Resumen de Interpreting and Comparing the Representations of Hermes in Ancient Greece and Archangel Michael in Macedonian Folk Beliefs

Lidija Kovacheva, Shultz Benjamin

• This paper provides a comparative interpretation of the Ancient Greek image of Hermes as a mythological figure with the image of Archangel Michael as a highly revered Orthodox saint in modern Macedonian society. The goal of this research is to show the similarities and the differences between these two characters and how these images are understood today in modern society. By comparing the representations of these two characters, popularly accepted as soul reapers and psychopomps and regularly portrayed holding a stick, and then through the comparison of the days that mark their celebration, the aim of this paper is to show that rudiments of Macedonian folk beliefs and customs associated with this saint, although modified, are still strongly present in the Macedonian tradition.

  DOI: 10.5958/2347-6869.2018.00011.0