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THE ATLANTIC THEORY


HERMES IN HOMEROS

Hermes's functions and titles
Hermes has several functions.

-In 1.38 he is Zeus's messenger who is sent to Kalupso for example. In this function, he symbolizes common sense, the conscience of the person concerned. A good example of this function is Odysseus' decision to leave the island of Kalupso (S. Miguel). For seven years he sat there mourning and crying, faced with his loneliness and his subconscious, and experiencing his midlife crisis (Wilkens p.270), until the gods decided to help him. When Hermes has informed Kalupso of Zeus's plans (book 5), he leaves. Then Homeros states in v.196:  Odysseus sat on the same chair from which Hermes had just risen', indicating that Odysseus takes the place of Hermes, that is, the spirit of Hermes penetrated him, which made him decide consciously and rationally to return home and face the drowning death as the ultimate test, with Penelope as a beckoning perspective. With the help of a bronze axe, a stone hand axe and a drilling device, he builds a raft according to a plan he has devised himself. He then departs without any guidance from man or god, which means that he has to invent everything himself. He is able to do that because the spirit of Hermes is inside him. Plutarch's remark discussed in the Introduction Religion concerns exactly this function of Hermes as a symbol of rationality.

-The second function of Hermes is "psychopomp": he guides the shadows of the deceased to the asphodel meadow, the "reel valley" (see Introduction Hades), where their lives are judged. The title "Blesser" or "Healing," which denotes Hermes and which the commentators barely know what to do with, may also refer to the fact that he brings souls to the place of final judgment, where the judges decide on their resurrection, their healing and salvation.

-He is further referred to as "sharp-sighted" and  Argos killer" (Argeifontes). He is said to have killed the giant Argos who, with his hundred eyes, had to guard Io, Zeus's love baby who had been turned into a cow by Hera. However, it is also possible that this myth was invented to explain the name Argeifontes. Another derivation is also possible: from argos (-fast) and fan-
(-appear). Then the name means something like "Flash Appearance", which corresponds to the character of this flying god. Others state Argeifontes would be an unknown pre -Greek or Gallo-Germanic word like Bellerofontes (Stanford II, 417).

-The title "bestowing wealth", which Homer uses repeatedly, refers to another function of Hermes
(= Mercury): he symbolizes the wealth-bringing trade. The Gallo-Germans and especially the Fenicians had become rich through their navigational knowledge and world trade. It is all gold, silver, bronze, ivory, purple and amber that fill the treasuries of Menelaos, Nestor, Odysseus.
In 13,433 ff Hermes is specifically mentioned as the god for whom Eumaios set aside a portion of food, because Hermes, the donor of wealth, is worshipped in areas that have earned their prosperity through trade and shipping, such as Ithaka (Cadiz, Jerez). The route that Hermes follows with the procession of ghosts of the killed suitors in book 24 can also be easily explained from this world trade centre Ithaka, as explained in the Introduction Ithaka.

-Another epithet of Hermes is "Kullenios" (-from Kullene). In the Greek setting, the name Kullenios is derived from Mount Kullene in Arkadia, but since we are in the Atlantic world, the name must be found there. According to Cailleux (PA 301), Kullene can be derived from the Llanos de Caulina northwest of Jerez (Ithaca). This is an acceptable explanation because Hermes plays an important role in Ithaka, as can be seen from 16,473, which mentions Asta and the Neck of Hermes. Twice the city is called "astu" here, which refers to Asta, the old name of Jerez. What exactly is meant by the Neck of Hermes (or: Hill of Hermes) is not clear, but this name may be related to the Llanos de Caulina.

-A final, less ethical function of Hermes is that of the protector of the thieves guild, as indicated in 13,392 ff..  Autolukos is the father of Odysseus' mother Antikleia. He is referred to here as a master of trickery and deception and in Il.10, 267 as a thief. He lived near the Parnassos, in which Wilkens (p.205) sees an equation with the Sierra Bermeja between Malaga and Cadiz. Vince and Cailleux do not provide identifications. De Grave sees a connection with the castle Pernisse in Holland/Zeeland. Because of the identification of Ithaka as Cadiz-Jerez, Wilkens' solution seems plausible.
Hermes is said to be responsible for this thievish behaviour, which Odysseus, during his first life phase, was guilty of too, through the raids he made, among others in Kikones territory. Hermes himself stole the cow Io from under Argos' hundred eyes!

-From the fact that Hermes is treated by Kalupso with ambrosia and red nektar can be concluded that Hermes is also part of the group of mummified and deified old heroes of the Olumpos (5.93). After the long journey by sea from the Olumpos (Stonehenge) to the Azores (Kalupso), the mummy had to be caulked with a new layer of amber (ambrosia) and red tar (nektar=mummie tar)! Hermes may, just as other deities, have been an innovator in the distant past who ensured that trade through shipping and navigation could proceed smoothly, a legislator and teacher of the people.

Importance of Hermes
Hermes played an important role in the Atlantic world as is evident from the fact that he was given a permanent place in the week under the name Mercury, namely mercredi (= Mercurii dies: Wednesday), a day devoted to trading, market and arts. The Gallo-Germanic name Mercury is not derived from the Latin merx or mercator ("commodity, merchant"), as is commonly believed. It is rather the other way around. Since he was a very important Gallo-German deity, etymology must be sought in those languages. Therefore, De Grave (III, 43) derives this name from "merk", a mark as printed on coins with which one traded and from which the words "mark" and "market" are also derived. Merk-uur (Merc-ury) literally means "market hour" or "market day" and Mercury is the god of the market day, from which the Latin words mentioned above are derived.1 However, since the invention of the money system is of a later date, it is likely that Market day (=Mercredi) was not the original name of this weekday but that, as is still the case in English and Dutch, it was called "Wednesday" (=woensdag), a name commonly traced to a Germanic deity Wodan. Justus Lipsius, however, believed that Wontsdag could be traced to "Profit day", from winning (won)', just as Wednesday is derived from the verb guet (pron .: -wed), which also means "to win".2 Diodorus Siculus confirms this interpretation (6,15): "They claim that Mercury invented weights, measures and profit by trade."

Fountain of Mercury, Leeuwarden NL

The rapid gains of trade and long trips are depicted by the attributes that are assigned to Hermes, a hat with wings (see image), and in Homeros he wears sandals, as this fragment shows:

Then he immediately fastened to his feet his lovely sandals,
decorated with gold and amber, which would carry him swift as the
flowing wind over water or over the boundless earth. (5.44 ff)

Tacitus (Germ. 9 and 34)  notes too that Mercury was an important Germanic god: More than all other gods, they worship Mercury and do not consider it a sin to sacrifice humans on certain holidays as part of the sacrifices they make to him'. Caesar gives the same information: Their main god is Mercury. Most of the images are his; it is told he is the inventor of all arts and the guide on roads and (sea) travel and has the greatest impact on monetary profits and trade '.

Wilkens (p.277) reports that the name Hermes can be found in the name of the village of Ermelo (Hermelo in 1050), in Hermeskeil (= Hermes' corner, Germany), in the Spanish Hernani and Ermua on the Bay of Biscay, while the name of his mother Maia can be found in Zeeland as eponym of Maye, a village that was swallowed by the sea in the 17th century. See also Introduction Kirke and map Schouwen below.

SCHOUWEN, ZEELAND, VAN DEVENTER 1580

The route Hermes follows across the Atlantic Ocean to the island of Kalupso is fully described in  Introduction Olumpos and that with the ghosts of the killed suitors along the Atlantic coasts from Ithaka to Zeeland in the Introductions Religion and Channel Routes.

Conclusion
The conclusion seems justified that Mercury (Hermes) was one of the most important deities for the Gallo-Germanic world and that all passages about Hermes in Homeros fit in the Atlantic world, and only there.

Notes
1. Also Cailleux (PA 108) derives the name Mercury from merk/mark, and especially from the mark that was put on graves of deceased heroes, which were "hermetically" sealed, a word derived from Hermes.
2. J.Lipsius Commentary on the Germania of Tacitus, footnote.



Abbreviations used for the books of Th. Cailleux (1878):
OC  Origine celtique de la civilisation de tous les peuples
PH  Poésies d' Homère
PA   Pays Atlantiques, decrit par Homère
Citations of Homer: Roman cyphers = Ilias, e.g. XX,345; Arabic cyphers = Odyssey, e.g. 13,34.

Bibliography Atlantic authors:
Homeros Odyssee, by Gerard Janssen, Leeuwarden 2018 = H.O.
Gideon E. Troje lag in Engeland, Deventer 1991, reprint of Homerus, zanger der Kelten, 1973
Grave Ch.J. De  République des Champs Élysées, Gent 1806, 3 vols.
Oosten H. van: Trojaanse tin-oorlog en Odysseus'oceaanroute 2020 (with English summary)
Vinci F. The Baltic Origins of Homer's Epic Tales, 2005
Wilkens I.J. Where Troy once stood, 1990,
                   Dutch: Waar eens Troje lag, 2015 Leeuwarden