old hanging
from his lips, whilst, as the patron of merchants, he bears a purse in his
hand.

The wonderful excavations in Olympia, to which allusion has already been
made, have brought to light an exquisite marble group of Hermes and the
infant Bacchus, by Praxiteles. In this great work of art, Hermes is
represented as a young and handsome man, who is looking down kindly and
affectionately at the child resting on his arm, but unfortunately nothing
remains of the infant save the right hand, which is laid lovingly on the
shoulder of his protector.

The sacrifices to Hermes consisted of incense, honey, cakes, pigs, and
especially lambs and young goats. As god of eloquence, the tongues of
animals were sacrificed to him.

MERCURY.

Mercury was the Roman god of commerce and gain. We find mention of a temple
having been erected to him {124} near the Circus Maximus as early as B.C.
495; and he had also a temple and a sacred fount near the Porta Capena.
Magic powers were ascribed to the latter, and on the festival of Mercury,
which took place on the 25th of May, it was the custom for merchants to
sprinkle themselves and their merchandise with this holy water, in order to
insure large profits from their wares.

The Fetiales (Roman priests whose duty it was to act as guardians of the
public faith) refused to recognize the identity of Mercury with Hermes, and
ordered him to be represented with a sacred branch as the emblem of peace,
instead of the Caduceus. In later times, however, he was completely
identified with the Greek Hermes.

DIONYSUS (BACCHUS).

Dionysus, also called Bacchus (from _bacca_, berry), was the god of wine,
and the personification of the blessings of Nature in general.

[Illustration]

The worship of this divinity, which is supposed to have been introduced
into Greece from Asia (in all probability from India), first took root in
Thrace, whence it gradually spread into other parts of Greece.

Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Semele, and was snatched by Zeus from the
devouring flames in which his mother perished, when he appeared to her in
all the splendour of his divine glory. The motherless child was intrusted
to the charge of Hermes, who conveyed him to Semele's sister, Ino. But
Hera, still implacable in her vengeance, visited Athamas, the husband of
Ino, with madness, {125} and the child's life being no longer safe, he was
transferred to the fostering care of the nymphs of Mount Nysa. An aged
sat