Mercury (god)

Mercury
God of financial gain, commerce, messages/communication, travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery and thieves
Consecration relief with the god Mercury (right). A man is offering a goat at an altar
Symbol	Caduceus, winged sandals, winged hat
Personal Information
Consort	Larunda
Children	Lares
Parents	Maia and Jupiter
Greek equivalent	Hermes

Mercury (/ˈmɜːrkjᵿri/; Latin: Mercurius [mɛrˈkʊ.ri.ʊs]  listen ) is a major Roman god, being one of the Dii Consentes within the ancient Roman pantheon. He is the patron god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence (and thus poetry), messages/communication (including divination), travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery and thieves; he is also the guide of souls to the underworld. He was considered the son of Maia and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is possibly related to the Latin word merx ("merchandise"; cf. merchant, commerce, etc.), mercari (to trade), and merces (wages); another possible connection is the Proto-Indo-European root merĝ- for "boundary, border" (cf. Old English "mearc", Old Norse "mark" and Latin "margō") and Greek οὖρος (by analogy of Arctūrus/Ἀρκτοῦρος), as the "keeper of boundaries," referring to his role as bridge between the upper and lower worlds. In his earliest forms, he appears to have been related to the Etruscan deity Turms; both gods share characteristics with the Greek god Hermes. He is often depicted holding the caduceus in his left hand. Similar to his Greek equivalent (Hermes) he was awarded the caduceus by Apollo who handed him a magic wand, which later turned into the caduceus.