Fig. 19.—Resting Hermes. Bronze Statue at Naples.
Among existing statues, a full-sized “Hermes at rest,” in bronze, which was found at Herculaneum, and is now in the Naples Museum, is perhaps most worthy of mention. He here appears as the messenger of the gods, and has just sat down on a rock to rest. The winged sandals form his only clothing, and these are, strictly speaking, not really sandals, but simply straps covering the foot, to which wings are fastened close to the ankles (Fig. 19).
Fig. 20.—Statue of Hermes. Capitoline Collection.
A splendid marble statue of the Vatican collection, which, was once taken for Antinous, portrays the god as the patron of wrestling; the Caduceus which he holds in his left hand is, however, a modern addition. In the Hermes Ludovisi of Rome we have a graceful representation of Hermes Logius, the patron of the art of rhetoric. The wings are here not placed on the feet, or even directly on the head, as is often the case, but are fastened to a low round travelling-hat.
A pretty bronze statuette in the British Museum depicts Hermes as the god of trade and commerce, with a well-filled purse in his hand. Such is also the conception of a fine statue of the Capitoline collection at Rome (Fig. 20). The principal attributes of the god have already been incidentally mentioned: they are wings on the feet, head, or cap; the herald’s staff, the votive bowl, and the purse.
9. Hephæstus (Vulcan).—Hephæstus, the god of fire and the forge, was commonly regarded as a son of Zeus and Hera. He was so lame and ugly that his mother in shame cast him from heaven into the sea. But Eurynome and Thetis, the Oceanids, took pity on him, and tended him for nine years in a deep grotto of the sea, in return for which he made them many ornaments. After being reconciled to his mother, he returned to Olympus under the guidance of Dionysus. According to another not less popular account, it was not his mother who treated him so cruelly, but Zeus. Hephæstus, on the occasion of a quarrel between Zeus and Hera, came to the help of his mother, whereupon the angry god of heaven seized him by the foot and hurled him from Olympus. The unfortunate Hephæstus fell for a whole day, but alighted at sundown on the isle of Lemnos with but little breath in his body. Here the Sintians, who inhabited the island, tended him till his recovery. Later writers say that it was from this fall that he became lame. The same fundamental idea lies at the root of these various legends, viz., that fire first came down from heaven in the form of lightning. Hephæstus originally represented the element of fire, and all the effects of fire are accordingly referred to him. The fires of the earth break forth from the open craters of volcanoes; it must therefore be Hephæstus who is working in the midst of the fiery mountain, where he has his forges and his smithies. So says the legend of Mount Mosychlus, in Lemnos, the chief seat of his worship. Scarcely less celebrated, from its connection with him, was Mount Ætna, in Sicily. After it was observed that the wine was particularly good in the neighbourhood of volcanic mountains, the story of the intimate friendship between Hephæstus and Dionysus was concocted.
The most beneficial action of fire is manifested in its power to melt metals and render them useful to man in the shape of implements and tools of all kinds. Hence the conception of the character of Hephæstus tended ever more and more to represent him as the master of all ingenious working in metals, and as the patron of artificers and craftsmen using fire. In this character he was brought into close connection with the art-loving goddess Athene, and hence we see why both these divinities enjoyed so many kindred honours and had so many festivals in common at Athens, the chief seat of Greek science and art. It was also chiefly in the character of artificer that Hephæstus was treated of by the poets, who delight to describe the gorgeous brazen palace which he built himself on Olympus, in which was a huge workshop with twenty cunningly-devised pairs of bellows. He also constructed there the imperishable dwellings of the gods. Many also were the ingenious implements which he constructed, such as the walking tables, or tripods, which moved of their own accord into the banqueting-chamber of the gods, and then returned to their places after the meal was over. He also made himself two golden statues of maidens, to assist him in walking, and bestowed on them speech and motion. Among the other works of his mentioned by the poets are the ægis and sceptre of Zeus, the trident of Poseidon, the shield of Heracles, and the armour of Achilles, among which, also, was a shield of extraordinary beauty.
