To many ancient cultures, including the Greeks, mythology was a literal part of their histories. The Greeks in particular used myths to explain natural phenomena and many other occurrances (Greek Mythology...). The foremost way that this was done was by attributing such occurrances to either the wrath or pleasure of gods created to lord over various dominions. One of these gods revered by the Greeks was Hermes, the winged messenger of the gods.

Hermes, known to the Romans as Mercury, was originally a fertility god, and then became the god of roads and travel (Forty 286,288). He was also known as Hermes Psychopompos, because he escorted souls to Hades(Carlyon 172, Hermes...). Eventually, many other fields fell under his wide jurisdiction. He became responsible for increase in the animal world, as well as being the god of commerce, manual skill, oratory and eloquence, thieves and the wind. He was even...