Hello everyone, welcome back to "Greek Mythology Gods"—in this mysterious mythological world, let's continue following the footsteps of the gods and uncovering legendary stories of fate and power.
Yesterday, we recounted the tragedy of Niobe—who, arrogantly boasting of her many children, mocked the goddess Leto, ultimately losing her family and happiness, and becoming a stone statue weeping forever. Her arrogance led her to despair, and fate shows no mercy to the conceited.
Today, we take a different approach and meet a clever and mischievous god—Hermes, the celestial messenger, god of thieves, and jokes.
Hermes, the son of Zeus and Maia, was gifted with intelligence and eloquence. He was the god of messengers, commerce, travel, and thieves. He loved pranks since childhood. One day, he found a turtle sunning itself on the beach and immediately had an idea: to use the turtle shell as material for a lyre.
But that wasn't the end. That night, he sneaked into the pastures of Apollo, the god of light, and stole several cattle. He lit a bonfire and offered the cattle as sacrifices to the Twelve Olympians, one of whom was himself.
The next day, Apollo discovered the cattle were missing and was furious. But when he tracked down Hermes, the god feigned innocence, his eyes wide open, and he declared, "I've never seen your cattle!" Furious, Apollo handed the case over to Zeus.
Zeus, realizing they were both his sons, laughed heartily. To settle the dispute, Hermes gave Apollo his handmade lyre, and Apollo, in return, gave him a golden whip and commissioned him to herd the cattle.
However, Hermes' mischievous nature remained. He stole Poseidon's trident, Aphrodite's belt, and even the sword of Ares, the god of war.
One day, he transformed into a mortal and walked into a sculpture shop. He asked the owner, "How much is a statue of Zeus?" The owner replied, "One silver coin." "What about Hera's?" The owner thought for a moment and said, "A little more expensive, two silver coins." Hermes smiled and pointed to his own statue, then asked, "What about this one?" The owner replied, "Buy the first two, and this one will be a gift."
Hermes was stunned—it turned out that he wasn't that important in the eyes of mortals. At that moment, his self-esteem was shattered, and he became more restrained.
From a mischievous child to a god of wisdom, Hermes' actions show us that intelligence is a gift, while wisdom is the product of growth.
Tomorrow, we will explore the story of the sculptor Pygmalion. Driven by childhood trauma and failed love affairs, he hated women and devoted all his passion to art. One night, he dreamed of a perfect woman. He carved her likeness from ivory and prayed at an altar to Aphrodite. Thus, a miracle intertwined between fate and divine providence was born—stay tuned for "The Misogynistic Pygmalion."
Thank you for listening to "Greek Mythology Gods". See you next time!
For further reading, you can refer to the following:
Hermes- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes
If you’d like to dive deeper beyond the stories, you can also explore sculptures inspired by these myths here:
https://www.arturbanstatue.com/other-product/greek-and-roman-statues/