Winged sandals of the god Hermes - each of us would like to move with incredible speed. Do not wait for the bus, do not push in the minibus, do not stand for hours in traffic jams, do not spend money buying a ticket
by train or plane … Dreaming is not harmful. Naturally, this is all impossible. At least for the foreseeable future. Even the gods on Olympus did not have such supernatural powers. But there was one who had this wonderful opportunity. And all thanks to the magic winged sandals. But first about God himself.
It was Hermes - the god of trade relations, beautiful speech, courage and dexterity, cunning, wealth and income, the patron saint of all thieves, as well as travelers, heralds, embassies and shepherds. He had the gift of persuasion, with the help of which he could persuade and convince anyone. He is one of the oldest representatives of the pantheon of gods in Greece and perhaps the most charismatic of them. Born to the god Zeus and the daughter of the titan Atlanta, the mountain nymph Maya. He had many children, the most famous of whom is a hermaphrodite (male and female at once). Hermes was the ambassador of all the gods, and also escorted the souls of dying people to the dead kingdom of Hades. He came up with the first measures of measurement, numbers, writing and then taught people all this. His name comes from herm - pillars of stone with the head of Hermes and pronounced sexual characteristics. Such pillars used to stand next to roads and show the way. That is why God was considered the patron saint of travelers. He was venerated at anfesterias - holidays when spring came and people who died were remembered. In Roman mythology, a similar god was Mercury, who performed the same functions. In honor of him, they later named a planet that follows the sun very quickly, like a god.
Now directly about sandals. Hermes had his own magical attributes, which were always with him. The most important of these were the winged sandals called talarii. By the way, shoes with the same name and similar look are still popular in Greece. They allowed the god to move in an instant to any part of the Earth. That is why he became a messenger of people about news from Olympus, a guide between the world of the living and the dead, an ambassador of the gods. The sandals were gold or copper, which symbolized the full moon and magical power in general. In his stories, the great Homer gave them the "ambrosian" quality. It means "immortal, eternal." In general, they symbolize fast travel and fast news, speed in general, and are an attribute of all messenger gods. If you remember Russian fairy tales,then winged sandals are a lot like our running boots.
Do not forget about other important attributes of Hermes - a large hat with wide brim (petas) and a wand of gold (caduceus). The caduceus should be especially highlighted. With his help, God put people to sleep and woke them up. As Homer noted, the wand was the focus of magic and supernatural powers. Hermes used it when escorting the dead to the afterlife.
Author: Baranov Timofey Sergeevich