Mercury (pron.: //; Latin: Mercurius listen (help·info)) is a
major Roman god, being one of the Dii Consentes within the
ancient Roman pantheon. He is the patron god of financial gain,
commerce, eloquence (and thus poetry), messages/communication
(including divination), travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery
and thieves; he is also the guide of souls to the underworld. He
was considered the son of Maia and Jupiter in Roman mythology.
His name is possibly related to the Latin word merx
("merchandise"; compare merchant, commerce, etc.), mercari (to
trade), and merces (wages). In his earliest forms, he appears to
have been related to the Etruscan deity Turms, with
characteristics and mythology subsequently borrowed from the
analogous Greek god, Hermes. Latin writers rewrote Hermes' myths
and substituted his name with that of Mercury. However, there
are at least two myths that involve Mercury that are Roman in
origin. In Virgil's Aeneid, Mercury reminds Aeneas of his
mission to found the city of Rome. In Ovid's Fa