| Domain | Definition | ||
| Antiquities | Hermae (Hermai), and dim. HermÅli (hermidia). Pillars which terminated generally with a head of Hermes. In the earliest times Hermes (in whose worship the number 4 played a great part) was worshipped, especially in Arcadia (Pausan. viii. 4. 4), under the form of a simple quadrangular pillar of marble or wood, with the significant mark of the male sex. As art advanced, the pillar was surmounted, first with a bearded head, and afterwards with a youthful head of the god. Hermes being the god of traffic, roads, and boundaries, such pillars were erected to him in the streets and squares of towns; in Attica they were also erected along the country roads as mile-stones. Sometimes they were inscribed with apothegms and riddles; sometimes also with inscriptions in honor of those who had fought bravely for their country (Demosth. Lept. 112; Or.3. 183). In Athens there was an especially large number of them; in the marketplace to the northwest of the Acropolis, the Hermae, erected partly by private individuals and partly by corporations, formed a long colonnade extending between the Hall of Paintings (stoa poikilê) and the Royal Hall (stoa basileios). Accordingly, the latter was sometimes called the Hall of the Hermae. When the heads of other divinities (such as Athené, Heracles, Eros) were placed on such a pillar, it was then called Hermathena, Hermeracles, or Hermeros. At Rome the Hermae were used in the decoration of houses and villas, and also as posts for the ornamental railings of gardens. Great numbers have been preserved, and are now to be seen in the European museums. (references) | ||
| Wikipedic | Hermæ, in Greek antiquities, quadrangular pillars, broader above than at the base, surmounted by a head or bust, so called either because the head of Hermes was most common or from their etymological connection with the Greek word iipj.iara (blocks of stone), which originally had no reference to Hermes at all. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
