Tracking Hermes, Pursuing Mercury

Description

Of all the divinities of classical antiquity, the Greek Hermes (Mercury in his Roman alter ego) is the most versatile, enigmatic, complex, and ambiguous. The runt of the Olympian litter, he is the god of lies and tricks, yet is also kindly towards mankind and a bringer of luck. His functions embrace both the marking of boundaries and their transgression, but also extend to commerce, lucre, and theft, as well as rhetoric and practical jokes. In another guise, he plays the role of mediator between all realms of human and divine activity, embracing heaven, earth, and the netherworld. Pursuing this elusive divinity requires a truly multidisciplinary approach, reflecting his prismatic nature, and the twenty contributions to this volume draw on a wide range of fields to achieve this, from Greek and Roman literature (epic, lyric, and drama), epigraphy, cult, and religion, to vase painting and sculpture. In offering an overview of the myriad aspects of Hermes/Mercury-including his origins, patronage of the gymnasium, and relation to other trickster figures-the volume attempts to track the god's footprints across the many domains in which he partakes. Moreover, in keeping with his deep connection to exchange, commerce, and dialogue, it aims to exemplify and further encourage discourse between Latinists and Hellenists, as well as between scholars of literary and material cultures. Title Pages Acknowledgements List of Figures List of Abbreviations List of Contributors Introduction Like Mother, Like Son? Hermes among Pan and the Nymphs on Fourth-Century Votive Reliefs Hermes and Heracles Hide and Go Seek Hermes Iambicus The God and his Double Hermes/Mercury Hermes in Love Lascivus Puer Horace’s Mercury and Mercurial Horace Crossing the Borders Mercury and Materialism Did Mercury Build the Ship of Aeneas? Communicating with the Divine Hermes as Visible in Votive Inscriptions Hermes, Kyllene, Samothrace, and the Sea The Greek Magical Hymn to Hermes Hermes and the Figs Rethinking Hermes Great Hermes Index Locorum Index Inscriptionum General Index