Extract

Hermes (Ἑρμῆς). Already attested among the Mycenaean pantheon (tablets from Cnossus in *Crete, *Pylos, and *Thebes(1); see religion, minoan and mycenaean), the god has no original connection with the ἔρμα or cairn of stones, as was once thought. Myths about Hermes are mostly concerned with his childhood, told in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes (last third of the 6th cent. bce; see hymns). He was the son of *Zeus and the *nymph*Maia, born on Mt. Cyllene in *Arcadia. On the day of his birth, he left his cradle, found a tortoise which he made into a lyre, then went to Pieria where he stole 50 cows belonging to *Apollo, which he led backwards to a cave where he sacrificed two and hid the others, before returning to Cyllene; finally he made up the quarrel with Apollo. Later, he invented the syrinx (pipe; but see syrinx) and was taught *divination by Apollo.