From Past to Present: The Gods Today

The gods and goddesses of the ancient Greek and Roman world no longer have followers, but they can often be "found" in today's world. Let's take Hermes as an example.

Zeus' choice of a messenger to earth was a wise one. Hermes, better known today by his Roman name, Mercury, and his symbols have flown across the centuries, linking the past with the present. Mercury still delivers messages, albeit symbolically, as the symbol for Western Union and FTD, Florist Transworld Delivery.

Astronomers used his name for the planet that moves so rapidly in relation to other celestial bodies. Scientists used the crafty god's name for quicksilver, the silvery substance used in thermometers, since it could move rapidly from one place to another.

Doctors remembered Mercury's trick with the snakes and chose as their symbol two snakes wrapped around a wand. This symbol bears the same name today as it did in ancient times - the caduceus. Snakes were an appropriate choice, because the snake is the one animal that periodically sheds its old skin for a new one - a feat that many people and doctors would eagerly like to duplicate.

Etymologists enjoy working with words, especially words with hidden meanings, such as mercurial, a term used to express a pleasing, but quite inexplicable, fickleness in a person's temperament. Only when one knows the details of Mercury's life does this English adjective's descriptive meaning become clear.

Francis Brooks is a freelance writer, living in Southport, Maine.

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Updated: 2/10/12 04:27 pm
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