Rough Notes:

Mercury (mythology)

 
 
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Mercury (mythology)(/ˈmɜrkjʉri/; Latin: Mercurius listen (help•info)) is a major Roman god, being one of the Dii Consentes within the ancient Roman pantheon. He is the patron god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence (and thus poetry), messages/communication (including divination), travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery and thieves; he is also the guide of souls to the underworld.

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...is worship was introduced early, and his temple on the Aventine Hill in Rome was dedicated in 495 BC. There he was associated with the goddessMaia, who became identified as his mother through her association with the Greek Maia, mother of Hermes... -The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica.

 

...I am the spirit of metals, the firewhich does not burn, the water which does not wet the hands. If you find the way to slay me you will find the philosophical mercury of the wise, even the White Stone beloved of the Philosophers. If you find the way to raise me up again, you will find the philosophical sulphur, that is, the Red Stone and Elixir of Life. Obey me and I will be your servant; free me and I will be your friend. Enslave me and I am a dangerous enemy; command me and I will make you mad; give me life and you will die. - Patrick Harpur.

 

Mercury in his role as messenger - The Romans believed that gods and goddesses were in charge of everything on Earth. Mercury is named after the messenger for their gods. The Roman Mercury had wings on his helmet and shoes. He could travel very quickly from place to place. The planet Mercury moves quickly around the sun. That is how it got its name.

 

But it is a very remarkable circumstance, that an acquaintance with the seven days of the week, so familiar from remote antiquity to the people who originally spoke Sanskrit language, though unknown to the Greeks and Romans, should have been preserved among the Germans... - Vans Kennedy.

  • And when we say also that the Word, who is the first-birth of God, was produced without sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ, our Teacher, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we propound nothing different from what you believeregarding those whom you esteem sons of Jupiter. For you know how many sons your esteemed writers ascribed to Jupiter: Mercury, the interpreting word and teacher of all; Aesculapius, who, though he was a great physician, was struck by a thunderbolt, and so ascended to heaven; and Bacchus too, after he had been torn limb from limb; and Hercules, when he had committed himself to the flames to escape his toils; and the sons of Leda, and Dioscuri; and Perseus, son of Danae; and Bellerophon, who, though sprung from mortals, rose to heaven on the horse Pegasus. For what shall I say of Ariadne, and those who, like her, have been declared to be set among the stars? And what of the emperors who die among yourselves, whom you deem worthy of deification, and in whose behalf you produce some one who swears he has seen the burning Caesar rise to heaven from the funeral pyre? And what kind of deeds are recorded of each of these reputed sons of Jupiter, it is needless to tell to those who already know. This only shall be said, that they are written for the advantage and encouragement of youthful scholars; for all reckon it an honourable thing to imitate the gods. But far be such a thought concerning the gods from every well-conditioned soul, as to believe that Jupiter himself, the governor and creator of all things, was both a parricide and the son of a parricide, and that being overcome by the love of base and shameful pleasures, he came in to Ganymede and those many women whom he had violated and that his sons did like actions. But, as we said above, wicked devils perpetrated these things. And we have learned that those only are deified who have lived near to God in holiness and virtue; and we believe that those who live wickedly and do not repent are punished in everlasting fire.
  • Paret Atlantiades dictis genitoris et inde
    summa pedum propere plantaribus inligat alis
    obnubitque comas et temperat astra galero.
    tum dextrae uirgam inseruit, qua pellere dulces
    aut suadere iterum somnos, qua nigra subire
    Tartara et exangues animare adsueuerat umbras.
    desiluit, tenuique exceptus inhorruit aura.
    nec mora, sublimes raptim per inane volatus
    carpit et ingenti designat nubila gyro.
    • Atlas' grandson obeys his sire's words and hastily thereupon binds the winged sandals on to his ankles and with his wide hat covers his locks and tempers the stars. Then he thrusts the wand in his right hand; with this he was wont to banish sweet slumber or recall it, with this to enter black Tartarus and give life to bloodless phantoms. Down he leapt and shivered as the thin air received him. No pause; he takes swift and lofty flight through the void and traces a vast arc across the clouds.
    • Statius, Thebaid, Book I, line 303 (tr. D. R. Shackleton Bailey)

 

....Mercury was connected with the deity Woodan, or Odin among the northern seafarers. In Italy ancient people called Mercury Boudha, a word with the same origin as Woodan or Odin. The connection lives on in our current use of English day of week Wednesday derived from Woodan’s day. - Robert G. Strom

  • There is ample linguistic evidence that some of the first people to observe Mercury and commit the planet to the immortality of myth were Germanic people and Scandinavians who navigated far south from their native lands into what is now the Mediterranean and the coasts of Africa. Mercury was connected with the deityWoodan, or Odin among the northern seafarers. In Italy ancient people called Mercury Boudha, a word with the same origin as Woodan or Odin. The connection lives on in our current use of English day of week Wednesday derived from Woodan’s day.
  • The astronomical symbol of Mercury [☿] can be traced to a medieval Greek manuscript where it takes the form ?. The horizontal cross is a modern addition. The "horns" at the top of the symbol represent the wings of this speedy planet It is from the use of the name Hermes for Mercury that the usage of Hermean for characteristics of Mercury became popular during the 19th century and continues to be used by some today.
    • Robert G. Strom, Ann L. Sprague in: "Exploring Mercury: The Iron Planet", p. 3

 

As Hermes Psychopompos, he also serves as a guide of souls into the underworld. Under his Roman name of Mercury, Hermes is the prime god of the alchemists who hoped to transform base matter into refined, spiritual gold. Mercury is “quick silver”, the spirit that existed in matter. - Gisela Labouvie-Vief

  • As Hermes Psychopompos, he also serves as a guide of souls into the underworld. Under his Roman name of Mercury, Hermes is the prime god of the alchemists who hoped to transform base matter into refined, spiritual gold. Mercury is “quick silver”, the spirit that existed in matter.
    • Gisela Labouvie-Vief In: "Psyche and Eros: Mind and Gender in the Life Course", P.258
  • Roman version of the Greek god Hermes, Mercury played a particular role among the medieval alchemists who hoped to transform mercury to gold.
    • Gisela Labouvie-Vief in: :Psyche and Eros: Mind and Gender in the Life Course", P.276
  • Mercurial is relating to, or born under the planet Mercury. It is having qualities of eloquence, ingenuity, or thievishness attributed to the god Mercury or to the influence of the planet Mercury. It is characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood [a mercurial temper] of, relating to, containing, or caused by Mercury.

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