Image Details

Erich Lessing

The route leading out of Athens was lined with pillars known as Herms. These representations of Hermes, the patron god of travelers, show only the deity’s face and erect penis. The marble Herm shown here, a little more than 2 feet tall, dates to the sixth century B.C. Found in Siphons, one of the islands of the western Cyclades, the pillar is now in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.