It was truly an honour to contribute in my small way to this excellent post of Aquileana’s concerning Hermes (and related figures: Thoth, Mercury and Odin) and writing.
► “Hermes & Writing in Ancient Greece”: “Collaboration with Alan Severs”✍️:
Statue of Hermes/Mercury. Roman copy. 200 AD.
►Summary:
“Hermes”, by W. B. Richmond. From “The magazine of art” vol. 9, 1886.
♠Divided into three sections, this article revolves around three main themes: Hermes, as The Greek God of Writing and his equivalents in other cultures; Plato´s derogatory ideas of writing, amidst the prevailing Oral Tradition; and how this eventually would change, as writing became a most accepted form, when the Greeks adopted the Phoenician Alphabet.
Greek God Hermes was the equivalent of the egyptian God Thoth, and from both of them resulted a Hybrid God: Hermes Trismegistus.
Hermes´roman counterpart was Mercury.
In Norse Mythology, his Homologous figure was Odin.
Hermes and his associated figures are described in the first section.
♠The second section refers to Plato´s dialogue “Phaedrus”,
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cakeordeathsite 
An amazingly intricate and beautiful text . Congratulations , a perfect collaboration, well done!
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Hello sorry Heart for the delay I had to retrieve you from spam for some reason. I am glad you enjoyed it was a pleasure to collaborate with Aquileana
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That’s ok, I have been having a problem landing in spam but think I have it straightened out now. Enjoyed your collaboration very much!
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Thanks it was a nice change though Aquileana did most of it. She has a fierce intellect!
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Indeed, I have worked with her myself, it was a great experience.
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It is and it has provoked lots of ideas. Now I just need to write them down.
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This was a really interesting piece. One of the things I saw at the British Museum was/were the Proto-Elamite tablets from ancient Iran. Some of the earliest written language discovered – dating from the 5th millennium BCE. And as Aquileana pointed out with the ancient Minoan, much of it was for recording commerce. Nevertheless, it’s really intriguing to see ancient, well-developed language. Plato’s opinion on written word ruining the memory of mankind is, while sort of valid, irrelevant because there is no way any one individual remembers the same thing the exact same way as another. I am imagining all the myths and folklore in the context of an enormous ‘whisper down the lane.’ I wonder how far from the original they have wandered over the millennia! Great work, the both of you!
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Thank you Meg I am glad you enjoyed… Plato and Socrates disdain for writing reminded me of something which is related to the syncretic Hermes Trismegistus and the art of magic… I feel a series of posts coming!
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Fantastic! I am sure I will enjoy them. I love it when you get enthused!
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Well I didn’t won’t to become too formulaic… plus I have been neglecting the occult/mystical/mythological side for a while. A nice holiday on the dark side then I will come back all fresh for the day light stuff.
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Daylight? Maybe twilight or foggy dawn! (That’s a good thing!)
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Yeah you know me to well, Cake melts in the sunshine.
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Unless its the black sun…
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Indeed, my new post on related subjects is up.
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Over shortly…
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Thank you so much for sharing dear Cake… It has been a pleasure, working with you! 🙂
I will read the upcoming post. I am intrigued 😀 Sending love & best wishes ⭐
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The pleasure was all mine.
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