This handsome bronze pendant depicts the Roman god Mercury, known to the Greeks as Hermes. Son of Jupiter and Maia, Mercury is the messenger of the gods, with attributes that are the most complex and varied of those of any of the major gods. He was responsible for increasing the animal world, a deity of wealth, the god of trade and travelers, of commerce, manual skill, oratory and eloquence, of thieves and of the wind--with whose speed he was able to move. Mercury was also the patron of athletes. He invented the lyre and gave it to Apollo who, in turn, gave Mercury a golden staff with wings at the top intertwined with serpents--symbol of today's medical profession. Mercury's duties as messenger involved many acts. He conducted the souls of the dead to Hades, killed the hundred- eyed Argos, and commanded Calypso to send Odysseus away on a raft, to name but a few. Mercury also assisted the three fates in the composition of the alphabet, invented astronomy, the musical scale, the arts of boxing and gymnastics, weights and measures and the cultivation of the olive tree. Here his portrait is rendered in a most captivating pose, with head slightly tilted and eyes held in a gaze as complex as the attributes of the ancient god himself. - (FZ.317)

Antiquities
Ancient Roman