The Modern Hermes

The comparison between Hermes and Stewie (the baby from "Family Guy") came up in class, and I found it really interesting. For some reason or another, despite the fact that I watch family guy on a regular basis, I never made that connection. After discussing their similarity in class I thought for a little while and considered what kind of trickster characteristics Stewie embodies. Although his birth was not unusual to our knowledge, he does have the ability to speak with extremely advanced grammar at a very young age. There is, however, and episode in which Stewie enters Peter's body in order to stop his parents from having anther child and all of the sperm are actually little babies in ship-like things. In that sense, I suppose one could say that he did have an unusual birth if he entered his mother's egg in a ship and was born with knowledge and the ability to talk. Stewie most definitely plays tricks. There is an episode in which the dog can't help himself from peeing in the house, and he goes to therapy and tries all kinds of things to stop himself from doing it. He is finally able to, but Stewie pees in the house so that the family thinks that it is the dog, and even the dog blames himself. Stewie is selfish, plots out his tricks (such as killing his mother), comical, clever, mischievous, and a male. He fits many of the common trickster characteristics.

After thinking about Stewie as a trickster, I was curious to see what other modern characters embody the trickster qualities of Hermes. I came up with a list of a few that I thought were good examples:





1. The wolf in little red riding hood: he used tricks to get little red riding hood to disclose where she was going, and then disguised himself as her grandmother. Tricksters often change forms, as did the wolf, and use tricks to benefit themselves (although it didn't really work our well for him).





2. Bugs Bunny: he is always playing tricks on Elmer Fud or those who are trying to harm him. He is elusive, comical, and clever. He likes to disrupt conventional order as well.





3. The joker in batman: In the new batman movie he changes his appearances many times (dresses as a nurse in the hospital, poses as a cop, parades as another robber in the bank scene, etc). He tricks people into doing what he wants them to as well. He plots elaborate schemes, he is kind of a loner and lives on the fringe of society, and he breaks conventional rules and laws set up by society.





4. The mask: Jim Carrey openly mocks authority and convention in his role in "The Mask." He helps to get the bad guys while pursuing his own personal desires, such as that for money and a gorgeous woman. He is also able to change the way that he looks and conjure up random things while the mask is on.









5. Jack Sparrow: He is very self centered, tricky, and manipulative. For example, in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie he manipulates the guards into arguing about whether or not the Black Pearl is real while he escapes with a ship. He defies laws and conventions of society, and as a pirate lives on the outskirts of society. Captain Jack Sparrow dupes others like Hermes as well.









These are just a few examples of more modern tricksters that we are all familiar with.