Hermas

one of the so-called apos: tolic fathers, generally supposed to be the person mentioned by that name ir Rom. xvi: 14, though others maintair that he lived much later. Hermes (called by the Roman: Mercurius, and identified with the i own god of that name), the son ot Zeus and Maia, the daughter of Atlas According to the legend Arcadia wa: his birthplace. The ancients repre sent Hermes as the herald and mes senger of the gods. He conducts the souls of the departed to the lower world, whence he is called Psycho pom pos, and is therefore the herald of Pluto and the executor of his commands. His magic wand had the power to close the eyes of mortals, to cause dreams, and wake the slumbering. The qualities requisite for a herald he po e ed in the highest perfection and bestowed them on others — grace, dignity, and insinuating manners.