0571NOTHermes

0571NOTHermes_Rogers

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Ovid Met.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, episode 1489 (23 July 1981)

"Hermes' most important role is that of divine messenger, usually for Zeus." Reid OGCMA 563

Synopsis by Amazon.com: "Mister Rogers visits an underground mushroom farm to see how mushrooms are grown. In Make-Believe, King Friday is reconsidering his "no-play" rule ..." The first 15 minutes of this episode show Mr. McFeely in his peculiar role.

Mythological Disclaimer:

Please note that Macfarlane's presentation of Mr. McFeely as Hermes is a tongue-in-cheek interpretation.

The instructor does not believe that Mr. McFeely's creators intended him as a Hermes figure. There is no overt reference to Hermes, even if he does function well according to the archetype.

The whole is intended to show that discussions of archetypes can go seriously wrong.

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University and other contexts.
This resource contains information assembled for The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, and it is used with express permission from Oxford University Press.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.