HERMES ~ THE MESSENGER OF THE GODS

Hermes ( Greek: Ερμής ) is the God of trade, heraldry, merchants, commerce, roads, thieves, trickery, sports, travelers, and athletes in Ancient Greek Religion; the son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia, He is the second youngest of the Olympian Gods (Dionysos being the youngest).

Hermes is the emissary and Messenger of the Gods. He is also  the God of boundaries and the transgression of boundaries.Hermes is described as moving freely between the worlds of the mortal and the divine Ones, and is the conductor of souls into the afterlife. He is the protector and patron of roads and travellers.

In some stories, He is a trickster and outwits other Gods for His own satisfaction or for the sake of humankind. His attributes and symbols include the herma, the rooster, the tortoise, satchel or pouch, winged sandals, and winged cap. His main symbol is the Greek kerykeion ,which appears in a form of two snakes wrapped around a winged staff with carvings of the other Gods.

Homer and Hesiod portrayed Hermes as the author of skilled or deceptive acts and also as a benefactor of mortals. In the Iliad, He is called "The Bringer of Good Luck", "Guide and Guardian", and "Excellent in All the Tricks". He was a divine ally of the Greeks against the Trojans. However, Hermes protected King Priam when he went to the Greek camp to retrieve the body of his son Hector and accompanied them back to Troy.

The Homeric Hymn 4 to Hermes, which tells the story of the God's birth and His subsequent theft of Apollo's sacred cattle, invokes Him as the one "of many shifts, blandly Cunning, a Robber, a Cattle Driver, a Bringer of Dreams, a Watcher by Night, a Thief at the Gates, One Who was Soon to Show forth Wonderful Deeds among The Deathless Gods." In addition to the chelys lyre, Hermes is believed to have invented many types of racing and the sport of wrestling, and therefore, He is a Patron of athletes.


               

SOURCE:Wikipedia