Hermaphroditus continued deaf to all entreaties and offers; and Salmaeis,
throwing her arms around him, entreated the Gods to render her inseparable
from him whom she adored. The Gods heard her prayer, and formed of the two,
a being of perfect beauty, preserving the characteristics of both sexes.
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Offerings were made to him of milk and honey, because he was the God of
eloquence, whose powers were sweet and persuasive. Sometimes his statues
represent him without arms, because the power of speech can prevail over
everything.
The Greeks and Romans celebrated his festivals, principally in the month of
May. They frequently placed on his back the statue of Minerva, and offered
to him the tongues of the victims whom they immolated to the goddess.
"Who beareth the world on his shoulders so broad;
Hear me, thou power, who, of yore, by thy words
Couldst soften the hearts of the barbarous hordes,
And by the Palaestia taught him of the wild
To be gentle, and graceful, and meek as a child.
Thou messenger fleet of the cloud-throned sire,
'Twas thou who inventedst the golden-stringed lyre;
I hail thee the patron of craft and of guile,
To laugh while you grieve, to deceive while you smile,
When you chafed into wrath bright Apollo of old,
His dun-coloured steers having stol'n from the fold,
He laughed; for, while talking all fiercely he found
That his quiver, alack! from his back was unbound.
'Twas thou, who old Priam didst guide on his way,
When he passed unperceived thro' the hostile array,
Of the proud sons of Atreus, who sought to destroy
The towers of high Ilion, the city of Troy.
O Hermes, 'tis thou who conductest the blest
To the seats where their souls shall for ever exist,
Who governest their shades by the power of thy spell,
The favourite of Heaven, the favourite of Hell."