Later, with the development of the ancient Greek city-state, people endowed Hermes with many functions such as transmitting information and guiding the soul. At the same time, in order to strengthen the connection between the worship of Hermes and real life, people in ancient Greece also held relevant sacrificial ceremonies and activities for it, and Hermes gradually became a "representative of the common people."
Hermes is one of the gods most closely related to human beings.
In ancient times, because people didn't know where they came from, they were in awe of everything in nature, and then thought that everything in nature was a symbol of the gods.
Religion in early ancient Greece originated from the worship of nature, and almost everything in nature related to human life, such as mountains, boulders and running water, can be worshipped by people.
The worship of Hermes by the ancient Greeks extended from a square pillar, and the head of Hermes was generally carved on the top of this pillar. The ancient Greeks thought that this kind of stone pillar could not only be used as a road sign, but also point out the direction for human beings and gods, and also have a beautiful meaning for future generations.
At the same time, in the eyes of ancient Greeks, Hermes had both a divine side and a human side. There are two reasons for this:
(1) Hermes is the messenger of information between man and God.
In some bards' works, such as Homer's, the ancient Greek gods lived on Mount Olympus. They not only have the appearance of ordinary people, but also have the same joys and sorrows as ordinary people. They will get angry, quarrel and laugh.
Although the gods of the Olympian family had their own responsibilities at that time, Zeus appointed Hermes as the messenger between the gods in order to facilitate the communication between the gods.
Of course, Hermes is not only a messenger to transmit information between gods, but also a bridge to communicate between human beings and gods. In ancient Greek mythology, whenever Hermes was sent by Zeus to convey information to the world, he would wear gold shoes with the symbol of the gods and shuttle between the gods and mankind. The wand he holds can not only wake up the sleeping people, but also make the sober people fall asleep instantly, thus becoming the guardian of people's dreams.
The appearance of Hermes made people in ancient Greece feel that the gods were not as far away as Mount Olympus, but actually existed in human real life.
(2) Hermes is the guide of human behavior and soul.
According to the relevant records in Homer's epic:
"Among the gods, Hermes likes to guide mortals forward best."
Hermes not only acts as a messenger between man and god, but also acts as a guide to human behavior. During the war, Prince Troy died in the hands of Achilles, who later insulted the body of Prince Troy in front of everyone and refused to return it to the Kingdom of Troy.
In ancient Greece, if the deceased was not buried, his soul would wander around the world. Zeus, as the Lord of the gods, learned of this and sent Hermes down to solve it. After that, Hermes became a young prince and found Priam, the old king of Troy. With his help, Priam arrived at Achilles' camp and redeemed the body of Prince Troy.
At the same time, Hermes is not only a guide to human behavior, but also a guide to human soul. He can freely shuttle between the world and the underworld and give guidance to wandering souls.
According to the relevant description in Aeschylus's Dionysus:
"Hermes not only went to hades as the messenger of Zeus, but also conveyed Zeus' orders to Hadders, the guardian of hades, and also led Persephone from hades back to the harmonious world between man and god. "
The piety of ancient Greeks to Hermes penetrated into every aspect of life.
(1) Build a stone bust of Hermes in the city-state.
According to the relevant records in the Greek chronicle:
"Whether in the central area of the city or in remote rural areas, there is such a statue of Hermes, which marks the border in the city square or trading market, at the junction of towns or villages, and protects the lives of people in the area where the statue is located."
In order to express their worship of gods, the ancient Greeks built temples, related sacrificial ceremonies and religious activities. However, because Hermes is a god closely related to human beings, he is not as mysterious and unreachable as other gods. People's worship of Hermes is more reflected in the bust of the stone statue built for him by the polis.
At first, the worship of Hermes originated in Athens. In 520 BC, Hipacus, the younger brother of the Athenian tyrant Hibiya, first introduced this kind of stone pillar engraved with the statue of Hermes into Athens. Of course, Athens did not build a temple for the statue of Hermes at that time, but placed it on the road from the countryside to the center of Athens to mark the border and point out the direction for pedestrians.
With the continuous development of Athens city-state, people placed stone pillars engraved with the statue of Hermes in front of the door to resist bad luck and thieves. At that time, the statue of Hermes was no longer confined to individual regions or city-states, but formed a common phenomenon.
(2) Organizing sacrificial ceremonies and festivals related to the gods of Hermes.
According to aristophanes's statement in Pluto:
"The fourth day of every month, the day when Hermes was born, is also the day when people sacrificed to Hermes. On that day, people will present bread, figs and other foods to Hermes. "
It is believed that on this day, Hermes will guide ghosts to hades.
Moreover, at the bacchanalia for Dionysus, there will be ceremonies related to Hermes. On the last day of Wabo Day, people will open the long-simmering jars. On the one hand, it is a sacrifice to Dionysus, and on the other hand, it leads to wandering souls. In order to bring these souls back to the underworld, people will dedicate the prepared honey porridge to Hermes, and ask Hermes to take these souls to the underworld, let them rest in peace, and make the city pure again.
Nagra also has a festival related to Hermes, the Tower of Biotia. On the festival day, the town will select young men to run around the nagra Tower with lambs on their backs.
Because there has always been a legend in nagra Tower that there was a great plague here before. It was Hermes who walked around the nagra Tower with a lamb on his back that was able to dispel the plague, revive the nagra Tower and restore people's lives. Therefore, people here take Hermes as an example every year, carrying lambs to drive away all the unfavorable factors that threaten the development of the town, thus purifying the town.
At the same time, because in ancient Greek mythology, Hermes always shuttled between gods and people, people regarded him as a symbol of agility. As we all know, the ancient Greeks liked to hold sports competitions very much, and the appearance of Hermes was worshipped by more and more young people. Shortly after the introduction of the statue of Hermes as a landmark, people also built statues for it and held competitions in the arena.
According to Plato's Lucius:
"The participants in the festival are mainly young people in the city-states. On this day, they will put on their best clothes, hold a ceremony to worship Hermes and hold a competition. "
Hermes has gradually become the representative of ordinary people, and people's worship of Hermes is not only manifested as a city-state, but also through the city-state.
Hermes, as a member of the family of gods, was not high in status and authority, but was widely worshipped by the ancient Greeks because of its combination of divinity and humanity. The imaginative ancient Greeks highly personified the image of Hermes and combined it with real life. At first, they built it into a sign that could be used to guide the way.
Later, with the widespread use of Hermes, it was endowed with other functions such as exorcism. People in ancient Greece built statues of Hermes in front of houses, arenas and other places, and held related festivals for them.
It is generally believed that where there is a statue of Hermes, there will be the blessing of Hermes. Although people rarely build temples or hold large-scale festivals, people integrate the worship of Hermes into their daily lives in a more common form.
With the continuous development of the ancient Greek city-states, people shaped the image of Hermes more like fullness. Later, people also regarded him as a hero who educated human beings and a symbol of mysterious power.
The author believes that the worship of gods by ancient Greeks is to establish the connection between real life and gods, and then to pin the pursuit of a better life on gods. Hermes is not as mysterious and unreachable as other gods, but is closely related to human life.
Therefore, people's worship of Hermes in real life can not only express the development trend of ancient Greek polis, but also express Hermes through ancient Greek polis.