#Homeric Hymn to Hermes

[transbutchblues]

i’m reading the Homeric Hymn 4, to Hermes right now and i had forgotten how hilarious this is ?? when Apollon threatens baby Hermes to throw him into Tartaros if he doesn’t explain what he did with the cows, a part of his threat is "beneath the earth you shall wander as lord of tiny babyfolk" (258-9, Athanassakis’s translation) ?? i love it ? Hermes will now be lord of tiny babyfolk in my heart.

[marchlione]

lmfao apollo really had beef with a newborn that was literally born yesterday

[deathlessathanasia]

“In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, when Apollo is presented with an opponent who threatens to destabilize the order he wishes to impose on the cosmos (e.g. Pytho or Telphousa), he eliminates them and takes their names. In the HH Hermes, we are presented with another way for a god to gain recognition among the Olympians. Rather than destroying his opponents, Hermes allows Apollo to hold onto his τιμαί so long as he is willing to join in friendship. Through his own inventiveness, Hermes is able to open up parallel spaces within the established cosmos. As a result of Hermes’ exploits, we are reminded of the importance of thinking about the Greek pantheon as a dynamic system in which our understanding of the cosmos comes from the complementary and competing attributes of the Olympian gods.”

   - Reconsidering Zeus’ Order: The Reconciliation of Apollo and Hermes by Christopher Bungard

[reno-matago]

I start to memorize the Homeric Hymn to Hermes (with my own version of phonetics.)

Khaire Hermès ! 🐢

[dijeh]

Homeric Hymn to Hermes

trans. Hugh G. Evelyn-White

[sylvaneagle]

jstor is my boyfriend i love you jstorrrrrrrr

[zmaragdos]

baby hermes gifts the tortiseshell lyre to apollo

(inspired by this comic by the fantastic @medusaspeach)

[stackofstories]

i think the most unhinged yet most twelve year old thing Annabeth Chase has done so far is the five seconds where she believed that she (successfully) pickpocketed the God of Thieves.

[officialpenisenvy]

5 minutes later: dude i swear i just saw a newborn stealing my cattle

my buddy hermes crawling: goo goo ga ga [hands me a lyre crafted out of a turtle shell]

[evilios]

When Zeus’s and Maia’s son saw Apollon, the Far-shooter, angered about his cattle, he snuggled into his sweet-scented swaddling-clothes; and as ashes cover a heap of embers from tree-trunks, so Hermes wrapped himself up when he saw the Far-shooter. Into a smallspace he huddled head, hands, and feet, like a freshly-bathed baby courting sweet sleep, but in truth still awake and holding the lyre under his arm.

&

Then when he had searched the recesses of the great dwelling, the son of Leto spoke these words to glorious Hermes: “Child lying in the cradle, hurry up and tell me about the cows! Else you and I willsoon part not like two friends. I will cast you down and hurl you into gloomy Tartaros and into dread and inescapable darkness; and neither your mother nor your father will restore you to light but beneath the earth you shall wander as lord of tiny babyfolk.”

— Homeric Hymn to Hermes, 4 (trans. by A. Athanassakis)

[lionofchaeronea]

Sing of Hermes, Muse, the son of Zeus and Maia, Who oversees Mount Kyllene and Arkadia rich in flocks, The immortals' speedy messenger, whom Maia, fair-haired nymph, Bore, when she had mingled in the love of Zeus... Ἑρμῆν ὕμνει, Μοῦσα, Διὸς καὶ Μαιάδος υἱόν, Κυλλήνης μεδέοντα καὶ Ἀρκαδίης πολυμήλου, ἄγγελον ἀθανάτων ἐριούνιον, ὃν τέκε Μαῖα, νύμφη ἐυπλόκαμος, Διὸς ἐν φιλότητι μιγεῖσα… --Homeric Hymns 3, "To Hermes," ll. 1-4

[katerinaaqu]

Okay this heartbreaking idea came from a discussion I had with my dear friend @artsofmetamoor while talking about the second part of my fic The Death of Odysseus (P1 , P2 , P3 )

Okay my talented friend brought up Astyanax appearance in my third part of the story and she mentioned how terrifying it would be for a baby like Astyanax arriving to the Underworld based on my descriptions on the underworld and all. And knowing the image of Hermes as not only a sender of souls to the underworld but as a god that is associated with youth a lot and all...

Now Imagine Hermes having the boat to the underworld filled with all the babies and children that prematurely died and making sure they all arrive safely while being entertained or lulled to sleep with stories and all or playing with them so they won't get scared!

Guys I am crying!!!!!

😭😭😭

[deathlessathanasia]

“In addition to his quickness of mind, Hermes has an innate ability to get things done without drawing attention to himself and without arousing the suspicions of those with whom he does engage. He displays this particular talent when he loosens his swaddling clothes and escapes from his home without attracting his mother's attention. Shortly thereafter he slips back inside and leaves a second time, still without notice. He then makes his way to Pieria to find Apollo's sacred cows. Once he locates them, Hermes easily evades the four keen-eyed hounds whose job it was to guard the herd, and makes off with all fifty of his brother's cows (Hymn to Hermes 4.140ff.). After driving them to his desired destination and completing what he had planned to do with them, Hermes then conceals the cows in a cave and takes himself back home, attracting the notice of neither god nor man nor beast. Thereafter he lets himself into the house by 'turning sideways and going in through the foyer's keyhole like a late summer's breeze, even as a mist' (145-7).

Hermes' ability to move through space in a stealthy manner can be just as evident in his manner of speaking. This too is put on display almost as soon as he leaves the house. When setting out to get Apollo's cows, Hermes unexpectedly spies a tortoise and (while plotting its death and conversion into a lyre) talks it into accompanying him indoors without raising any suspicion whatsoever (26-40). Later, when he is seen by an old man near Onchestos as he is driving the cows from Pieria to the banks of the River Alpheios, Hermes warns the man against telling anyone what he has seen in words that have a riddling quality to them, but which contain a threat couched in a promise of benefit that is itself all too clear (90-3). The next morning when Apollo finds Hermes at home and charges him with being a cattle-thief, the young god offers to swear an oath in an attempt to misdirect his brother. His clever way with words is further on display when, after leading his brother back to Olympos so that the case can be put before their father, Zeus, rather than arguing for his own innocence , Hermes defends himself by showing how poorly Apollo has made his case against him. In light of just these few highlights from the Hymn it should come as no surprise that the same set of epithets and cult titles which serve to acknowledge Hermes' metis are equally as appropriate for expressing this aspect of Hermes' innate talents. . . .

However, the same metis that gives Hermes his quickness of mind and ability to move stealthily also underlies some very unique expression of this god's creativity. The Fourth Homeric Hymn is again our primary source for instances of Hermes' innate creative vision and intuitive sense of what needs to be done to bring a desired end to fruition. Over the course of his first twenty-four hours of life, Hermes brings into existence no fewer than five items, each from pre-existing materials. He has the ability to see the potential in things, the possibilities in their use, either in whole or in part, in entirely new ways. Thus the very first thing he does as he goes out into the world to catch Apollo's cows is to see a tortoise and instantaneously recognise the usefulness of its shell as a sounding box for a musical instrument, the lyre. The rapidity with which he is able to put thought into action is expressed by the praise-singer thus: 'As when swift thought passes through the breast of a man ... or as when sparkles dance from the eyes, so glorious Hermes together wrought thought and deed' ( 43-6). We might rather say, 'in the twinkling of an eye'. It is as if Hermes no sooner visualises something that does not yet exist than he instantaneously knows how to bring it into being and does so.

But his creative ability goes beyond even this: not only can Hermes recognise the hidden potential in things, but he can also recognise one thing as a' sign' indicative of something else. Thus, Hermes interprets his 'chance' encounter with the tortoise as a 'sign' that he will meet with good fortune on his quest for timai ('honours') within Zeus' ruling council. Hermes also proceeds to assign an equally favourable significance to other members of the tortoise's family: for a mortal, a living tortoise will serve as an apotropaic sign, 'a defence (echma) against baneful attacks' (37-8). In fact, these two instances are indicative of a significant talent that clearly sets Hermes apart from the other gods: his creative relationship with signs and symbols and their interpretation. The Hymn signals this relationship in the use of the term 'most notable' (12) in the description of Hermes' birth; the event itself was, if taken literally, a 'strong sign' (ari-sema) of things to come. Hermes has the innate ability to establish signs and symbols within his father's cosmos and assign meaning to them as evidenced by his 'reading' of the tortoise as a sign, a 'profitable symbol' (sumbolon, 30). . . . in addition to being sign-maker, Hermes is also a sign- reader: he knows that the tracks left by the cows might be recognised by another as 'signs' that could lead them to their hiding place. The same realisation was made with regard to his own tracks. To create a confusing sign for the cows' movement, Hermes simply turns them around and makes them walk backwards (76-8); but to conceal his own footprints, he devises a novel form of footwear, made from interwoven switches of tamarisk and myrtle, which, when worn, leave very large and confusing marks on the ground (79-86). If Hermes is not the first god to see the earth as a surface upon which to inscribe signs, he appears to be the first to conceive of inscribing deliberately misleading signs on its surface. Hermes' sandals were inventions of the moment, meant to serve the needs of a particular situation: they could be ( and were) readily discarded when that need had been met. The next thing Hermes invents, again brought into being to meet an immediate need, would be a tool of repeated value to humankind, for it gave mortals the ability to re-kindle a fire without having to fetch a living flame from one already burning to ignite another. Hermes' fire-sticks (108-11) were an improvement on Prometheus' earlier theft of a living flame from Hephaistos' hearth (Theogony 565-67): that fire had to be kept continually burning since there was no way for mortals to re-steal the ember from its Olympian source. His creative acts do not end here: later on, after gifting his lyre to Apollo, Hermes invents a new instrument for himself, the shepherd's pipes ( 511).”

 - Arlene Allan, Hermes

[reno-matago]

Ancient Greek Music: Homeric Hymn to Hermes

[dijeh]

(ll. 235-253) Now when the Son of Zeus and Maia saw Apollo in a rage about his cattle, he snuggled down in his fragrant swaddling-clothes; and as wood-ash covers over the deep embers of tree-stumps, so Hermes cuddled himself up when he saw the Far-Shooter. He squeezed head and hands and feet together in a small space, like a new born child seeking sweet sleep, though in truth he was wide awake, and he kept his lyre under his armpit. But the Son of Leto was aware and failed not to perceive the beautiful mountain-nymph and her dear son, albeit a little child and swathed so craftily. He peered in every corner of the great dwelling and, taking a bright key, he opened three closets full of nectar and lovely ambrosia. And much gold and silver was stored in them, and many garments of the nymph, some purple and some silvery white, such as are kept in the sacred houses of the blessed gods. Then, after the Son of Leto had searched out the recesses of the great house, he spake to glorious Hermes:

(ll. 254-259) ‘Child, lying in the cradle, make haste and tell me of my cattle, or we two will soon fall out angrily. For I will take and cast you into dusty Tartarus and awful hopeless darkness, and neither your mother nor your father shall free you or bring you up again to the light, but you will wander under the earth and be the leader amongst little folk.’ 

(ll. 260-277) Then Hermes answered him with crafty words: ‘Son of Leto, what harsh words are these you have spoken? And is it cattle of the field you are come here to seek? I have not seen them: I have not heard of them: no one has told me of them. I cannot give news of them, nor win the reward for news. Am I like a cattle-lifter, a stalwart person? This is no task for me: rather I care for other things: I care for sleep, and milk of my mother’s breast, and wrappings round my shoulders, and warm baths. Let no one hear the cause of this dispute; for this would be a great marvel indeed among the deathless gods, that a child newly born should pass in through the forepart of the house with cattle of the field: herein you speak extravagantly. I was born yesterday, and my feet are soft and the ground beneath is rough; nevertheless, if you will have it so, I will swear a great oath by my father’s head and vow that neither am I guilty myself, neither have I seen any other who stole your cows—whatever cows may be; for I know them only by hearsay.’

(ll. 278-280) So, then, said Hermes, shooting quick glances from his eyes: and he kept raising his brows and looking this way and that, whistling long and listening to Apollo’s story as to an idle tale.

(ll. 281-292) But far-working Apollo laughed softly and said to him: ‘O rogue, deceiver, crafty in heart, you talk so innocently that I most surely believe that you have broken into many a well-built house and stripped more than one poor wretch bare this night, gathering his goods together all over the house without noise. You will plague many a lonely herdsman in mountain glades, when you come on herds and thick-fleeced sheep, and have a hankering after flesh. But come now, if you would not sleep your last and latest sleep, get out of your cradle, you comrade of dark night. Surely hereafter this shall be your title amongst the deathless gods, to be called the prince of robbers continually.’

(ll. 293-300) So said Phoebus Apollo, and took the child and began to carry him. But at that moment the strong Slayer of Argus had his plan, and, while Apollo held him in his hands, sent forth an omen, a hard-worked belly-serf, a rude messenger, and sneezed directly after. And when Apollo heard it, he dropped glorious Hermes out of his hands on the ground: then sitting down before him, though he was eager to go on his way, he spoke mockingly to Hermes:

(ll. 301-303) ‘Fear not, little swaddling baby, son of Zeus and Maia. I shall find the strong cattle presently by these omens, and you shall lead the way.’

(ll. 304-306) When Apollo had so said, Cyllenian Hermes sprang up quickly, starting in haste. With both hands he pushed up to his ears the covering that he had wrapped about his shoulders, and said:

(ll. 307-312) ‘Where are you carrying me, Far-Worker, hastiest of all the gods? Is it because of your cattle that you are so angry and harass me? O dear, would that all the sort of oxen might perish; for it is not I who stole your cows, nor did I see another steal them—whatever cows may be, and of that I have only heard report. Nay, give right and take it before Zeus, the Son of Cronos.’

Homeric Hymn to Hermes

trans. Hugh G. Evelyn-White

[whalehouse1]

DLH: Makes fun of Demeter in almost every Greek myth video (not Norse she worked those drums)

DLH: -makes a modern day hymn to Demeter that just destroys you-