Hermes The Thief: The Evolution of a Myth

Hermes -- trickster and culture hero, divine child and patron of stealthy action, master of magic words, seducer and whisperer -- is a vital and complex figure in Greek mythology. Shepherd, craftsman, herald, musician, athlete, merchant -- who is this tricky shapechanger confronting us at every turn? This classic, prescient work (first published in 1947) foreshadows all subsequent work greeting the return of the gods. Brown asks whether Hermes the Thief is the prototype, from which the Trickster was derived by extension and analogyor is the notion of trickery fundamental, and that of theft merely a specific manifestation of it?" Hermes the Thief should be of fundamental interest to anyone concerned with mythology, Greek religion, or Hermeticism. An easy-to-read yet deeply fascinating book.