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Headword: Hermên
Adler number: epsilon,3037
Translated headword: Hermes
Vetting Status: high
Translation:
This is what they call a son of Zeus and Maia, i.e. of mind and sense. For reason is engendered from mind and sense. On account of this they also make him winged, because he is swift. For nothing is swifter than reason. And [that is why] Homer [says] "winged words".[1] They create [images of] him as the youngest of all [the gods], because reason does not grow old; but they also make him quadrangular[2] on account of the firmness of true reason. They also say he was responsible for profit and an overseer of the businesses: consequently they set up the statue of him weighing a purse. Furthermore, the Phoenicians sculpt their gods carrying purses, on the basis that gold was a token of sovereignty; but the Greeks sculpt them bearing arms, on the basis that men are subordinated to weapons.
Greek Original:
Hermên: touton huion Dios legousi kai Maias, hoion tou nou kai tês phronêseôs. ek nou gar kai phronêseôs ho logos gennatai. dia touto kai pterôton auton poiousin, hôs tachun: ouden gar logou tachuteron. kai Homêros, epea pteroenta. pantôn de neôtaton auton ergazontai dia to mê gêraskein ton logon: alla kai tetragônon auton poiousi dia tên sterrotêta tou alêthous logou. legousi de auton kai tou kerdous aition kai tôn emporiôn ephoron: hothen to agalma autou histôsi bastazon marsipon. alla kai hoi Phoinikes tous theous autôn plattousin epipherontas balantia, hôs tou chrusou sumbolou ontos dunasteias: hoi de Hellênes sidêrophorountas autous plattousin, hôs tois hoplois hupotattomenôn tôn anthrôpôn.
Notes:
ps.-Codinus, Patria Constantinopoleos 2.9-10 (Preger, Scriptores originum Constantinopolitanarum 155.5 - 156.3).
[1] Homer, Iliad 1.201, etc.; cf. pi 3012.
[2] (So already epsilon 3033.) "The herm, a quadrangular pillar topped with a head, was very popular from the end of the 6th cent. [BCE] onwards" (OCD(4) p.669, s.v. Hermes); obviously its significance predates by many centuries the Christian interpretation put on it here. On herms see further OCD(4) p.671 s.v. herms.
Keywords: art history; Christianity; definition; economics; epic; imagery; military affairs; mythology; trade and manufacture
Translated by: Jennifer Benedict on 19 November 2000@15:23:03.
Vetted by:
David Whitehead (modified translation; added notes) on 20 November 2000@05:46:02.
David Whitehead (another keyword) on 28 November 2005@08:33:32.
Catharine Roth (tweaked translation, augmented notes) on 4 January 2008@23:17:48.
David Whitehead (x-ref) on 18 April 2010@05:12:33.
David Whitehead (augmented primary note; more keywords) on 28 October 2012@08:28:53.
Catharine Roth (cosmetics) on 9 August 2013@00:26:26.
David Whitehead (updated 2 refs) on 3 August 2014@08:25:15.
David Whitehead (another x-ref; cosmetics) on 12 February 2016@10:47:47.
Catharine Roth (tweaked translation) on 3 December 2017@01:37:01.

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