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Hermes shall become antithesis to Apollonian thesis,99 for his ecstatic existence emblemizes, too, his chaotic and mischievous ways.
Hermes’ duplicity sings and also misleads. God of journeys and of the unforeseen, he disorganizes the very same journeys he organizes. God of the subjugating word, able to amuse Zeus, he is a shrewd liar and deceiver, sharing the very same qualities Zeus endows Pandora with,100 and those the Egyptian priesthood grants to ancestral Seth. Hermes’ mischief attempts against order, just as Seth’s evil attempts against Egyptian Ma’at.101
God of journeys and of universal motion, Hermes patronizes everything that circulates. If this motion is a necessity, it includes randomness and chance, such is the universe’s entropy. Hermes, ambiguous, fastidious, and unpredictable herald of divine words, is also the face of ambiguity and of fortune. He is Hermaion, bargain, fortune and a lucky find, and Hermaios, the advantageous and beneficial.102 Yet Hermes, just as
99 In this instance, Apollo is associated with the thesis of ποίησις’ beauty, and with that of order and convention. This sense of Apollonian order and unity are symbolic of justice: “the sun will not overstep its measures, or else the Furies, the allies of Justice, will find it out.” F 43 Plutarch, On Exile 604a10-12 de Lacy/Einarson. 43. Hence, Hermes is the Apollonian antithesis, in his adoration of mythos, mischief, temporal disorder, adventure and exotic journeys, but not in his adoration of the lyre.
100 Hesiod. Works and Days. 67-68; 77-80. This was amply discussed in Dr. Clausen’s Greek Mythology class.
101 Hart, George. The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. London: Taylor & Francis, 2005. 89-90.
102 Graves, Robert. The Greek Myths. Vol. I. New York: Penguin Books, 1977. 63-67.
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