Hermes

Also known as: Mercury / My Hermes · Family: Gods · Role: messenger of Zeus · First appears: Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound — Scene 6

In Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, Hermes appears as Zeus’s courier and minister, confronting his enemy Prometheus when he refuses to reveal the secret of Zeus’s future overthrow. Hermes warns that Zeus will crush him beneath the rock and prolong his torment: “With thunder and the levin's blazing flash / The Father this ravine of rock shall crush.” In The Suppliants, he is remembered as the slayer of Argos, while The Libation-Pourers places him in relation to Skylla and invokes him as Maia’s son for help.

In Eumenides, Hermes guards and guides Orestes as he escapes the sleeping Erinnyes, fulfilling the charge to be his “Guide” and true shepherd. In Electra, he leads Orestes while concealing the deception in darkness; in Oedipus at Colonus, he guides Oedipus toward the realm below.

In Helen, Hermes carries Helen through the air at Hera’s command and places her in Proteus’ house so that she may preserve Menelaus’ marriage bed. In Andromache, the winged son of Maia and Zeus leads Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena before Paris, where Aphrodite wins the beauty contest.