Marathon Boy (God Hermes)

The boy from Marathon is a bronze statue representing a youth, perhaps the god Hermes. The dreamy expression and easy pose are characteristic of the works of Praxiteles, the leading late Classical sculptor. It was found in the sea of the Marathon bay and is dated to 325-300 BCE. Hermes (Greek : Ερμής) was an Olympian god in Greek religion and mythology, son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia. He was   second youngest of the Olympian gods. Hermes was a god of transitions and boundaries. He was quick and cunning, and moved freely  between the worlds of the mortal and divine, as emissary and messenger of the gods, intercessor  between mortals and the divine, and conductor of souls into the afterlife. He was protector and patron of travelers, herdsmen, thieves, orators and wit, literature and poets, athletics and sports, invention and trade. In some myths he is a trickster, and outwits other gods for his own satisfaction or the sake of humankind. His attributes and symbols include the herma, the rooster and the tortoise, purse or pouch, winged sandals, winged cap, and his main symbol was the herald’s staff, the Greek kerykeion or Latin caduceus which consisted of two snakes wrapped around a winged staff.