Gina Wiste
10/6/15
English 1
Mr. Frey
Hermes
Though many may like to, few people have the luxury to lash out when angered and turn their vice to stone. Yet this is precisely the reaction the god Hermes had when he discovered that Battos had betrayed him. Hermes had stolen Apollo’s cattle and wished to hide them. He brought the herds past Battos’s lookout post and made the watchman swear never to breathe a word of Hermes’s thievery. Despite this caveat, Battos made Hermes’s crime known and was turned to stone as punishment. Clearly, a theme of this story would be disloyalty and its consequences. Myths, such as this one, often had themes and ideas of the world through which one may glean an understanding of Greek society and its customs and…show more content… Thus, it was and still is easy for people to identify with and find role models in the gods and goddesses present in these ancient tales. Personally, I find that I have a great deal in common with Hermes and his more benevolent side as the god of language and literature, heraldry, and travel. Born to Zeus and Maia, Hermes was destined to be an adventurous and clever god from the moment he entered the world. The very day of his birth he escaped from the cave on Mount Cyllene in which his mother was napping, and then found and stole fifty of the god Apollo's cattle. Thanks in part to Batto's tattle-taling, Apollo found out that the young Hermes had taken his cattle and…show more content… For example, both of us have a desire for heraldry. While Hermes was a messenger amongst the gods, I would prefer a much more humble post as a deliverer of information amongst humans. I write for the Benet Herald in the hopes that one day I will have built up the skill and knowledge it takes to one day be a journalist. Just the mere thought of sharing knowledge with people of a city, across a country, or even across the globe exhilarates me. In conjunction, both Hermes and I have a common love of language and literature. I am a firm believer in the power and romance of words, and Hermes' successes due to his persuasive nature are an impeccable testament to that. I am drawn to books and poetry, both writing and reading, because I feel that language has a power to unite people in a way sciences or maths cannot. Though different languages seem to be an infinite obstacle, there can be no harm in my trying to reach as many people in as many places with a positive message of hope and love as I can. Whenever I have a spare moment, one can almost always find me writing. One day I aspire to write a novel that will transcend the boundaries of hatred that man has created for himself. This brings forth the last of Hermes' major patronages, his being the god of travel and hospitality. If my dreams of becoming a journalist or an author are realized, then I aim to travel the world and shed light