Hermes was best known as the Messenger god. Son of Zeus and Maia, Hermes was a very early bloomer—at just one day old, he snuck out of the cradle, went off and stole his half-brother, Apollo’s, herd of cows. He made the cows trot backwards back to his cave so that Apollo would be deceived.
He also bribed a man that saw him take the cows. The man then promised to keep his word. Hermes returned to his cradle in the cave. While he was there, he saw a tortoise and used its shell and some strings to make the intriguing lyre.
Luckily for Apollo though, the man that had sworn to secrecy for Hermes broke his word and told Apollo who had taken his cattle. Apollo went and gave a little visit to Hermes. When Maia, the mother of Hermes, awoke from sleep, she told Apollo that Hermes was just a baby and had been sleeping in his cradle the entire time. Apollo then took this matter to Zeus who found the baby guilty… and quite intelligent. Hermes proved even smarter when he started playing his lyre; Apollo fell in love with the stunning music. Hermes gave Apollo the lyre in exchange for the cows. Apollo was thrilled and the two became close friends from then on.
Hermes was the messenger god to mainly Zeus, although he did have many other tasks and did appear in many myths. Hermes was the only one, other that Hades, to know the path to hell. He was the guide for the dead to the underworld. He was also the god of commerce and market. He is often thought to be quite underhanded and cunning.
He is also considered to be the god of gymnastics, which is why in all his statues and paintings he is exposed as very athletic and fit.
Hermes has a long list of accomplishments, sometimes negetive. He was the one who took Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite down to the shepherd Paris, which in turn caused the Trojan War. He also rescued Dionysus from the ball of fire his poor mother was in. He rescued many of Zeus’s lovers, the most important being Io, who was being guarded by one of Hera’s appalling creatures.
Hermes could be easily identified by his winged shoes and cap. They were given to him by his father Zeus. He was the fasted of all the gods, and the shoes made him travel even faster. Hermes was extremely creative too. He thought up the ideas of the lyre and syrinx, the alphabet, astronomy, music, boxing, gymnastics, the cultivation of the olive tree, measures, weights, and many more.
From Homer's Odyssey:
"Hermes, god of Cyllene, called the souls of the suitors to him. In his hand he held the beautiful golden wand which he used at will to close the eyes of humans or to waken them from sleep. With his wand he led the troop and the souls followed, emitting little squeaks. In the depths of the caves, bats flew away with little squeaks when one of them, hanging from a rock, lost his grip."
**Ares**
**Hera**
**Poseidon**
**Hades**
**Athena**
**Apollo**
**Artemis**
**Dionysus**
**Aphrodite**
**Hephaestus**
**Zeus**
**Demeter**
**Hestia**
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