Talk:Mercury (mythology)

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This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Zachjones14, Sebastian Trejo, Noahtesser, 907AK.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 03:54, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Cross-cultural references missing
The other uses of Mercurius, for Woden and Thoth, for example, should also be included here. Septentrionalis 19:16, 5 August 2005 (UTC) The use of Mercurius for Woden is an invention of Middle Age Churchmen. In Tacitus' Germania no name is notated for "Mercurius the highest god of the Germans" - A broad research on this topic: GardenStone, The Mercury-Woden complex - A proposal -, Norderstedt (Germany)2011. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.222.251.245 (talk) 13:30, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

The term mercurius
Also Mercurius is used in homeopathic remedies such as Mercurius iodatus and Mercurius sulphuratus ruber. These are chemicals and certainly not constrained to mythology. Davidl9999 05:05, 21 August 2006 (UTC)


 * gud one

ahm im from the phillipines blieve me or not i am mercury! i will also do predict! and plss help me call me 09282800047 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.200.90.125 (talk) 11:34, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Messenger
Hello, I added a citation missing (fact) tag with this month as the date, because the first sentence gives the impression that this god is a god of "trade". I can look this up if I can find a book, but I believe that at least once upon a time, Mercury was more "majorly" to use the article's adjective, a "messenger". My apologies if I made a memory error. Hope this helps. -Susanlesch 15:20, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

'Mercury and modern occultism' Section
I've added a references tag to this section, since although the origin for 'Wednesday' is correct, and it is indeed the equivalent of dies Mercurii, there are no sources cited for any of this information.

Additionally, I'm doubtful about the use of the spelling 'Odhinn' rather than the more commonly used and widely known 'Odin'. This seems overly fussy, since any rendering of Odin's name in the Roman alphabet, rather than the old Norse, is inevitably going to be an approximation anyway, and one approximation is really no better than another. In this case, I suggest it's better to stick with the form most people recognise, but I've left this alone for the moment.


 * The 'dh' is undoubtedly to indicate a voiced "th" sound for the 'd' rather than the usual 'd' sound. O-then, as his name was pronounced (but not to the southernly Germanics who'd have had their god associated to Mercury anyhow, so it is a moot point) 74.209.54.32 (talk) 04:39, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

I've also removed the final remark in the section: "Mercury's quickness may be likened to the sparrow". Unless someone can expand on a link between occultism and the sparrow, the statement looked a little lost and confused - it didn't seem to relate to the point of the section. - Scelestus (talk) 08:58, 19 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Iwas going to move the text here as it is very dubious and uncited for months. Now that I see I am not alone in this thinking I have just removed it. --Secisek (talk) 14:53, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

images
There are two images of the Gallic Mercury, and two from the 17th century, but none that are distinctly Roman. Doesn't that seem a little off? The three-headed "Mercury" is clearly a deity of the continental Celts and shouldn't be in the article at the expense of at least one Roman example. (The Gallo-Roman Mercury goes well with the section on epithets.) Cynwolfe (talk) 14:03, 30 March 2010 (UTC)

minor rewrite
"In Ovid's Fasti, Mercury is assigned to escort the nymph Larunda to the underworld. Mercury, however, fell in love with Larunda and made love to her on the way; this act has also been interpreted as a rape. Lara thereby became mother to two children, referred to as the Lares, invisible household gods."

Larunda mysteriously becomes Lara with no explanation -- yes, the name has multiple forms (as is common in mythology) but it shouldn't just be tossed in without explanation. I have changed the 'Lara' to 'Larunda'. Vultur (talk) 04:16, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

God of the Crossroads

 * There is another aspect to Mercury which is less known and actually more important. The god Mercury also ruled crossroads. The Greeks erected little phallic statues (no pun intended) honoring the god Mercury along the side of the road and at crossroads to honor the god of travelers.Nancy R. Fenn
 * In ancient Greece, marker stones commemorating the god Hermes in his priapic form were set at the crossroads. In ancient Rome the similar god Mercury was the crossroads guardian.catherine yronwode

I came to this article for the God of the Crossroads, and was surprised to find no mention of it here, so goggled the above references. Even though Fenn and yronwode are not exactly scholarly, they do show I'm not the only person who thinks Mercury is the god of crossroads. As this article was last modified on 9 September 2011 at 11:46, some editors are taking an active interest in it, and I wish you'd take note of the overseer of crossroads. --Pawyilee (talk) 06:00, 12 September 2011 (UTC)

Planet and weekday
In Hindu mythology, Budha (not to be confused with Buddha) is the god of Mercury (planet), mid-week Wednesday, and of Merchants and merchandise. I can't find in his job description that he oversees travelers and crossroads, but otherwise his day job matches that of Roman Mercury and Greek Hermes. --Pawyilee (talk) 08:32, 12 September 2011 (UTC)

Mercury - Hermes means Satan
in Hermetism. Böri (talk) 09:14, 20 February 2012 (UTC)


 * That's great but put it on the Hermes article. Rainbow Shifter (talk) 19:40, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

Royal corps of signals
Someone should mention the royal corps of signals, as mercury is on their cap badge and many commonwealth variants. Him being the god of communications an all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.172.135.224 (talk) 00:36, 16 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Would you like to add it perhaps? Rainbow Shifter (talk) 07:14, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

Names and Epithets Section (Association with Germanic gods)
Doesn't Mercury share many characteristics with Loki, not Gebrinius? Mercury is the prankster trickster of Roman mythology and so is Loki of Germania, which is how Loki would best use his shape shifting abilities. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.63.2.246 (talk) 21:42, 18 August 2013 (UTC)


 * You're talking about perceived functional parallels. The identification between Mercurius and Gebrinius via interpretatio romana is attested by an inscription. Cynwolfe (talk) 21:54, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

somebody ad here whit references first know cult in Greece was cult of Orpheus, also Tracians know him, for some reason, new cult of sun worshipers, leaded by Zeus -priest and oracles did not accept Orphians so they moved to Sisily,  Dionysian cult know him as Mor(r)pheus form one of islands of Mediterranean. References can be found from Books which tell Pythagoras history, he was Orphian and moved to Sisily because of persecution in Greece something to do whit religion(?), Pythagoras believed sound of space, and listened its music rest of his life a Sisly after persecution, hes carrier as mathematician stopped there. Orpheus cult is based on lyra and music, death and love(er) like Mercury in Rome. Healing power of music! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.150.81.119 (talk) 14:45, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

Mercury's mythology and planet
Budha (in the mythology India, and not to be confused with Buddha) describes the same god with the same duties. Even if most other attributes differ, the two articles should at the very least mention mention each other, with Mercury yielding priority to Budha. Given that the infant god Budha's origin was both violent and cloaked in mystery, Mercury (planet) should mention India's god, if and when reference is made to this story.

—Pawyilee (talk) 11:22, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

Suggestion - remove section on Mercury's net
Why does this one obscure myth (associated with Hermes, anyway) get listed here? Delete, I say. Thoughts? - Eponymous-Archon (talk) 00:31, 17 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Done. Geogene (talk) 19:42, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

"Mercury"
The usage and primary topic of "Mercury" is under discussion, see Talk:Mercury (planet) -- 70.51.45.100 (talk) 05:03, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

Bronze statue
The main picture appears to be in error! The bronze statue has none of the characteristics of Mercury/Hermes (winged sandles, winged hat, staff) but is carrying a club and ?lionskin. Isn't this more likely to be Hercules/Herakles? DrJonJ (talk) 18:32, 2 October 2016 (UTC)
 * I agree. I've replaced the image. Paul August &#9742; 19:00, 2 October 2016 (UTC)

Worship, Mythology, and Influnce
Added some sections expanding Mercury's worship, included some myths, and expanded the 'pop culture' section to include some other name influences. Sebastian Trejo (talk) 03:02, 1 December 2017 (UTC)The edits have already been reverted, and I was hoping someone could help me understand what, if anything, could be done to bring the new sections to par. Sebastian Trejo (talk) 14:38, 1 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Where to start . I see that there's a class project and I see that it's the first week of December, but it takes most people about six months to learn source evaluation, weight, and style well enough to get their edits to "stick" consistently. An obvious, and fixable, thing is that indepthinfo.com, which is being heavily relied on as a source, fails the WP reliable source criteria because it looks like it's just somebody's website. Geogene (talk) 20:14, 1 December 2017 (UTC)

Confusion.
"He was considered the son of Maia, who was a daughter of the Titan Atlas, and Jupiter in Roman mythology." How could Maia be the child of two males?77Mike77 (talk) 00:14, 12 November 2018 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Introduction to Mythology
— Assignment last updated by Ssg0r (talk) 09:42, 30 March 2024 (UTC)