boundary markers. Also in Athens they stood outside houses to help fend off evil. In Athens of 415 BCE, shortly before the Athenian fleet set sail against Syracuse, all the herms throughout Athens were defaced. This was attributed to people who were against the war. Their intentions were to cast bad omens on the expedition, by seeking to offend the god of travel

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