View source for Engineering:Herma

{{short description|Sculpture with a head and often a torso above a plain lower section, often with male genitals at the appropriate height; originated in Ancient Greece, adopted by the Romans, and revived in the Renaissance}}
[[Image:Herma Demosthenes Glyptothek Munich 292.jpg|thumb|200px|Herma of Demosthenes from the Athenian Agora, work by Polyeuktos, c. 280 BC, Glyptothek]]
A '''herma''' ({{lang-grc|ἑρμῆς}}, pl. {{lang|grc|ἑρμαῖ}} ''hermai''),<ref>Anatole Bailly, ''Abrégé du dictionnaire Grec-Français'', Hachette, Paris, 1901, [https://fr.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Page:Bailly_-_Dictionnaire_Grec-Fran%C3%A7ais.djvu/367&action=edit&redlink=1 p. 361].</ref> commonly '''herm''' in English, is a sculpture with a head and perhaps a torso above a plain, usually squared lower section, on which male genitals may also be carved at the appropriate height.  Hermae were so called either because the head of [[Religion:Hermes|Hermes]] was most common or from their etymological connection with the Greek word {{lang|grc|ἕρματα}} (blocks of stone), which originally had no reference to Hermes at all. The form originated in {{wipe|Ancient Greece}}, and was adopted by the Romans, and revived at the [[Philosophy:Renaissance|Renaissance]] in the form of [[Engineering:Term (architecture)|term figures]] and [[Engineering:Atlas (architecture)|atlantes]].

==Origin==
In the earliest times [[Religion:List of Greek mythological figures|Greek divinities]] were worshiped in the form of a heap of stones or a shapeless column of stone or wood. In many parts of Greece there were piles of stones by the sides of roads, especially at their crossings, and on the boundaries of lands. The religious respect paid to such heaps of stones, especially at the meeting of roads, is shown by the custom of each passer-by throwing a stone on to the heap or anointing it with oil.<ref>Nicand. Ther. 150; Theophrast. Char. 16.</ref> Later there was the addition of a head and phallus to the column, which became quadrangular (the number 4 was sacred to [[Religion:Hermes|Hermes]]).<ref>Paus. vii. 22. § 2; Aristoph. Plut. 1121, 1144; Hom. Od. xiv. 435, xix. 397; Athen. i. p. 16.</ref>

==Uses==
[[File:HermHerakles 2.jpg|alt= Herma with the head of Herakles (Hermherakles). Museum of Ancient Messene, Greece.|thumb|Herma with the head of Herakles (Hermherakles). Museum of Ancient Messene, Greece]]
In ancient Greece the statues were thought to ward off harm or evil, an apotropaic function, and were placed at crossings, country borders and boundaries as protection, in front of temples, near to tombs, outside houses, in the gymnasia, palaestrae, libraries, [[Engineering:Portico|portico]]es, and public places, at the corners of streets, on high roads as sign-posts, with distances inscribed upon them.<ref>Brunck, Anal. 3.197, no. 234</ref> Before his role as protector of merchants and travelers, [[Religion:Hermes|Hermes]] was a phallic god, associated with fertility, luck, roads and borders. His name perhaps comes from the word ''herma'', referring to a square or rectangular pillar of stone, [[Chemistry:Terracotta|terracotta]], or bronze; a bust of Hermes' head, usually with a beard,<ref>The image of a youthful, beardless Hermes was a development of the 5th century BCE.</ref> sat on the top of the pillar, and male genitals adorned the base. The surmounting heads were not, however, confined to those of Hermes; those of other gods and heroes, and even of distinguished mortals, were of frequent occurrence. In this case a compound was formed: ''Hermathena'' (a herm of Athena), ''Hermares'' (of Ares), ''Hermherakles'' (of Herakles), ''Hermaphroditus'' (of Aphrodite—not to be confused with the son of Hermes and Aphrodite with the same name, ''Hermaphroditus'', who had the genitals of both sexes), ''[[Religion:Hermanubis|Hermanubis]]'', ''Hermalcibiades'', and so on. In [[Place:Athens|Athens]], where the ''hermai'' were most numerous and most venerated, they were placed outside houses as apotropes for good luck.<ref>Thuc. 6.27; Aelian, Ael. VH 2.41; Suid. s.v. Pollux, 8.72; Athen. 10.437b</ref> They would be rubbed or anointed with olive oil and adorned with garlands or wreaths.<ref>Theophrast. Char. 16; comp. Genesis 28.18, 22, 31.45-48</ref> This superstition persists, for example the Porcellino bronze boar of Florence (and numerous others like it around the world), where the nose is shiny from being continually touched for good luck or fertility.
[[Image:AGMA Tête d'Hermès.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Archaic bearded head of Hermes from a herm, early 5th century BC]]
In Roman and [[Philosophy:Renaissance|Renaissance]] versions (''[[Religion:Terminus (god)|termini]]''), the body was often shown from the waist up.  The form was also used for portrait busts of famous public figures, especially writers like [[Biography:Socrates|Socrates]] and [[Biography:Plato|Plato]]. [[Biology:Sappho|Sappho]] appears on Ancient Greek herms, and anonymous female figures were often used from the [[Philosophy:Renaissance|Renaissance]] on, when herms were often attached to walls as decoration.

==Trial of Alcibiades==
In 415 BC, on a night shortly before the Athenian fleet was about to set sail for Syracuse during the Peloponnesian War (see Sicilian Expedition), all of the Athenian ''hermai'' were vandalized. Many people at the time thought such an impious act would threaten the success of the expedition.<ref>Thuc. 6.27, with Grote's remarks, ch. 58, 5.146ff.; Andoc. de Myst.; Aristoph. Lys. 1094</ref> Though it was never proven, the Athenians at the time believed it was the work of saboteurs, either from Syracuse or Spartan sympathizers from [[Place:Athens|Athens]] itself; one suspect was the writer [[Biography:Xenophon|Xenophon]].<ref>Introduction "A History of My Times" (Penguin Classics) Paperback – May 31, 1979 by the editor George Cawkwell. Translated from Xenophons' "Hellenica" by Rex Warner</ref> Enemies of [[Biography:Alcibiades|Alcibiades]], using the anger of the Athenians as a pretext to investigate further desecrations, accused him of other acts of impiety, including mutilations of other sacred objects and mocking performances of religious mystery ceremonies.<ref>Thucydides (2008). ''The Landmark Thucydides''. New York: Free Press, sections 6.27–28.</ref> He denied the accusations and offered to stand trial, but the Athenians did not want to disrupt the expedition any further, and his opponents wanted to use his absence to incite the people against him at a time when he would not be able to defend himself.  Once he had left on the expedition, his political enemies had him charged and sentenced to death ''in absentia'', both for the mutilation of the hermai, and the supposedly related crime of profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries.

==Art and popular culture==
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has a large collection of Roman Herma boundary marker stones in its stored collection.

An Aesop's fable makes fun of a [[Religion:The Statue of Hermes#2 Hermes and the dog|statue of Hermes]]. When a pious dog offers to 'anoint' it, the god hastily assures his worshipper that this is not necessary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mythfolklore.net/aesopica/perry/308.htm|title=Hermes and the Dog|work=mythfolklore.net}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
Image:Istanbul - Museo archeol. - Erme - Sec. III-I a.C. - Foto G. Dall'Orto 28-5-2006.jpg|Small [[Chemistry:Terracotta|terracotta]] herm of Hermes
Image:0007MAN-Herma.jpg|Archaic Greek herm, presumably of [[Religion:Hermes|Hermes]], unusual in that the penis has survived
Image:Rustic sanctuary Louvre CA2935.jpg|Herm on an Attic red-figure lekythos, 475–450 BC
Image:Philosopher2.JPG|A hermaic sculpture of an old man, probably a philosopher. Ai Khanoum, Afghanistan, 2nd century BC
Image:Anvers Maison Rubens.JPG|Male and female [[History:Baroque|Baroque]] herms at the Rubenshuis
Image:Hermy na kamienicy w Iławie.jpg|Art Nouveau herms in Poland
Image:Duble herma of Socrates and Seneca Antikensammlung Berlin 01.jpg|Busts from a Roman double herm of [[Biography:Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] and [[Biography:Socrates|Socrates]]
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Engineering:Caryatid|Caryatid]]
*[[Engineering:Atlas (architecture)|Atlantid]]
* [[Philosophy:Lingam|Lingam]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/K11.12.html Ancient Greek Art: Herm Statue, Theoi Project]
* [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:entry=hermae-cn A Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (1890), Perseus Project]
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/263092/herm Herm (Greek religion)– Britannica Online Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/sex/ipi/ipi06.htm Influence of the Phallic Idea: Hermae, Termini, Pillars and "Groves"]
* [http://neoherm.googlepages.com Ice Herms], with primary source passages on ancient herms and on the sacrilege trial of Alcibiades, images of ancient herms from sculpture and vase painting, and photos (including a step-by-step guide to the making) of the University of Chicago ice herms

[[Category:Ancient Greek religion]]
[[Category:Architectural elements]]

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