Mercury
Mercurius (German: Mercury ) was a god in the Roman religion . Its name goes back to the Latin word merx , goods. He was equated with the Greek Hermes . Its origin and other properties were transferred to him. He was considered a “messenger of the gods” and was the god of traders and thieves.
God of commerce
In Rome a public cult was established for him as the protector of the grain trade, which is so important for this city. 495 BC The Romans inaugurated a temple for him at the Circus Maximus (on the Aventine ), at the same time a guild of merchants was created whose members called themselves mercuriales . On the foundation day of the temple and the guild, on May 15, the merchants made sacrifices to the god and his mother Maia and sprinkled the head and goods with water from a spring dedicated to him at the Porta Capena . As the patron god of traders, he was depicted on the reverse of coins not only in Roman times, but also occasionally in modern times.
Attributes
Among the attributes of Mercury which includes Caduceus , a winged helmet , wings shoes , and frequently a purse, which he holds in his right hand.
Worship in the Roman provinces
In the Roman Empire during the Imperial Era, Mercurius was spread west and north with trade. In the Celtic and Germanic provinces the worship of Mercury was even stronger than in Rome itself. Hundreds of finds indicate this, most of which are inscriptions on holy stones or bronze tablets. The representation on these stones, which were found in the Germanic Rhine provinces, is Roman in form and expression, but the name composites are of Germanic origin linked to the purpose of the foundation and a specific group of people, be it individual tribes or a local reference.
In the provinces he also comes across with numerous local nicknames such as Mercurius Cissonius or Mercurius Gebrinius .
weekday
After Mercury the fourth (today third) weekday Wednesday was named with Mercurii this . This has been preserved in some Romance languages (Italian mercoledì ; French: mercredi ; Spanish: miércoles ; Romanian: miercuri ) and in Albanian as e mërkurë .
According to Tacitus ( Germania ), late antiquity and early medieval chroniclers equated the Germanic god Wodan / Odin with Mercury, which can still be understood today when the day is called, for example, wednesday in English and onsdag in Swedish.
literature
- Sonja Brink: Mercurius Mediceus. Studies on the panegyric use of the figure of Mercury in Florence in the 16th century (= manuscripts for art history in the Werner publishing company. Volume 13). Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 1987, ISBN 978-3-88462-912-3 .
- Bernhard Huss : Hermes. In: Maria Moog-Grünewald (Ed.): Mythenrezeption. The ancient mythology in literature, music and art from the beginnings to the present (= Der Neue Pauly . Supplements. Volume 5). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2008, ISBN 978-3-476-02032-1 , pp. 344-351.
- Wilhelm Kroll : Mercurius 1. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XV, 1, Stuttgart 1931, Col. 975-982.
- C. Robert Phillips: Mercurius. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 8, Metzler, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-476-01478-9 , Sp. 1-4.
- Erika Simon , Gerhard Bauchhenß: Mercurius . In: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). Volume VI, Zurich / Munich 1992, pp. 500–554.
- Hermann Steuding : Mercurius . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 2.2, Leipzig 1897, Col. 2802-2831 ( digitized version ).
- Georg Wissowa : Religion and cult of the Romans. Beck, Munich 1902, pp. 248-249 ( digitized version ). 2nd edition 1912, of which reprint 1971, ISBN 3-406-03406-3
gallery
Giambologna : Flying Mercury , 1578 – approx. 1580
Sculpture of Mercury in Leases ( Contiomagus )
Illustration at Mainz main station
Markus Lüpertz : Mercurius in front of the Post Tower in Bonn
Mercury on the Dolls Bridge in Lübeck
Mercury on the obverse of the last Italian 500 lire banknote
.JPG)
