The messenger of the gods, Hermes wore a winged cap and winged shoes. He presided over shepherds, trade, land travel, literature, athletics, oratory, and even thieving -- any activity requiring agility. He was known for his cunning and shrewdness, and as the inventor of the lyre, the flute, and the pan-pipes. He is credited with the invention of foot-racing, wrestling, and boxing. He guided the souls of the dead to the underworld. In early accounts he is a patron of fertility or luck. Later he was associated with roads. Road markers, called herms, bore a representation of Hermes. Similar markers outside homes warded off evil. He used his ingenuity to save heroes on several occasions, including Odysseus twice.
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