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Mercury (Roman God) Facts & Worksheets

Mercury was the Roman Pantheon's god of trade, messengers, travel, and cunning tricksters and thieves.

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Mercury was the Roman pantheon’s god of trade, messengers, travel, and cunning tricksters and thieves. The son of Jupiter, the king of the gods, and Maia, a nymph and one of Atlas’ daughters known as the Pleiades, he was constantly pushing the boundaries and just as ready to deceive the other gods as he was to help them. His Greek counterpart is Hermes, a swift-footed messenger of the gods.

See the fact file below for more information on Mercury, or you can download our 29-page Mercury worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

ETYMOLOGY

  • The name “Mercury” (or Mercurius) derives from the Latin merx, a noun meaning “merchandise,” and mercari, a verb meaning “to trade.” 
  • A deeper origin in the Proto-Indo-European language could be merk– or merg-, which imply “boundary” or “border,” respectively. 
  • Mercury was known as “the merchant” or “the boundary keeper.”
  • Mercury is known to be a common name for a newspaper.
  • He is frequently associated with Hermes, the swift-footed messenger of the gods in Greek mythology.

MYTHOLOGY

  • Due to his late introduction into the Roman pantheon, Mercury lacks an actual origin story. 
  • In the legendary tradition, he evolved as a freewheeling personality who created as many problems as he solved.
  • Mercury (Mercurius) was the Roman god of trade, frequently acting as a mediator between the gods and mortals, his winged feet providing him the benefit of speed, and was, therefore, the patron of broad circulation – of people, commodities, and messages. 
  • Mercury, as the principal messenger of the gods, commanded the movement of all things—goods, ideas, language, and people. 
  • Mercury was typically represented as a naked, beardless youth, who wore a short tunic and a cloak wrapped around his neck on occasion. 
  • Mercury holds a purse, symbolizing his commercial activities. Artists and Roman religious believers freely copied Hermes’ features and represented Mercury wearing winged sandals or a winged headdress and clasping a caduceus (staff).
  • He wore winged shoes and flew with the help of winged headgear made for him by Vulcan, the god of the forge and fire. 
  • Mercury carries a caduceus, a serpent-wrapped staff given to him by Apollo. Mercury was quick and astute, and his knowledge of significant events was often visionary.
  • Mercury shielded merchants, particularly those dealing in grains and travelers. Merchants would pray to him for increased profits and the safety of their trade goods. 
  • Like Hermes, he led the deceased to the underworld. 
  • Many considered him cunning, intelligent, and deceptive, frequently playing pranks on the unwary, particularly the deity Apollo.
  • He allegedly fathered the twin Lares, Rome’s guardian gods, while bringing the nymph Lara to Pluto’s realm. 

FAMILY

  • Mercury was the son of Jupiter, the king of the gods, and Maia, a nymph and one of Atlas’ daughters known as the Pleiades. 
  • Mercury was the only child born of the relationship, yet he had numerous half-siblings through Jupiter. 
  • Vulcan, the god of the forge and fire, Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and thoughtfulness, and Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres, who was abducted and transported to the underworld, were among his half-siblings. 
  • Mercury eventually found Proserpina, thanks in part to Pluto’s efforts.
  • Mercury’s most famous consort was Larunda, a naiad nymph whose tongue Jupiter severed. 
  • Mercury and Larunda produced two children, according to Ovid’s Fasti, two nameless deities known only as the Lares. The Lares, like their father, stood vigil at the crossroads.
  • Mercury, the Roman equivalent of Hermes, was also known for his other lovers. Mercury’s romance with Venus resulted in Hermaphroditos, an androgynous child. 
  • Hermaphroditos would later fuse his body with his female lover, creating a single person with both male and female genitalia.
  • Mercury also had male lovers in Greek mythology, notably the hero Perseus.

MERCURY AND JUPITER

  • Jupiter sent Mercury to tell the Trojan Aeneas to abandon his beloved Queen Dido and Carthage to fulfill his destiny of founding Rome. 
  • On the other hand, Jupiter frequently brought Mercury on several journeys to Earth to communicate with mortals. 
  • According to the Roman poet Ovid in his poem Metamorphoses, during one of the journeys, the two dressed as peasants and were forcibly evicted upon reaching a tiny village.
  • They did, however, knock on the door of Baucis and Philemon’s little house. Despite their poverty, the couple, unaware of who their visitors were, shared what little food and drinks they had with the tired travelers.
  • They were even willing to sacrifice their only goose. Jupiter intended to thank them upon revealing themselves to the old couple, but they only had one wish: to perish together. 
  • Upon Jupiter wanting to destroy the village, he gave humankind a chance and honored the couple’s request, but until that day arrived, he made them keepers of a temple he built in the place of their previous home.

MERCURY THE THIEF

  • Mercury was the patron of shepherds, frauds, thieves, and the god of commerce. 
  • Ovid tells the account of Mercury, a cunning thief himself. 
  • Battus, a servant, was guarding a herd of mares in a meadow when he noticed Mercury stealing a herd of cattle and driving them into neighboring woods. If someone enquired about the missing animals, Mercury advised Battus to say he saw nothing. 
  • The god rewarded the old man with a cow. Mercury returned later in disguise and asked him whether he had seen anything. The older man revealed everything after being promised a heifer and a bull if he talked. Mercury, enraged, turned him to stone.

OTHER ACCOUNTS OF MERCURY

  • Another time, the winged god defended Jupiter from the envious Juno, Jupiter’s wife. Mercury told Jupiter of his approaching wife as Jupiter was with Io, daughter of the river deity Inachus. 
  • Jupiter immediately transformed Io into a cow. Hera placed the unfortunate girl, still disguised as a cow, under the watchful gaze of the many-eyed Argus. 
  • Mercury told Argus uninteresting stories until he fell asleep to release Io. Mercury beheaded Argus and released Io.
  • With many legends in Roman mythology, those about Mercury were mixed with those about Hermes, making it impossible to distinguish between them. 
  • One myth, which is usually associated with Hermes, features Demeter and her daughter Persephone.
  • In Roman mythology, Mercury transports Proserpina, Ceres’s daughter, to the underworld to dwell with Pluto (the Greek Hades).
  • One final narrative depicts Mercury as a youngster, an occurrence more commonly associated with Hermes. 
  • Despite being a gifted boy who fashioned a lyre out of a tortoiseshell, he snuck away from his mother one night and stole Apollo’s oxen grazing in a field. 
  • Mercury returned to his mother after devouring two of them. When Apollo discovered his missing oxen and saw how the culprit ate the two, he recognized the culprit and brought the infant to Mt. Olympus, where he was judged guilty. 
  • When Mercury was obliged to return the oxen, he offered Apollo his lyre in exchange for the cattle.

CULT

  • Around 495 BCE, a temple was built near Rome’s Circus Maximus on the southwest slope of Aventine Hill for Mercury. 
  • On May 15, the dedication day of Mercury’s temple on the Aventine, Mercury, and Maia were honored at the Mercuralia festival.
  • Outside of Rome, a cult worshipping him existed in Campania and Latium, as well as in Gaul and Britain. 

SYMBOLISM

  • Mercury’s symbol depicts the deity of trade and communication, Mercury, with his head and winged cap surmounting his caduceus (staff).
  • The caduceus represents the god. A wand meant to resolve disagreements and winged sandals used to transport messages for the gods quickly.

Mercury (Roman God) Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Mercury (Roman God) across 29 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about Mercury, who was the Roman pantheon’s god of trade, messengers, travel, and cunning tricksters and thieves.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Mercury (Roman God) Facts
  2. True or False?
  3. Genealogy
  4. The Mercuries
  5. A Roman God with Caduceus
  6. Symbols
  7. Counterparts
  8. Planet Mercury
  9. Messenger
  10. Mercuralia
  11. Bookmark

Frequently Asked Questions

What Greek god is Mercury?

Hermes, the son of Zeus and Maia, is known as Mercury to the Romans. He was responsible for carrying messages between mortals and gods while also serving as a guide to the underworld.

Who did the Mercury god love?

On his way to the underworld, Mercury falls in love with Larunda. They have two babies.

Who was Mercury’s son?

Cupid is the god of love in Roman mythology. He is the same as Eros in Greek mythology and Amor in Latin poetry. The legend says that Cupid was the son of Mercury, who was the winged messenger of the gods, and Venus, who was the goddess of love.

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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