Les plantes, jalons du parcours catabasique d’Hermès dans l’<em>Hymne homérique à Hermès</em>

Abstract

The purpose of this article is not to constitute a comprehensive exegesis of the vegetal universe of the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, a highly complex, but largely unexplored world. I propose to read the various stages of Hermes’ nocturnal expedition in the light of the mythology of the plants marking his route and to show that they have, without exception, links to death and the Underworld. Thus, the plants indicate the liminal nature of the landscape crossed by Hermes and the catabatic nature of his journey.