To do his errands and carry his messages through the universe the
supreme god Zeus had a herald, Hermes, the god of the wind. As the wind
blows out of the great sky, so Hermes descended from Olympus to earth to
do the sky god's bidding. Equipped as a herald he wore a winged cap and
winged sandals, which carried him about with great speed. He had also a
short sword bent like a scythe, given him by Zeus with the cap and
sandals. He possessed the strange power of making himself invisible, and
of assuming different forms. As he had besides a ready wit and an
eloquent tongue, he could make himself very useful. It was one of his
common tasks to carry sleep to mortals, and his most solemn office was
to conduct the souls of the dying to the other world.
This is the way the Odyssey describes Hermes setting forth on one of the
errands of Zeus:--
"The herald Argicide obeyed,
And hastily beneath his feet he bound
The fair ambrosial golden sandals, worn
To bear him over ocean like the wind,
And o'er the boundless land. His wand he took,
Wherewith he softly seals the eyes of men,
And opens them at will from sleep."[24]
[24] Book v., lines 55-61 in Bryant's translation.
One of the most famous adventures of Hermes was the slaying of the
many-eyed monster Argus, from whom he rescued the unhappy Io. This is
why the old Greek poet, whom we have quoted, calls the god the Argicide.
Another of his well known missions was the care of the motherless infant
Bacchus, whom he conveyed to the nymphs of Nysa to be reared. An
adventurer himself, Hermes was ever ready to aid heroes in their
exploits. It was with his sword that Perseus cut off the Gorgon's head:
we may read the story in Hawthorne's "Wonder-Book" and Kingsley's "Greek
Heroes."
Nor was Hermes above a bit of mischief now and then. An old Homeric hymn
tells of a sly prank he played upon Apollo, when he was a mere baby,
stealing the herds of Admetus which Apollo was keeping. He was an
ingenious fellow too, and this is how he invented the lyre. Taking from
the beach a tortoise, he cleaned out the shell, pierced it with holes,
and stretched from hole to hole, at regular intervals, cords of sheep
gut.
"When he had wrought the lovely instrument
He tried the chords, and made division meet,
Preluding with the plectrum, and there went
Up from beneath his hand a tumult sweet
Of mighty sounds."[25]
[25] From the Homeric _Hymn to Mercury_ in Shelley's translation, Stanza
ix.
[Illustration: English Photographic Co., Athens, Photo. John Andrew &
Son, Sc.