Hermes without borders

Hermes without borders

[The cultural landscape of Greece, 9]

Hermes, who wears a wide-brimmed hat on this kantharos (wine cup) held many roles in antiquity, ranging from messenger of the gods to protector of liminal spaces or boundaries. So he mediated between the living and the dead. This is shown by the bird perched on his right hand: birds were sent from the afterlife to deliver divine messages, so worked together with Hermes. Owing to his liminality, Hermes was popularly invoked on curse tablets, also known as defixiones. These tablets often dealt with relationship troubles: authors would carve their quarrels or desires onto stone, lead, or wax which they then buried, before praying to a chthonic god to fulfil their wish. The subjects of curse-tablets were of all genders and sexualities, emphasising the fact that lovers’ quarrels are boundless.