Hermes

Hermes, the Roman Mercury, is the swift messenger of the gods, the patron of travelers, heralds, merchants, and thieves, and the cunning god of boundaries and crossings. Above all he is the psychopomp, the guide who leads the souls of the dead down to the realm of Hades — and, in the mysteries, the one who can lead them back up.

Because he is the god of speech and interpretation (the Greeks linked his name to hermēneia, interpretation), Hermes was identified with the logos, the divine word that mediates between worlds. This role made him the bridge to Egypt: the Greeks identified him with the Egyptian Thoth, scribe and lord of wisdom, and from that fusion arose Hermes Trismegistus, the divine sage to whom the Hermetic writings of this library are ascribed.

Epithets

• Psychopompos Ψυχοπομπός — guide of souls to the underworld
• Argeiphontes Ἀργειφόντης — slayer of Argus
• Logios Λόγιος — of eloquence and reason
• Diaktoros Διάκτορος — the messenger, the runner
• Agoraios Ἀγοραῖος — of the marketplace
• Dolios Δόλιος — the wily, patron of cunning
• Chthonios Χθόνιος — of the underworld
• Enagonios Ἐναγώνιος — of the games and contests