In Athens, where the hermai were most numerous and most venerated, they were placed outside houses as apotropes for good luck. [7] They would be rubbed or anointed with olive oil and adorned with garlands or wreaths. [8]

Jan 21, 2025 · In 415 BC when the Athenian fleet was set to depart for the Sicilian Expedition during the Peloponnesian war, numerous herms were found mutilated across Athens. The night-time desecration was deeply disturbing to the Athenians, who considered it a bad omen for the upcoming military campaign.

Almost intact Herm found in 1956 in cistern 14 on the Acropolis south slope. Its torso is in the form of a rectangular stele topped with the bust of a young man with short locks of hair and a thin band around his head. © 2018 Acropolis Museum. All rights reserved. Web design by Generation Created with by.

Mar 1, 2021 · On the morning of June 7, 415 BCE, the denizens of Athens awoke to find many stone statues of Hermes throughout the city with their distinctive phalluses hacked off and their faces smashed. This in turn caused mass fear and outrage among Athenian citizens.

In her introductory chapter, Hamel gives a brief overview of the facts: one morning in the spring of 415 B.C. it was discovered that the herms dotting the urban landscape of Athens had been vandalized, which launched an investigation into impious acts and caused many Athenians to flee or be put to death.

Hermes Criophorus (Ancient Greek: Ἑρμῆς Κριοφόρος, romanized: Hermês Kriophóros, lit. 'Hermes bearing a ram') is a marble sculpture of the second century AD depicting the Greek god Hermes, as god of pasture and shepherds, carrying away a young ram. The sculpture is a Roman copy of a Greek original of the fifth century BC.

Fragmentarily preserved statue of Hermes, the head, right arm and legs of which are missing. The god sits on a rock clad in a chlamys that covers the left part of his body. In his right hand he would have held a tortoise.

Hermes of Aegium (Greek: Ερμής του Αιγίου) is a lifesize Roman sculpture of the Greek messenger god Hermes found in the town of Aegium in southern Greece in mid nineteenth century. It is now housed in the National Archaeological Museum in the capital Athens under accession number 241.

Dec 24, 2024 · In Athens, herms were placed outside houses, both as a form of protection for the home, a symbol of male fertility, and as a link between the household and its gods with the gods of the wider community.

The west pediment of the Parthenon portrays the dispute between Athena and Poseidon regarding who would become the divine protector of Athens.