Talaria

File:Talaria.svg

A 19th-century engraving of talaria.

The Talaria of Mercury (Template:Langx) or The Winged Sandals of Hermes (Template:Langx, or , ) are winged sandals, a symbol of the Greek messenger god Hermes (Roman equivalent Mercury). They were said to be made by the god Hephaestus of imperishable gold and they flew the god as swift as any bird.

Etymology

The Latin noun , neuter plural of signifies "of the ankle". It is not quite certain how the Romans arrived at the meaning of "winged sandals" from this, possibly that the wings were attached at the ankles, or the sandals were tied around the ankles.Template:Sfnp

Attestations

File:Perseus Medusa Louvre CA795.jpg

One of the oldest known representations: Perseus, wearing the talaria and carrying the over his shoulder, turns his head to kill Medusa on this Orientalizing relief , c. Template:Trim, Louvre.

In ancient Greek literature, the sandals of Hermes are first of all mentioned by Homer (; , "immortal/divine and of gold"), though not described as "winged".Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp

The description of the sandals being winged first appear in the poem Shield of Heracles (c. 600 – 550 BC), which speaks of (), literally "winged sandals".Template:Sfnp The Homeric hymn to Hermes from a somewhat later date (520 BC) does not explicitly state the sandals were winged, though they allowed him to leave no footprints while committing his theft of Apollo's cattle.Template:Sfnp

According to one estimation, it was around 5th century BC when the winged sandals came to be regarded as common (though not indispensable) accoutrements of the god Hermes.Template:Sfnp One later instance which refers to the sandals being winged is the Orphic Hymn XXVIII to Hermes (c. 2nd/3rd century AD).Template:Sfnp

Perseus wears Hermes' sandals to help him slay Medusa. According to Aeschylus, Hermes gives them to him directly. In a better-attested version, Perseus must retrieve them from the Graeae, along with the cap of invisibility and the (sack).

Latin sources

The term talaria has been employed by Ovid in the 1st century, and prior to him, in perhaps eight instances by various Latin authors (Cicero, Virgil, etc.).Template:Sfnp The term is usually construed as "winged sandals", and applied almost exclusively to the footwear worn by the god Hermes/Mercury or the hero Perseus.Template:Sfnp

Medieval interpretation

In the case of the talaria worn by the swift runner Atalanta (Ovid, Metamorphoses X.591) some translators in the past steered away from recognizing them as footwear, and chose to regard them as "long robes, reaching to the ankle", starting with Planudes in the 14th century. This interpretation was also endorsed in the 17th century by Nicolaas Heinsius's gloss, and persisted in the 19th century with Lewis and Short's dictionary entry for this particular passage.Template:Sfnp But there are "insuperable" reasons against this "robes" interpretation, for Ovid clearly states in the foregoing passages that Atalanta had disrobedTemplate:Efn to engage in the foot-race.Template:SfnpTemplate:Refn

Also in the medieval Irish versions of the Aeneid (Imtheachta Aeniasa) and the Destruction of Troy (Togail Troí), Mercury wears a "bird covering" or "feather mantle" (Template:Langx), which clearly derives from Mercury's talaria, such as described by Virgil.Template:Refn

File:Homer, Arzt, Merkur.jpg

In this 13th century illumination, Mercury (on the right) is mostly naked and has feather-like wings on his head and legs.

Sometimes, it has been interpreted that Hermes feet are winged, rather that the wings being part of his sandals.

See also

• EADS Talarion an unmanned air vehicle named after talaria.
• Hermes also wears a winged petasos, a traveler hat. In other representations he wears a winged helmet.
• Caduceus, the staff of Hermes

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Gantz, Timothy (2004). Mythes de la Grèce archaïque, Berlin. pp. 541–543.

External links

• Template:Sister-inline