It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
"When sent by Polydectes, son of Magnes, to the Gorgones, he [Perseus] received from Mercurius [#Hermes], who is thought to have loved him, talaria and petasus, and, in addition, a helmet which kept its wearer from being seen by an enemy."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2.12
🏛 #Perseus and Hermes, detail, Bell Krater, Jatta, 400-375 BCE
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
"Engendered form the sea-foam, we are told she [#Aphrodite] became the mother by Mercurius [#Hermes] of the second Cupidus [literally Eros but probably referring to Hermaphroditos]."
Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3. 21-23
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
A man was chopping wood by a river when he dropped his axe into the water. #Hermes took pity on him and presented a golden axe, then a silver axe, asking each time whether it was his. The man said no. Then Hermes showed him the lost axe and when he recognized it, Hermes gifted him all of the axes.
Aesop, Fables 474
When a Mariachi star transfers schools, he expects to be handed his new group's lead vocalist spot—what he gets instead is a tenacious current lead with a very familiar, very kissable face.
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
#OTD, 15 May, it's the #Mercuralia, a Roman festival in honour of Mercurius in his function as god of commerce. This year it coincides with the birthday of Apollon. #Hermes and #Apollon are half-brothers and love each other dearly:
"And Hermes loved the son of Leto continually, even as he does now."
Homeric Hymn 4 to Hermes
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
"At once he fastened under his feet the immortal sandals of lovely gold that carried him, swift as airy breezes, over ocean and over boundless earth. The strong Radiant One began his flight; over Pieria he passed, then form the upper air dipped down to the sea and sped on over the waves like the seagull."
Homer, Odyssey
🏛 #Hermes engraved on a gold ring, 4th century BCE
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
#MerMay is upon us and I'm starting out with a vase painting of #Hermes with the sea goddess Thetis, leader of the fifty daughters of Nereus & mother of Achilles. In the scene shown, she might be on her way to Olympos, summoned by Zeus to persuade #Achilles to return Hektor's body.
🏛 Hermes following #Thetis in her chariot, Terracotta lekythos ca 500 BCE
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
"#Apollon organised funeral games in honour of Python the Pythian Games of [#Delphi]. #Hermes contributed to it, like #Aphrodite. She won and accepted as prize a zither."
Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History Book 7
🏛 Aphrodite and Hermes, clay tablet from Locri, #Calabria, 475-450 BCE, Antikensammlung, #Munich
These three look like they're off to have an exciting new adventure! Hope they have a wonderful time spending time with one another and taking a break from the rest of the world! 🤔😜
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
"When Venus [#Aphrodite] was bathing in the river Achelous he [#Zeus] sent an eagle to take her sandal to Amythaonia of the Egyptians and give it to #Mercurius [Hermes]. #Venus, in seeking for it, came to him who loved her and so he, on attaining his desire, as a reward put the eagle in the sky."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2.16
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
"I [#Venus] should find some favour with the sea, for in its holy depths in days gone by from sea-foam I was formed, and still from foam I take my name in Greece [#Aphrodite]."
Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.521
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
"There is also #Hermes bringing to Alexandros [Paris], the son of Priamos, the goddesses of whose beauty he is to judge, the inscription on them being: Here is Hermes, who is showing to Alexandros, that he may arbitrate concerning their beauty, #Hera, #Athena, and #Aphrodite."
Description of Greece 5.19.5
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
"Lord of Korykos [#Hermes], blessed, helpful and skilled in words, you assist in work,
You are a friend of mortals in need,
And you wield the dreaded and respected weapon of speech."
Orphic Hymn 28 to Hermes
🏛 Hermes-Mercurius, Museo Pio-Clementino, Musei Vaticani, Vatican, Rome
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
"But Nephele seized both him [Phrixos] and her daughter [Helle], and gave them a golden-fleeced ram which she had received from #Hermes, by which they were borne through the sky over and across the land and the sea."
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.80
🏛 Hermes riding a ram, marble statue from Mlanolovo-Kjustemdil, 2nd-3rd century CE
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
"#Hermes brought them to the place where rich-crowned #Demeter was staying & checked them before her fragrant temple.
And when Demeter saw them, she rushed forth like a Maenad down some wooded mountain, while #Persephone, when she saw her mother's sweet eyes, leapt down to run to her, and falling upon her neck, embraced her."
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
#Bendis is a #Thracian goddess of hunting and the moon. Thracian immigrants introduced the goddess into Attica. Some writers identified Bendis with #Artemis, but the temple of Bendis at Piraeus which was near the temple of Artemis, clearly shows that they're distinct goddesses.
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
"They [the Aloadai giants] decided to fight the gods. [...] And they also bound up Ares. But Hermes secretly snatched Ares away."
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.54
🏛 #Hermes and #Ares, 300-200 BCE, limestone relief from Tarentum, Italy, Cleveland Museum of Art