За мултикултурните аспекти във възприятията на Хермес-Меркурий - между "Ψυχοπόμπος" и "добрия пастир"
About the multicultural aspects in Hermes-Mercury perceptions: Between Ψυχοπόμπος and the 'good shepherd'

Author(s): Bozhidar Draganov
Subject(s): History, Cultural history, Comparative history, History of ideas, Ancient World, Theology and Religion, Comparative Studies of Religion, History of Religion
Published by: Издателска къща "Гутенберг"
Keywords: Hermes; Ancient deities; deities; Polytheism; Monotheism; Religion; Religious believes; ancient world; History;
Summary/Abstract: This article is an attempt to discuss the "conventional" image of Hermes-Mercury in a rather unconventional way. The author has sought the substratum of perceptions that condition the "long" life of a deity in the complex of Indo-European religious beliefs. The aspects relating Hermes-Mercury to the essence of the notion of Ψυχοπόμπος have been pointed out, to which end the author has analysed mythological information, as well as the semantics of part of Hermes' sacred animals. With the help of glyptic and miniature bronze figurine monuments, he has sought the connection with Egyptian, eastern and Asia Minor deities predisposing the "synthesis" to uniform religious perceptions in the period of transition from polytheism to monotheism. In spite of the danger of extreme interpretation, there is also an analysis of some parallels with Mithra, the 'Good Shepherd' and St. Nicholas, which mark the complex semantics and multiple layers of the seemingly 'gradual' and 'natural' process of consolidation that accompanied the age of consolidation of the Christian idea.

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