Herms and Hermes

Use in the book

The objects have a double function in Socrates’ account. They identify a midpoint between town and deme, and they present a moral saying attached to Hipparchus’ name. The first function assists geographical orientation; the second invites ethical and intellectual orientation. Because the monument is Hermes, the information is voiced by a recognisable divine figure rather than by an anonymous post.

At 229a the description explicitly says that Hermes is inscribed as speaking. The other inscription calls the object a memorial of Hipparchus. This layering gives the monument several authorities: the represented god, the publicly placed object, the memorable verse, and the attributed human teacher. The passage does not analyse how these authorities interact, but the reader should notice that Socrates’ eventual appeal to Hipparchus comes through this constructed public voice.

The programme’s stated aim is to educate country people. The statues are therefore described as instruments of a wider invitation: a traveller who tastes the wisdom is supposed to come in for more. This makes the Herm both a self-contained maxim and a partial sample. It is unnecessary to label the project either wholly altruistic or wholly propagandistic; the text states a wish to improve citizens and a wish to make them prefer Hipparchus’ wisdom.

A surviving Herm found at Koropi carries the geographic verse about Kephale and the town. It provides material support for the type of monument and its midpoint language. The lost second line is restored by reference to the dialogue in the modern inscription edition; its reconstructed wording must not be counted as independent physical proof of the very literary account used to restore it.

Places to read

1. 228dἔστησεν αὐτοῖς Ἑρμᾶς — Hipparchus erects the monuments for the country population.
2. 229aλέγων ὁ Ἑρμῆς ὅτι — Hermes is represented as giving the monument’s location.
3. 229aἐν ἄλλοις Ἑρμαῖς — The quoted examples belong to a larger series.

Translation in this edition

The edition capitalises “Herms” to retain their identity as representations of Hermes. Its archaeological note appropriately says that the surviving example is generally assigned to Hipparchus. The distinction between the extant geographic text and the restored commemorative line is especially important when using archaeology to test the narrative rather than merely illustrate it.