Tracking Hermes Pursuing Mercury

Of all the divinities of classical antiquity the Greek Hermes (Mercury in his Roman alter ego) is the most versatile enigmatic complex and ambiguous. The runt of the Olympian litter he is the god of lies and tricks yet is also kindly towards mankind and a bringer of luck. His functions embrace both the marking of boundaries and their transgression but also extend to commerce lucre and theft as well as rhetoric and practical jokes. In another guise he plays the role of mediator between all realms of human and divine activity embracing heaven earth and the netherworld. <p/>Pursuing this elusive divinity requires a truly multidisciplinary approach reflecting his prismatic nature and the twenty contributions to this volume draw on a wide range of fields to achieve this from Greek and Roman literature (epic lyric and drama) epigraphy cult and religion to vase painting and sculpture. In offering an overview of the myriad aspects of Hermes/Mercury-including his origins patronage of the gymnasium and relation to other trickster figures-the volume attempts to track the god's footprints across the many domains in which he partakes. Moreover in keeping with his deep connection to exchange commerce and dialogue it aims to exemplify and further encourage discourse between Latinists and Hellenists as well as between scholars of literary and material cultures.<br>