[American Hero-Myths by Daniel G. Brinton]@TWC D-Link bookAmerican Hero-Myths CHAPTER I 22/27
His name Hermes, Hermeias, is but a transliteration of the Sanscrit Sarameyas, under which he appears in the Vedic songs, as the son of Sarama, the Dawn.
Even his character as the master thief and patron saint of the light-fingered gentry, drawn from the way the winds and breezes penetrate every crack and cranny of the house, is absolutely repeated in the Mexican hero-god Quetzalcoatl, who was also the patron of thieves.
I might carry the comparison yet further, for as Sarameyas is derived from the root _sar_, to creep, whence _serpo_, serpent, the creeper, so the name Quetzalcoatl can be accurately translated, "the wonderful serpent." In name, history and functions the parallelism is maintained throughout. Or we can find another familiar myth, partly Aryan, partly Semitic, where many of the same outlines present themselves.
The Argive Thebans attributed the founding of their city and state to Cadmus.
He collected their ancestors into a community, gave them laws, invented the alphabet of sixteen letters, taught them the art of smelting metals, established oracles, and introduced the Dyonisiac worship, or that of the reproductive principle.
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