. The Open court. i860, pi. 4, fig. 6. (Roscher, Lex., p. 1711.) See theillustrations on page 658 of the present Open Court, ON GREEK RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY. 647 Hermes is a god who gained in significance the more the be-lief in the Beyond grew in importance, for Hermes (even as earlyas Homeric times) was the leader of souls to the Under World(6 i/o^xoTTo/ATTos), and he, too, as we learned in the Demeter legend,assists the subjects of Hades to return to the world of light andlife. He was worshipped as the resurrector, and artistic represen-tations of this office became the prototypes of pictur
. The Open court. i860, pi. 4, fig. 6. (Roscher, Lex., p. 1711.) See theillustrations on page 658 of the present Open Court, ON GREEK RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY. 647 Hermes is a god who gained in significance the more the be-lief in the Beyond grew in importance, for Hermes (even as earlyas Homeric times) was the leader of souls to the Under World(6 i/o^xoTTo/ATTos), and he, too, as we learned in the Demeter legend,assists the subjects of Hades to return to the world of light andlife. He was worshipped as the resurrector, and artistic represen-tations of this office became the prototypes of pictures of Christraising the dead. The reverence for Hermes grew when he became identifiedwith the Egyptian Thoth, the scribe of the gods and the god ofwisdom, of learning, of science ; the deity of the word, of the writ-ten revelation, of science, who was called Poimander, the shepherdof men. The Egyptian influence which, as we have seen, was verystrong in the early days of Greece, made itself felt also in the period. Prometheus Chained to the Rock and Liberated by sarcophagus now in the museum of the Capitol, Rome. of decline, and many ideas, such as of Abraxas, the Adorable One,of Thoth, the incarnate Word, of Serapis (presumably a corruptionof Osiris Apis), the slain and resurrected God, of Isis the HolyOne, the Mother of God, of Harpokrates, God the Child, as wellas the institution of monkhood practised by the followers of Sera-pis, penetrated the Greek world at the beginning of the Christianera and left their impression on the beliefs of the people, partlypreparing for the advent of the new religion and partly enteringinto it in a modified form. PROMETHEUS. One Titanic figure deserves especial mention, from possessing a peculiar significance as the shaper of mankind and as the sufferer. It is Prometheus, the bold, struggling genius of progress, the esprit fort, the man who dares and does. He bestows on mankind the 648 THE OPEN COURT. heavenly gift of fire in s
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