Do you think Hermes is Zeus' closest son? I mean, he's always super loyal towards his father.
You know what, I think I might agree? Like, while Apollo certainly is Zeus’ favourite in general, his pride and joy, so to speak, that doesn’t preclude Hermes and Zeus being closer to each other. (They also have a smoother relationship, even with Apollo still being a/the favourite lol)
First of all, these two go on what is basically father-son bonding trips to test people’s committent to xenia; this is something we only see Zeus and Hermes do (otherwise Zeus goes alone, like in the Lykaon situation). Then there’s all the times Hermes is helping Zeus with various (non-official) situations, and I really don’t think those should be considered Zeus “dumping” any “unpleasant shit” on Hermes, and I think this can be tied into a paper I read recently, which talked about Zeus’ order in relation to Hermes and Apollo’s relationship as it develops in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, and also about that potential closeness.
It was about how Apollo was representing one type of thinking/relating to the world and Hermes another, and the one in Hermes’ case (noos) is one Zeus uses a lot of, so they’re similar in that way? And Zeus DOES just laugh the whole situation in the hymn off and urges the two of them to work to get along instead of talking of guilt and potential punishments.
Also like, the things he entrusts Hermes to help him with/acting in his stead isn’t just to solve shit like the Europa situation and his infidelities, but also in the Iliad, escorting Priam (even when, we note, Hermes took a stand on the Achaean side when the gods were given free reign).
On top of that, Hermes is Olympus’ and Zeus’ herald and messenger, and this isn’t just an “errand boy” thing. A herald was basically a proto diplomat; you don’t just have to relay messages and stuff, but do it in a way, if necessary, so that the message is relayed in a way the recipient might be more amenable to. Obviously in the myths/books these are usually just all retold verbatim, but in a real situation that isn’t how it works, and I bet there are times when Hermes does have to be clever and diplomatic about it, which undoubtedly both works with his personality/skill set, but also - this is Zeus trusting Hermes with things like this! Without oversight.
And, well, you’ve also got the Typhon business, where Hermes (alongside Pan) is usually the one to help Zeus with the sinews situation.
(As a side note it honestly is kind of annoying and bewildering to characterize Hermes as undervalued and dumped with unwanted shit he has to deal with instead of his father; he’s clearly very well trusted!)
So yeah! I agree. Hermes absolutely is the closest to Zeus. I hadn’t thought of this before, and I rather love how it works out, so thanks for the ask! :D
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