herms

Isaac Kremer/ July 3, 2024/ / 0 comments

Are stone pillars, topped with the head of the god Hermes and commonly with an erect phallus carved on the front. On the block-shoulders wreaths or clothes could hang. They were set up by roads, at street corners and in other prominent public places to solicit worship from, and offer protection to passersby. The type of mount is later used for other deities (Heracles, Dionysus, Pan) and in the Roman period for portrait busts. (Boardman, 1986)