Mercurius, usually referred to in English as Mercury, is the Roman deity of commerce.[1] His temple was built in 495 BC, consecrated on May 15.[1] Identified with the Greek god Hermes by the 3rd or 2nd century BC, he became seen as the messenger of the gods and the guide of souls to the underworld.[1] Like Hermes, he is said to be the son of Maia and Jupiter (the Roman counterpart of the Greek Zeus), and he was born at Mount Cyllene. Mercury's name derives from the word merx meaning "trade",[1] which is also the root of English words such as "merchant", "market", and "commerce".
In Book I of Virgil's Aeneid, Mercury is sent by Jupiter to tell the Carthaginian queen Dido of the Trojans' forthcoming arrival, so that they may welcome the Trojans with hospitality rather than turn them away. In Book IV, Mercury is sent to urge Aeneas, who has wed Dido, to leave Carthage and fulfill his son's destiny to rule Italy. After Aeneas has decided to obey and leave, Mercury appears to Aeneas in a dream to tell him to leave quickly while the west winds still blow, lest he be in danger.[2]
In Ovid's Fasti, Mercury rapes a naiad named Lara whom he is ordered by Jupiter to escort to the underworld, and she gives birth to twins, the Lares, guardians of crossroads and the city of Rome.
He is the namesake of the planet Mercury, and the day Wednesday (dies Mercurii) is named after the planet in Latin. Additionally, alchemists assigned planetary names to different metals, the name "mercury" being assigned to quicksilver; English-language scientific terminology still uses this name for the metal, even though the other planetary names for metals fell into disuse in favor of the vernacular names.
Design
The illustration from Nazari's book
The main motif of the design is based on a woodcut illustration in Giovanni Battista Nazari's 1599 book Della tramutatione metallica sogni tre. This figure has three parts of the alchemical symbol of mercury (☿) as heads of serpent-like appendages: a crescent (depicted as a moon), a circle (depicted as the sun), and a cross (depicted as the planet Mercury). Its winged shoes (anklets in Kaneko's adaptation) are borrowed from the imagery of the god Mercury's winged sandals (talaria).[3]
出身地：イタリア ギリシア神話のヘルメスと同一視される。魔術、文学、医学の神。「プシュコポンポス(魂を導く者)」と呼ばれ、死者の魂を冥府に送り届けるとされている。幸運の神でもあったため、商人や盗賊の守護神としても信仰された。錬金術では水銀を表し、さまざまな金属が中に溶けるため、重要な触媒とされていた。Translation: Place of origin: Italy Considered the same as Hermes of Greek mythology. God of magic, literature, and medicine. Called psychopompus (guide of souls), he is said to escort the souls of the dead to the underworld. Because he was also the god of luck, he was believed to be the patron deity of merchants and robbers. In alchemy, he represents quicksilver, which served as an important catalyst because various metals can be dissolved in it.
Mercurius emerges from a one-way portal to the Makai as the result of a botched summoning by Hanada, whom Mercurius kills shortly after. He then turns his attention onto Hawk and attacks his party.
↑"イラストのモチーフは、16世紀の錬金術師ジョバンニ・バスティッタ・ナザリの『金属の変成につ「いての三つの夢』の挿絵にある。老人と魚と蛇が融合した姿で、顔には長い顎髭、耳にあたる部分には巨大なヒレがあり、鱗がついた体は大きく膨らんでいる。体の上部にある3本の角の先端には、それぞれ水星・太陽・月のマークがあり、ヘルメスたる出自を表す翼つきのブーツをはいている。イラストでは足に鳥の要素も加えられ、ブーツはアンクレットになった。" Kazuma Kaneko Works II (2006). Published by Shinkigensha. Japanese. p. 15. ISBN-13: 978-4-7753-0350-4.
Shin Megami Tensei II
Japanese
Artwork from Shin Megami Tensei II
Sprite from the PlayStation version of Shin Megami Tensei II