Mercury (/ˈmɜːrkjʊri/;Latin:Mercurius[mɛrˈkʊrijʊs]ⓘ) is a major god inRoman religion andmythology, being one of the 12Dii Consentes within the ancientRoman pantheon. He is the god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence, messages, communication (includingdivination), travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery, and thieves; he also serves as the guide of souls to the underworld[2][3] and the "messenger of the gods".
The name "Mercury" is possibly related to the Latin wordsmerx ("merchandise"; cf.merchant,commerce, etc.),mercari (to trade), andmerces (wages); another possible connection is the Proto-Indo-European root merĝ- for "boundary, border" (cf.Old English "mearc",Old Norse "mark" and Latin "margō") and Greekοὖρος (by analogy ofArctūrus/Ἀρκτοῦρος), as the "keeper of boundaries," referring to his role as bridge between the upper and lower worlds.[original research?]
Mercury did not appear among thenuminousdi indigetes of earlyRoman religion. Rather, he subsumed the earlierDei Lucrii as Roman religion wassyncretized withGreek religion during the time of theRoman Republic, starting around the 4th century BC.[citation needed] His cult was introduced also by influence ofEtruscan religion in whichTurms had similar characteristics.[4] From the beginning, Mercury had essentially the same aspects asHermes, wearing winged shoes (talaria) and a winged hat (petasos), and carrying thecaduceus, a herald's staff with two entwined snakes that wasApollo's gift to Hermes. He was often accompanied by arooster, herald of the new day,[5] a ram or goat, symbolizingfertility, and a tortoise, referring to Mercury's legendary invention of thelyre from a tortoise shell.
Like Hermes, he was also a god of messages, eloquence and of trade, particularly of thegrain trade. He was the patron of travelers and the god of thievery as well. Mercury was also considered a god of abundance and commercial success, particularly inGaul, where he was said to have been particularly revered.[6] He was also, like Hermes, the Romans'psychopomp, leading newly deceased souls to the afterlife. Additionally,Ovid wrote that Mercury carriedMorpheus's dreams from the valley ofSomnus to sleeping humans.[7]
Archeological evidence fromPompeii suggests that Mercury was among the most popular of Roman gods.[8] The god of commerce was depicted on two early bronze coins of the Roman Republic, thesextans and thesemuncia.[9]
When they described the gods of Celtic and Germanic tribes, rather than considering them separate deities, the Romans interpreted them as local manifestations or aspects of their own gods, a cultural trait called theinterpretatio romana. Mercury, in particular, was reported as becoming extremely popular among the nations theRoman Empire conquered;Julius Caesar wrote of Mercury being the most popular god in Britain and Gaul, regarded as the inventor of all the arts.[10] This is probably because, in the Romansyncretism, Mercury was equated with theCeltic godLugus, and in this aspect was commonly accompanied by the Celtic goddessRosmerta. Although Lugus may originally have been a deity of light or the sun (though this is disputed), similar to the Roman Apollo, his importance as a god of trade made him more comparable to Mercury, and Apollo was instead equated with the Celtic deityBelenus.[7]
Romans associated Mercury with theGermanic godWotan, byinterpretatio romana; 1st-century Roman writerTacitus identifies him as the chief god of the Germanic peoples.[11] This association of Mercury and Wotan is seen in the English language day-name Wednesday and the French Mercredi.
Mercury is known to the Romans asMercurius and occasionally in earlier writings asMerqurius, Mirqurios orMircurios, had a number ofepithets representing different aspects or roles, or representing syncretisms with non-Roman deities. The most common and significant of these epithets included the following:
Mercurius Artaios, a syncretism of Mercury with the Celtic godArtaios, a deity of bears and hunting who was worshipped atBeaucroissant, France.[12]
Mercurius Arvernus, a syncretism of the CelticArvernus with Mercury. Arvernus was worshipped in theRhineland, possibly as a particular deity of theArverni tribe, though no dedications to Mercurius Arvernus occur in their territory in theAuvergne region of central France.[12]
Mercurius Cimbrianus, a syncretism of Mercury with a god of theCimbri sometimes thought to represent Odin.
Mercurius Esibraeus, a syncretism of theIberian deityEsibraeus with the Roman deity Mercury. Esibraeus is mentioned only in an inscription found atMedelim, Portugal, and is possibly the same deity as Banda Isibraiegus, who is invoked in an inscription from the nearby village ofBemposta.[13]
Mercurius Gebrinius, a syncretism of Mercury with the Celtic or GermanicGebrinius, known from an inscription on an altar inBonn, Germany.[12]
Mercurius Moccus, from a Celtic god,Moccus, who was equated with Mercury, known from evidence atLangres, France. The name Moccus ("pig") implies that this deity was connected to boar-hunting.[12]
Mercurius Sobrius ("Mercury the Teetotaler"), a syncretism of Mercury with aCarthaginian god of commerce.[14]
Mercurius Visucius, a syncretism of the Celtic godVisucius with the Roman god Mercury, attested in an inscription fromStuttgart, Germany. Visucius was worshipped primarily in the frontier area of the empire in Gaul and Germany. Although he was primarily associated with Mercury, Visucius was also sometimes linked to the Roman godMars, as a dedicatory inscription to "Mars Visucius" and Visucia, Visicius' female counterpart, was found in Gaul.[12][15]
InVirgil'sAeneid, Mercury remindsAeneas of his mission to found the city of Rome. In Ovid'sFasti, Mercury is assigned to escort the nymphLarunda to the underworld. Mercury, however, falls in love with Larunda and makes love to her on the way. Larunda thereby becomes mother to two children, referred to as theLares, invisiblehousehold gods.
TheRoman Senate referred the decision to the popular assembly, and also decreed that whichever was chosen should also exercise additional duties, including presiding over the markets, establish a merchants' guild, and exercising the functions of thepontifex maximus. The people, because of the ongoing public discord, and in order to spite the senate and theconsuls, instead awarded the honour of dedicating the temple to Marcus Laetorius, thesenior military officer of one of the legions. The senate and the consuls, in particular the conservative Appius, were outraged at this decision, and it inflamed the ongoing situation.[17]
The temple was regarded as a fitting place to worship a swift god of trade and travel, since it was a major center of commerce as well as a racetrack. Since it stood between the plebeian stronghold on the Aventine and thepatrician center on the Palatine, it also emphasized the role of Mercury as amediator.[citation needed]
Because Mercury was not one of the early deities surviving from theRoman Kingdom, he was not assigned aflamen (priest), but he did have his own major festival, on 15 May, theMercuralia. During the Mercuralia, merchants sprinkled water from his sacred well near thePorta Capena on their heads[citation needed].
Mercury features in the first published comic book story ofJack Kirby,Mercury in the 20th Century, published inRed Raven Comics 1, 1940.[19]
The United States' so-calledMercury dime, issued from 1916 to 1945, actually features a WingedLiberty and not the god Mercury, but despite wearing aPhrygian cap instead of a winged helm, the coin bears his name due to resemblance.[20]
The United States E-6B aircraft flown by the United States Navy is a communications platform named after the god.
Bronze figurine of Mercury with three phalluses, with rooster in the left hand and money bag in the right hand, 100 to 250 A.D., found inTongeren, ca 8.8 cmGallo-Roman Museum (Tongeren)
^abLittleton, C. Scott (Ed.) (2002).Mythology: The Illustrated Anthology of World Myth and Storytelling (pp. 195, 251, 253, 258, 292). London: Duncan Baird Publishers.ISBN1-904292-01-1.
^Beard, Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town at 295–298
^Sear, David R. (2000).Roman Coins and Their Values – The Millennium Edition. Volume I: The Republic and The Twelve Caesars, 280BC-AD96 (pp. 187–189). London: Spink.ISBN1-902040-35-X
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