HERMES (Roman name: MERCURY)

Hermes was the god of games, business, thieves, and story telling.   He was the son of Zeus, and he had a son named Pan.  His job was to deliver and send messages for Zeus and the gods of the underworld.  Hermes was very good at playing the lyre, and he also loved to play jokes on the other gods.  When he was a baby, he stole Apollo’s cattle by tricking him into walking backward, but later they became very good friends.  Since Hermes was the smartest of the gods, he invented many things such as the lyre, the pipes, the musical scale, astronomy, weights and measures, boxing, gymnastics, and the olive tree.

Hermes had magical sandals which gave him the ability to fly.  He also had the helmet of invisibility or the helmet of darkness that makes you invisible.  Once, Hermes loaned Perseus, a demigod, his flying sandals so he could fly to Medusa’s house.

I think that Hermes is interesting because he invented many things, and because he was the fastest of the gods.