Hermes, an Olympian god in Greek religion and mythology, Hermes was the son of Zeus and the Pleiade, Maia, a daughter of the Titan, Atlas. The second youngest of the Olympian gods, he was born before Dionysus.


His symbols include the rooster and the tortoise, his purse or pouch, winged sandals, winged cap, and held in his left hand, the herald's staff, the Greek kerykeion or Latin caduceus.


Hermes was the herald, or messenger, of the gods to humans, sharing this role with Iris. A patron of boundaries and the travelers who cross them, he was the protector of shepherds and cowherds, thieves,orators and wit, literature and poets, athletics and sports, weights and measures, invention, and of commerce in general.
In the Roman adaptation of the Greek pantheon, Hermes was identified with the Roman god Mercury, who, though inherited from the Etruscans, developed many similar characteristics, such as being the patron of commerce