Who was Hermes Trismegistus?

A legendary sage combining the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth, to whom Greek philosophical and religious texts were attributed.

What is the Corpus Hermeticum?

A collection of seventeen Greek treatises, written about AD 100–300, attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, on the nature of God, the cosmos and the soul.

Is Hermeticism Gnostic?

The two share some themes and appear together in the Nag Hammadi library, but Hermetic writings generally see the world as God's good creation, which sets them apart from the classic gnostic myths. Scholars disagree about how close the connection is.

Did Hermes Trismegistus live before Moses?

No. Renaissance writers believed so, but Isaac Casaubon showed in 1614 that the Hermetic texts were written in the first centuries AD.

What Is Hermeticism?

The Renaissance thought these writings were older than Moses. A scholar in 1614 showed they were not, but they remain one of the great texts of late-antique religion.

Hermes the Thrice-Great

Hermes Trismegistus (“thrice-greatest Hermes”) was a legendary sage created when the Greek god Hermes was fused with the Egyptian god of writing and wisdom, Thoth, in Hellenistic Egypt. Texts on philosophy, astrology, alchemy and magic were written in his name. The Greek world already treated the two gods as counterparts, as the New Testament itself shows when the crowd at Lystra hails Paul as Hermes:

The King James Version uses the Roman name, Mercurius:

Acts 14:12

12And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.
See also: Acts 19:35, 1 Corinthians 9:6

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The Corpus Hermeticum

The core of the tradition is the Corpus Hermeticum, seventeen Greek treatises usually dated between about AD 100 and 300, preserved in Byzantine manuscripts. The first, the Poimandres, is a revelation in which a divine mind shows the narrator how the cosmos and humanity came to be and how the soul may ascend back to God. Another important text, the Asclepius, survives in Latin. The ideas are a blend of Platonism, Stoicism and Egyptian religion, and the goal is spiritual rebirth through knowledge of God.

The Renaissance discovery

In 1463 the Florentine ruler Cosimo de' Medici had Marsilio Ficino set aside his translation of Plato to translate a newly arrived Hermetic manuscript first. Ficino, like many church writers before him (Lactantius and Augustine both discuss Hermes), believed Hermes was an ancient Egyptian sage who lived before Moses and had foreseen Christianity. Then in 1614 the philologist Isaac Casaubon showed from the Greek style and content that the treatises were written in the early Christian era, not in remote antiquity. The claim of great age collapsed, but Hermetic ideas had already shaped Renaissance philosophy, alchemy and later esoteric movements.

How it differs from Gnosticism

The two are often confused because they overlap in time and place, and because three Hermetic texts turned up in the Nag Hammadi library (Codex VI). They share ideas about the divine spark and ascent. But most Hermetic writers admire the cosmos as a beautiful work of God, and the tradition is not organized around a flawed creator. Scholars still debate how closely to link them.

The New Testament's own reaction to competing philosophies and spiritual traditions of the day:

Colossians 2:8

8Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
See also: 1 Timothy 6:20, Ephesians 5:6

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Popular myths to be careful with

Many things circulate under the name “Hermetic” that are much later: the Emerald Tablet first appears in Arabic writings of the eighth or ninth century, and the popular book The Kybalion (1908) is a modern work, not an ancient one. The ancient Hermetic writings are the Greek treatises, the Asclepius and the fragments found at Nag Hammadi.

On this site

The Hermetic writings are not scripture in any tradition and are not currently carried in the library. They are covered here as background for the Nag Hammadi collection.

Common questions

Who was Hermes Trismegistus?: A legendary sage combining the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth, to whom Greek philosophical and religious texts were attributed.
What is the Corpus Hermeticum?: A collection of seventeen Greek treatises, written about AD 100–300, attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, on the nature of God, the cosmos and the soul.
Is Hermeticism Gnostic?: The two share some themes and appear together in the Nag Hammadi library, but Hermetic writings generally see the world as God's good creation, which sets them apart from the classic gnostic myths. Scholars disagree about how close the connection is.
Did Hermes Trismegistus live before Moses?: No. Renaissance writers believed so, but Isaac Casaubon showed in 1614 that the Hermetic texts were written in the first centuries AD.