Protectors of the Crossroads
Hermai in Ancient Greece and Rome
A herma (ἑρμῆς) is a pile of stones, likely coming from the ancient Greek word érma (ἕρματα), meaning blocks of stone.[1] It was traditional for ancient Greeks to pile stones along the roadside, property boundaries, and at crossroads. As travelers came to the hermai, they would cast more stones onto the heap, or pour out offerings of olive oil onto the stones.
Whether by association, or design, these piles were replaced by quadrangular posts of stone, usually adorned with the bust and genitalia of Hermes, the patron of merchants, travel, fertility, good fortune, and boundaries. Four being a number sacred to Hermes, the shape of hermai also made them useful as mileposts, later chiseled with the names of towns and the number of miles to each destination. At Athens, hermai were placed in front of houses and public buildings for good luck and protection from evil. These roadside shrines became ubiquitous in Greece, Anatolia, Italy and Sicily, and were continued by the Romans as mercuriae.
One of the first possible mentions of a Herm is to be found in Homer’s Odyssey, Book 14, in which Odysseus returns to Ithaca in disguise. The first person Odysseus encounters upon his return to his native country after the Trojan war is his old slave, but also a friend, Emmaeus the swineherd. Showing himself to be a pious man, Emmaeus orders his finest boar to be sacrificed to welcome Odysseus, offering portions of roast pork, fat and bones, up to the gods, and spit-roasting the rest for the feast. (Emphasis is mine)
[425] Then he raised himself up, and smote the boar with a billet of oak, which he had left when splitting the wood, and the boar's life left him. And the others cut the boar's throat, and signed him, and quickly cut him up, and the swineherd took as first offerings bits of raw flesh from all the limbs, and laid them in the rich fat. These he cast into the fire, when he had sprinkled them with barley meal, [430] but the rest they cut up and spitted, and roasted it carefully, and drew it all off the spits, and cast it in a heap on platters. Then the swineherd stood up to carve, for well did his heart know what was fair, and he cut up the mess and divided it into seven portions. [435] One with a prayer he set aside for the nymphs and for Hermes, son of Maia, and the rest he distributed to each. And Odysseus he honored with the long chine of the white-tusked boar, and made glad the heart of his master; and Odysseus of many wiles spoke to him, and said: [440] “Eumaeus, mayest thou be as dear to father Zeus as thou art to me, since thou honourest me with a good portion, albeit I am in such plight.” To him then, swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou make answer, and say: “Eat, unhappy stranger, and have joy of such fare as is here. It is the god that will give one thing and withhold another, [445] even as seems good to his heart; for he can do all things.”[2]
Emmaeus is seen to be a very good man because he offered such a great sacrifice and feast to a total stranger. We know that Emmaeus did not recognize Odysseus, thereby giving the swineherd all the more credit for his observation of xenia—kindness and hospitality to strangers. It is likely that there was a Herm at the edge of Emmaeus’s land, or perhaps even in front of his house.
Hermai were not restricted to representations of Hermes (Mercury), but also included other gods, heroes, and esteemed mortals. The shrines were protected by custom, being important apotropaic figures. We know that during the Peloponnesian War, an incident involving the desecration of Athenian hermai led to formal charges being brought against the great general Alcibiades before the ill-fated Sicilian campaign of the Peloponnesian War.[3]
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[1] Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hermai". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 365.
[2] Homer. The Odyssey, Book 14, lines 425-445.
[3] Thucydides. The Landmark Thucydides. New York: Free Press, (2008), sections 6.27–28.