Hermes wings

Hermes was a Greek god and the great messenger to the gods, traveling between realms on his winged sandals. Discover his best-known stories. Hermes was the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology.

What is hermes the god of

One of the twelve gods of Mount Olympus, Hermes famously wore winged sandals so he could fly between the heavens, the earth and the underworld. A trickster, traveler, thief, and troublemaker , he embroiled himself in all sorts of mischief and mystery as his stories unraveled. Son of Zeus and Maia, Greek god Hermes was mischievous from a young age.

When he was still a baby wrapped in a blanket, Hermes crept out of his crib to cause some trouble. Hermes even wove himself a pair of beautiful adult sandals to walk in, so anyone tracing his footprints would think he was an adult. These sandals later evolved to have wings as Hermes grew older. Unfortunately, Zeus saw what Hermes was up to, and hauled him into a hearing on Mount Olympus.

To make amends, Hermes gifted Apollo a lyre he had fashioned out of a tortoiseshell, which could play the most spellbinding music. Hermes was one of only a few Greek gods that could travel freely between the different realms. As messenger to the gods, he was responsible for delivering messages to and fro between the mortal and divine worlds, and he was able to do this thanks to his winged sandals.

Greek gods

Hermes also spent much of his time in the underworld, helping to carry the dead into Hades. The ancient Greeks credited Hermes with inventing some of the most remarkable and important tools in human civilization. These include writing and the alphabet very useful for delivering messages , fire, dice and musical instruments. As well as the tortoise shell lyre he gave to Apollo, Greek god Hermes also created the first ever set of pan pipes, or syrinx, which became the instrument of shepherds.