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Hermes loves
HERMES was the great Olympian god of herds, travel, trade, heraldry, language,
athletics and thievery. He had numerous lovers in myth, although most of these
appear only in the ancient genealogies with no accompanying story. The most
famous of his loves were the Nymph Penlopeia (mother of Pan), and the maids Herse
of Athens, and Khione of Phokis. The only metamorphosis story in this genre was the
obscure tale of his love for Krokos (the crocus flower), echoing that of Apollon and
Hyakinthos.
(1) DIVINE LOVES
APHRODITE The Goddess of Love was seduced by Hermes with the help of Zeus
and a stolen sandal. She bore him a son named Hermaphroditos.
BRIMO A Goddess of the Underworld (probably Hekate), whose virginity was lost to
Hermes on the banks of the Thessalian Lake Boibeis.
DAEIRA An Underworld goddess who mated with Hermes and bore him a daughter
(or son) named Eleusis. She may be the same as Brimo mentioned above, in which
case her name is probably a title for Hekate or Persephone.
PEITHO The Goddess of Persuasion whom Hermes took as his bride.
PERSEPHONE The gods Hermes, Ares, Apollon and Hephaistos all wooed
Persephone before her marriage to Haides. Demeter rejected all their gifts and hid
her daughter away from the company of the gods.
(2) SEMI-DIVINE LOVES (NYMPHAI)
KARMENTIS An Arkadian (of Southern Greece) Naias Nymphe who was loved by
Hermes. She bore him a son Euandros, with whom she emmigrated to Latium (in
Italia).
NYMPHE (UNNAMED) A Nymphe of Sikelia (Sicily, Southern Italia) who bore Hermes
a son named Daphnis. [see Family]
OKYRRHOE A Naias Nymphe of Teuthrania (in Asia Minor) who bore Hermes a son
named Kaikos. [see Family]
OREIADES, THE Nymphai of the Mountains were said to mate with Hermes in the
highlands, breeding more of their kind.
PENELOPEIA An (Oreias) Nymphe of Arkadia (in Southern Greece) who bore to
Hermes the god Pan (or one of the Panes named Nomios).
RHENE A (Naias) Nymphe of the island of Samothrake (in the Greek Aegean) who
bore a son Saon to Hermes. [see Family]
SOSE An Oreias Nymphe of Arkadia (in Southern Greece) and Prophetess of the god
Hermes. She bore him a son the pan Agreus.
TANAGRA A Naias Nymphe of Argos (in Southern Greece) for whom the gods Ares
and Hermes competed in a boxing match. Hermes won and carried her off to Tanagra
in Boiotia.
(3) MORTAL LOVES (WOMEN)
AGLAUROS A Princess of Attika (Athens) (in Southern Greece) who bore Hermes a
son, Keryx. [see Family]
AKALLE A Princess of Krete (in the Greek Aegean) loved by Hermes. She bore him a
son named Kydon. [see Family]

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ALKIDAMEA A Princess of Korinthos (in Southern Greece) who bore Hermes a son
named Bounos. [see Family]
ANTIANEIRA A woman of Alope in Malis (Northern Greece) who bore Hermes two
sons: Ekhion and Eurytos. [see Family]
APEMOSYNE A Princess of Krete (and later Rhodes) (in the Greek Aegean) who was
impregnated by Hermes. When her brother discovered she was pregnant with child
he kicked her to death.
APTALE A woman who was the mother of Eurestos by Hermes. [see Family]
ERYTHEIA A Princess of Iberia (in Southern Spain) who bore Hermes a son Norax.
[see Family]
EUPOLEMIA A Princess of Phthia (in Northern Greece) who was loved by Hermes. She
bore him a son Aithalides. [see Family]
HERSE (aka KREUSA) A Princess of Attika (in Southern Greece) who was loved by
Hermes and bore him a son Kephalos.
IPHTHIME A Princess of Doris (in Thessalia, Northern Greece) who was loved by
Hermes and bore him three Satyroi - named Pherespondos, Lykos and Pronomos.
KHIONE (aka PHILONIS) A Princess of Phokis (in Central Greece) who made love to
two gods, Hermes and Apollon, on the same night. To Hermes she bore a son
Autolykos.
KHTHONOPHYLE A Queen of Sikyonia (in Southern Greece) who bore Hermes a son
named Polybos. [see Family]
KLYTIE A woman or nymph of Elis (Southern Greece) who was the mother of Myrtilos
by Hermes. His mother is also named as Theoboule. [see Family]
LIBYE A Princess of Libya (in North Africa) or Nauplia, Argolis (in Southern Greece)
who bore Hermes a son named Libys. [see Family]
PENELOPE A Queen of Ithaka (in Southern Greece) and wife of Odysseus. Acording
to some, she was the mother by Hermes of the god Pan (most acccounts, however,
say that is was a Nymphe of the same name that bore the god).
PHYLODAMEIA One of the fifty Princesses of Argos (in Southern Greece) known as
the Danaides. She was loved by Hermes and bore him a son Pharis. [see Family]
POLYMELE A Lady of Phthiotis (in Northern Greece) who bore Hermes a son, Eudoros.
THEOBOULE A woman of Elis (in Southern Greece) who bore Hermes a son, Myrtilos.
[see Family]
THRONIA A Princess of Aigyptos (or Egypt, in North Africa) who bore Hermes a son,
named Arabos. [see Family]
(4) MORTAL LOVES (MEN)
AMPHION A King of Thebes in Boiotia (Southern Greece) who, according to some,
was loved by Hermes.
KROKOS An Arkadian boy (of Southern Greece) who was loved by Hermes. When the
god accidentally killed him playing discus, he transformed the boy into a crocus
flower.
PERSEUS A Hero and Prince of Argos (in Southern Greece) who, according to some,
was a male lover of Hermes.

HERMES LOVES: APHRODITE

LOCALE: Aitolia (Central Greece) AND Amythaonia (Egypt) OR Mt Ida, Troia
(Anatolia)
I) SEDUCED IN EGYPT
"Mercurius [Hermes] stirred by Venuss [Aphrodite's] beauty, fell in love with her, and
when she permitted no favours, became greatly downcast, as if in disgrace. Jove
[Zeus] pitied him, and when Venus [Aphrodite] was bathing in the river Achelous he
sent and eagle to take her sandal to Amythaonia of the Egyptians and give it to
Mercurius [Hermes]. Venus [Aphrodite], in seeking for it, came to him who loved her,
and so he, on attaining his desire, as a reward put the eagle in the sky [as the
constellation Aquilla]." - Hyginus, Astronomica 2.16
II) THEIR CHILD
"Hermaphroditos, as he has been called, who was born of Hermes and Aphrodite and
received a name which is a combination of those of both his parents." - Diodorus
Siculus, Library of History 4.6.5
"Youths who were most handsome ... Atlantius, son of Mercurius [Hermes] and
Venus [Aphrodite], who is called Hermaphroditus." - Hyginus, Fabulae 271
"To Mercurius [Hermes], runs the tale, and Cythereia [Aphrodite] a boy was born
whom in Mount Idas caves the Naides nurtured; in his face he showed father and
mother and took his name from both. When thrice five years had passed, the youth
forsook Ida, his fostering home, his mountain haunts, eager to roam strange lands
afar." - Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.288
"Engendered form the sea-foam, we are told she [Aphrodite] became the mother by
Mercurius [Hermes] of the second Cupidus [literally Eros, but Cicero is probably
referring to Hermaphroditos]." - Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.21 - 3.23
For MORE information
HERMAPHRODITOS

on

these

divinities

see

APHRODITE

and

HERMES LOVES: DAEIRA / BRIMO

LOCALE: Lake Boibeis, Thessalia (Northern Greece) OR Eleusis, Attika (Southern
Greece)
Brimo and Daeira were possibly titles of the goddess Hekate who as a Goddess of the
Underworld and of the Eleusinian Mysteries was closely associated with Hermes
Guide of the Dead.
"The hero [or goddess?] Eleusis, after whom the city is named, some assert to be a
son of Hermes and of Daeira, daughter of Okeanos." - Pausanias, Guide to Greece
1.38.7
"Brimo, who as legend tells, by the waters of Boebeis laid her virgin body at
Mercurius [Hermes] side." - Propertius, Elegies 2.29C
For MORE information on this goddess see DAEIRA and HEKATE

HERMES LOVES: PEITHO

LOCALE: Non-specific
"If quikshoe Hermes has made merry bridal with you, if he has forgotten his own
Peitho [his wife]." - Nonnus, Dionysiaca 8.220
"Lord Hermes ... entered the delicate bed of Peitho who brings marriage to pass." Nonnus, Dionysiaca 48.230
For MORE information on this goddess see PEITHO

HERMES LOVES: PERSEPHONE

LOCALE: Mt Olympos (Home of the Gods)
"All that dwelt in Olympos were bewitched by this one girl [Persephone], rivals in
love for the marriageable maid, and offered their dowers for an unsmirched bridal.
Hermes had not yet gone to the bed of Peitho, and he offered his rod as gift to adorn
her chamber [as bride-price for her hand-in-marriage, but all offers were declined by
her mother Demeter]." - Nonnus, Dionysiaca 5.562
For MORE information on this goddess see PERSEPHONE

HERMES LOVES: THE OREIADES

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LOCALE: Non-specific
"The deep-breasted Mountain Nymphai [Oreades] who inhabit this great and holy
mountain ... with them the Seilenoi and the sharp-eyed Argeiphontes [Hermes] mate
in the depths of pleasant caves." - Homeric Hymn V To Aphrodite 256
For MORE information on these Nymphai see THE OREIADES

HERMES LOVES: IPHTHIME

LOCALE: Doros, Thessalia (Northern Greece)
"The horned Satyroi were commanded [when Rheia summoned divinities to join
Dionysos in his war against the Indians] by these leaders [various Satyroi sons of the
Seilenoi are named] ... With Pherespondos walked Lykos the loudvoiced herald, and
Pronomos renowned for intelligence - all sons of Hermes, when he had joined
Iphthime to himself in secret union. She was the daughter of Doros, himself sprung
from Zeus and a root of the race of Hellen, and Doros was ancestor whence came the
Akhaian blood of the Dorian tribe. To these three, Eiraphiotes [Dionysos], entrusted
the dignity of the staff of the heavenly herald, their father the source of wisdom." Nonnus, Dionysiaca 14.105

HERMES LOVES: KARMENTIS

LOCALE: Arkadia (in Southern Greece)
"First Inventors ... The Greek letters Mercurius [Hermes] is said to have brought to
Egypt, and from Egypt Cadmus took them to Greece. Cadmus [not Kadmos but
Euandros, son of Hermes and Karmentis] in exile from Arcadia, took them to Italy,
and his mother Carmenta changed them to Latin to the number of 15." - Hyginus,
Fabulae 277

HERMES LOVES: PENELOPEIA & SOSE

LOCALE: Arkadia (in Southern Greece)
"Hermes ... came to Arkadia ... there where his sacred place is as god of Kyllene. For
there, though a god, he used to tend curly-fleeced sheep in the service of a mortal
man, because there fell on him and waxed a strong melting desire to wed the richtressed daughter of Dryopos [Penelopeia or Sose], and there he brought about the
merry marriage. And in the house she bare Hermes a dear son [the god Pan] who
from his birth was marvellouse to look upon, with goat's feet and two horns - a
noisy, merry-laughing child. But when the nurse saw his uncouth face and full beard,
she was afraid and sprang up and fled and left the child. Then luck-bringing Hermes

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received him and took him in his arms: very glad in his heart was the god." Homeric Hymn XIX to Pan
"Some say that Penelope [wife of Odysseus] was seduced by Antinous [one the
suitors], and returned by Odysseus to her father Ikarios, and that when she reached
Mantineia in Arkadia, she bore Pan, to Hermes [the two Penelopeia's - Odysseus' wife
and the Nymphe - are here confused]." - Apollodorus, The Library E7.39
"Pan is held to be the youngest of the gods ... and Pan the son of Penelope (for
according to the Greeks Penelope and Hermes were the parents of Pan) was [first
worshipped in Greece] about eight hundred years before me [Herodotus], and thus
of a later date than the Trojan war." - Herodotus, Histories 2.153.1
"Mortals who were made immortal ... Pan, son of Mercurius [Hermes] and Penelope."
- Hyginus, Fabulae 224
"Panes, the sons of Hermes, who divided his love between two Nymphai; for one he
visited the bed of Sose; for one he visited the bed of Sose, the highland prophetess,
and begat a son inspired with the divine voice of prophecy, [the Pan] Agreus, well
versed in the beast-slaying sport of the hunt. The other was [the Pan] Nomios, whom
the pasturing sheep loved well, one practised in the shepherds pipe, for whom
Hermes sought the bed of Penelopeia the country Nymphe." - Nonnus, Dionysiaca
14.67
For MORE information on these Nymphai see PENELOPEIA and SOSE

HERMES LOVES: TANAGRA

LOCALE: Argolis (Southern Greece) AND Boiotia (Central Greece)
"Of these nine daughters [of Asopos, all carried off by gods] ... Tanagra [eponym of
the Boiotia town], was seized by Hermes." - Greek Lyric IV Corinna, Frag 654
"For your [Tanagra's] sake Hermes boxed against Ares." - Greek Lyric IV Corinna,
Frag 666
For MORE information on this Nymphe see TANAGRA

HERMES LOVES: APEMOSYNE

LOCALE: Rhodes (Greek Aegean)
[Althaimenes grandson of Minos] left Krete with his sister Apemosyne and went to a
certain place on Rhodes ... Not long after that he became the murderer of his sister.
For Hermes developed a passion for Apemosyne; proving unable to catch her as she
ran from him (she was swifter of foot than Hermes!), he strewed some newly
stripped hides along the road, on which she slipped as she was returning from the

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spring. He then raped her. When she disclosed to her brother what had happened,
Althaimenes took her story about the god to be an excuse, and killed her with a kick
of his foot." - Apollodorus, The Library 3.14

HERMES LOVES: HERSE

LOCALE: Athens, Attika (Southern Greece)
"Kekrops married Agraulos, daughter of Aktaios, and had a son Erysikhthon ... and
three daughters, Agraulos, Herse, and Pandrosos ... Herse and Hermes had
Kephalos, whom Eos developed a passion for and kidnapped. They had sex in Syria
[and became ancestors of the kings of Kypros]." - Apollodorus, The Library 3.180181
"Sons of Mercurius [Hermes] ... Cephalus by Creusa [probably the same as Herse],
daughter of Erechtheus." - Hyginus, Fabulae 160
"Cecrops three unmarried daughters ... Pandrosos and Herse ... and Agraulos." Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.552
"Caducifer [Hermes] rose soaring on his wings, and in his flight looked down upon
the land [of Attika] that Minerva [Athene] loves and the Munychian fields and the
Lyceums cultivated groves. It chanced that day was Pallas festival [the Panathenaia]
and virgins carried, in the accustomed way, in baskets, flower-crowned, upon their
heads the sacred vessels to her hilltop shrine. As they returned the winged god saw
them there and turned aside and circled overhead, like a swift kite that sees a
sacrifice and, while the priests press round the victim, waits circling afraid, yet dares
not go too far, and hovers round on hungry wings; so Cyllenius [Hermes] above the
citadel of Actea wheeled his sweeping course in circle after circle through the air.
Even as Lucifer (the morning star) more brilliant shines than all the stars, or as
golden Phoebe (the Moon) outshines Lucifer (the morning star), so Herse walked
among her comrades, lovelier than them all, the fairest jewel of the festival. Joves
son [Hermes], breath-taken by her loveliness, was kindled as he hovered, like a lead
slung from a Balearic sling, that as it flies glows with its speed and finds below the
clouds heat not its own. Swerving, he left the sky and flew to earth, and there took
in disguise - such trust in his good looks! Yet though his trust was sound, he spared
no pains; he smoothed his hair, arranged his robe to hang aright, to show the whole
long golden hem, saw that his wand, the wand he wields to bring and banish sleep,
shone with a polish, and his ankle-wings were lustrous and his sandals brushed and
clean. The house possessed in a secluded wing three chambers, richly inlaid with
ivory and tortoiseshell. The right was the abode of Pandrosos, Aglauros on the left
and Herse in between. Aglauros first marked Mercurius [Hermes] approach and
boldly asked the god his name and business. To her question Atlantis Pleiones
grandson answered: I am he who bears his fathers mandates through the sky. My
fathers Juppiter [Zeus] himself. Ill not invent a reason. Only, if youll be so good,
stand by your sister and consent to be aunt to my child. For Herses sake Im here;
favour a lovers hope! She looked at him with those hard eyes that spied not long
ago fair-haired Minervas [Athenas] mystery, and asked a golden fortune for her
services, and pending payment forced him from the house. The warrior goddess
[Athena] turned her angry eyes upon the girl and heaved a sigh so deep that breast

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and aegis shuddered. She recalled it was Aglauros whose profaning hand laid bare
that secret when the oath she swore was broken [for she looked into the box
containing the baby Erikthonios that Athena had left in the three sisters care but
forbidden them to open] and she [Aglauros] saw the infant boy [Erikhthonios], great
Lemnicolas [Hephaistos] child, the babe no mother bore; and now she would find
favour with the god and with her sister too, and grow so rich with all that gold her
greed had planned to gain. Straighway she [Athena] sought the filthy slimy shack
were Invidia (Envy) dwelt [and summoned her to lay her curse upon the girl]
Tritonia [Athena] filled with loathing, forced a few curt words: Inject your pestilence
in one of Cecrops daughters; that I need; Aglauros is the one. ... Into the room of
Cecrops child she [Invidia] went and did as she was bid. On the girls breast she laid
her withering hand and filled her heart with thorny briars and breathing a baleful
blight deep down into her bones and spread a stream of poison, black as pitch, inside
her lungs. And lest the choice of woe should stray too wide, she set before her eyes
her sisters [Herses] face, her fortune-favoured marriage and the god so glorious;
and painted everything larger than life. Such thoughts were agony: Aglauros pined in
private grief, distraught all night, all day, in utter misery, wasting away in slow
decline, like ice marred by a fitful sun. The happiness of lucky Herse smouldered in
her heart like green thorns on a fire that never flame nor give good heat but wanly
burn away. Often shed rather die than see such sights; often she meant, as if some
crime, to tell the tale to her strict father. In the end she sat herself outside her
sisters door to bar Cyllenius [Hermes] access. With honeyed words he pressed his
prayers and pleas. Enough, said she, Ill never move till you are forced away! A
bargain! cried the god and with his wand, his magic wand, opened the door. But she
found, as she tried to rise, a numbing weight stiffened her muscles; as she strained
to stand upright, her knees were stuck; an icy chill seeped through her limbs, the
blood paled in her veins. And as an evil growth beyond all cure creeps far and wide
and wounds what once was well, so by degrees the winter of dark death entered her
heart and choked her breath and stopped the lanes of life. She did not try to speak,
nor, had she tried, was way still left for words. Her throat, mouth, lips were hardened
into stone; and there, a lifeless statue she remained, nor was it white, but with her
dark thoughts stained. Such was punishment that Atlantiades [Hermes] death
Aglauros for her wicked words and will. Then, leaving Athens, Pallas fabled land, he
made his way to heaven on beating wings." - Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.708

HERMES LOVES: KHIONE

LOCALE: Mt Parnassos, Phokis (Central Greece)
"Autolykos, who lived on Mount Parnassos, and was said to be a son of Hermes,
although his real father [the man who raised him] was Daidalion." - Pausanias, Guide
to Greece 4.8.6
"Apollo and Mercurius [Hermes] are said to have slept the same night with Chione,
or, as other poets say, with Philonis [an alternative name for Chione], daughter of
Daedalion. By Apollo she bore Philammon, and by Mercurius [Hermes], Autolycus.
Later on she spoke too haughtily against Diana [Artemis] in the hunt, and so was
slain by her arrows. But the father Daedalion, because of his grief for his only
daughter, was changed by Apollo into the bird Daedalion, that is, the hawk." Hyginus, Fabulae 200

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"Mercurius [Hermes] gave to Autolycus, whom he begot by Chione, the gift of being
such a skilful thief that he could not be caught, making him able to change whatever
he stole into some other form." - Hyginus, Fabulae 201
"[Daidalion son of Hesperos the Evening Star] had a daughter, Chione, a girl most
blessed with beautys dower, her fourteen years ready for marriage, and her hand
was sought by countless suitors. Phoebus [Apollon], as it chanced, and the son of
Maia [Hermes], on their way back, the one from Delphi, the other from Cyllenes
crest, both saw her, both alike caught loves hot fire. Apollo delayed till night his
hopes of love; Mercurius [Hermes] would not wait and with his wand that soothes to
slumber touched her on the lips; touch-tranced she lay and suffered his assault.
Night strewed the sky with stars; Phoebus [Apollon] took the guise of an old woman
and obtained his joys - forestalled. Her womb fulfilled its time and to the wing-foot
god a wily brat was born, Autolycus, adept at tricks off every kind, well used to make
black white, white black, a son who kept his fathers skill. To Phoebus there was born
(for she had twins) Philammon, famed alike for song and lyre. What profit was it to
have pleased two gods, produced two boys, to have a valiant father, a shining
grandfather? Is glory not a curse as well? A curse indeed to many! To her for sure!
She dared to set herself above Diana [Artemis], faulting her fair face. The goddess,
fierce in fury, cried Youll like my actions better! and she bent her bow and shot her
arrow, and the shaft transfixed that tongue that well deserved it [for her sacrilege].
Then that tongue was dumb, speech failed the words she tried to say: her blood and
life ebbed away. Sadly I [King Keyx, brother of Daidalion] held her, feeling in my
heart her fathers grief, and gave my brother words of comfort, for he loved her words he heard as rocks the roaring waves and bitterly bewailed his daughters
loss. Yes, when he saw her on the pyre, four times an impulse came to rush into the
flames; four times forced back, he fled away in frenzy; like an ox, its bowed neck
stung by hornets, so he charged where no way was. His speed seemed even then
faster than man could run, and youd believe his feet had wings. So fleeing from us
all, with death-bent speed he gained Parnassus crest. Apollo [and probably Hermes],
pitying, when Daedalion threw himself from a cliff made him a bird, and held him on
sudden hovering wings, and gave him a hooked beak, gave curving claws, with
courage as of old and strength that more than matched his bodys build. And now a
hawk, benign to one, he vents his savagery on every bird and, as in grief he goes,
ensures that others grieve and share his woes [the hawk was a bird sacred to both
Apollon and Hermes]." - Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.301

HERMES LOVES: POLYMELE

LOCALE: Phthiotis (Northern Greece)
"The next battalion [of Akhilleus Myrmidones] was led by warlike Eudoros, a
maidens child, born to one lovely in the dance, Polymele, daughter of Phylas; whom
strong Hermes Argeiphontes loved, when he watched her with his eyes among the
girls dancing in the choir for clamorous Artemis of the golden distaff. Presently
gracious (akaketa) Hermes went up with her into her chamber and lay secretly with
her, and she bore him a son, the shining Eudoros, a surpassing runner and a quick
man in battle. But after Eileithyia of the hard pains had brought out the child into the
light, and he looked on the suns shining, Aktors son Ekhekles in the majesty of his
great power led her to his house, when he had given numberless gifts to win her, and

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the old man Phylas took the child and brought him up kindly and cared for him, in
affection as if he had been his own son." - Homer, Iliad 16.181

HERMES LOVES: KROKOS

LOCALE: Unknown, perhaps Lakedaimonia or Eleusis, Attika (Southern Greece)
Hermes accidentally killed his lover Krokos in a game of discus, and transformed his
body into the scarlet crocus flower. The myth is similar to that of Apollon and
Hyakinthos.
The story is not currently quoted here.

HERMES LOVES: AMPHION

LOCALE: Thebes, Boiotia (Central Greece)
"My own opinion is that Hermes gave Amphion these gifts, both the [magical] lyre
and the headband, because he was overcome by love for him." - Philostratus the
Elder, Imagines 1.10
For the MYTH of Hermes and Amphion see Hermes Favour: Amphion

HERMES LOVES: PERSEUS

LOCALE: Seriphos (Greek Aegean)
The reference in which Perseus is described as a lover of Hermes is not currently
quoted.
For the MYTH of Hermes and Perseus see Hermes Favour: Perseus