GRECIAN MYTHOLOGY. 105 
prompt. In jig. 23 he appears as a more advanced youth, still retaining 
the features of active cunning. As shown in a beautiful bust (pl. 27, jig. 
2), he wears the hat, and has quite a youthful expression; also in pl. 28, 
Jig. 11, where the face is larger. Finally, we have a representation of the 
Lthyphallic Hermes (or Priapus, guardian of landmarks) on a coin (pl. 28, 
Jig. 12); and in pl. 15, jig. 15, Hermes stands on a winged globe, holding 
in the left hand a torch, and in the right a vessel of fruits for sacrifice. 
It remains to explain the term Herme applied to terminal statues (pl. 
27, fig. 3). The word Herma originally signified a post or pillar, and 
hence in sculpture a post on which a bust was placed, and which was 
quadrangular and diminished in circumference from the top downwards. 
These pillars were very common, and seem to have been first used in 
Athens. They were made of heights in proportion to the busts which they 
were to bear, and sometimes had arms and feet attached. In some instances 
the name appeared on the breast, in others at half the height of the pillar. 
The whole doubtless arose out of the ancient worship, when as yet men 
revered the rude images which served to describe boundaries, and as 
guides at cross-ways ; and when the Herma received the head it became a 
symbol of Hermes, the god of highways and travellers. These images had 
wings on their heads, as the insignia of Hermes. They were also placed 
near the temples of the other gods, in order to indicate the office of Hermes 
as messenger, and in gardens and walks for ornament. 
From the many myths recorded of Hermes, we make a few ~eleetiaas as 
they seem to characterize him more accurately. From the very first he 
exhibited remarkable prudence and sagacity. Only four hours from his 
birth, he threw off his swaddling clothes, and left the grotto in which he 
had been born. By chance he found a tortoise, and killed it; and after 
boring holes through the sides of the shell, and inserting reeds or pipes, he 
attached to them seven strings prepared from the entrails of a sheep, and 
using the tones of this instrument as an accompaniment, he sang the story 
of his birth. Thus he became the inventor of the first stringed instrument, 
the lyre, which henceforth was regarded as one of his proper symbols. 
During a second excursion he came where the herds of the gods, guarded 
by Apollo, were feeding. By an ingenious device he stole fifty of the 
cattle, hastened back to his retreat, and discovered the art of roasting and 
of sacrificing. Concealing the remnants of his meal, he crept back into 
his cradle and gathered his clothes about him. Apollo, however, by the 
aid of inspiration, learned where the booty was, and went to the grotto to 
receive it; but Hermes stoutly denied the theft, and evinced a well-feigned 
astonishment that one so young should be charged with so grave an offence. 
Apollo now accused him before Zeus, and here he still pleaded his inno- 
cence, winking slyly at the Great Father. The latter seemed pleased with 
his great cunning, but ordered him to restore the plunder. When Apollo 
went to obtain it, he was so entranced by the tones of. the lyre, that he not 
only relinquished to Hermes the stolen cattle, but gave him also a share 
of the herd for it ; not, however, without making the cunning deity promise 
not to rob him of his instrument or his bow, nor even to come near his 
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