|
  |
|
|
The Gods Who Gave The Planets Their Names: Mercury
Ever wondered about the names of the planets in our solar system? What do they mean? Here's some information about them. This series is not about why the planets were given the names they have. It's about the characters whose names they bear. This article is about Mercury, also known as Hermes. The planets of the solar system, starting from nearest the Sun, and excluding Earth, are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto. (There is some debate as to whether Pluto is really a planet, but we'll include it!) All these planets' names are the Roman names for gods and goddesses of Greek mythology. I think the Greek names are nicer, so I'm going to talk about the Greek version of each one! Mercury: Greek name, Hermes.
Hermes was the son of Zeus, the king of all the gods, and Maia, the daughter of Atlas. You may already know that Atlas, who was very strong, was given the task of holding up the sky. When Hermes was only a few hours old, he got out of his cradle and stole a herd of cattle from the god Apollo, who was his half-brother. Apollo's father was Zeus, but his mother was a mortal named Leto. Apollo was not the kind of person you would want to annoy, so Hermes made a lyre, the first one ever, by stringing a tortoise shell with cow-gut and gave it to Apollo as a present. Hermes was appointed by Zeus as messenger of the gods. While performing this role he would wear a pair of winged sandals, called the Alipes, and a broad brimmed hat, called the Petasus. He carried a herald's staff, entwined with two white ribbons, although in later stories about him, the staff was entwined with two snakes. This staff was called the caduceus. He was the patron of traders, thieves and travellers. He was said to preside over all dice games. He was the father of the god Pan by Penelope. Among other interesting stories about Pan is the way he enjoyed jumping out of hiding at people to scare them. This is the origin of our word "panic." Hermes fathered a number of other children, among them Echion, who later became the herald of the Argonauts. Hermes was extremely busy, it seems. Some stories say that he conducted the souls of the dead to Hades. He is credited with helping the Fates, who were named Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, to invent the alphabet. He also invented the musical scale of notes, the system of weights and measures, and the cultivation of the olive tree. |
|
 |
|
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
The copyright for this content entitled "The Gods Who Gave The Planets Their Names: Mercury" has been specified by the contributor as:
All Rights Reserved
This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
|
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
