Maia
Maia
8 min read
Maia is a deity of Greek mythology, daughter of the Titan Atlas and the Oceanid Pleione. She is the eldest and most beautiful of the seven Pleiades. She is best known as the mother of Hermes, whom she conceived with Zeus in a cave on Mount Cyllene.
Key Facts
- Maia is the daughter of the Titan Atlas and the Oceanid Pleione
- She is the eldest and most illustrious of the seven Pleiades
- She united with Zeus and gave birth to Hermes in a cave on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia
- Her name gave rise to the name of the month of May (Maius in Latin) in the Roman tradition
- In Roman mythology, she is identified with a goddess of growth and spring fertility
Works & Achievements
Maia's greatest achievement was bringing Hermes into the world and raising him — the messenger of the gods, deity of commerce and travelers. Without her discretion and her refuge on Mount Cyllene, the most cunning god of Olympus could never have been born safe from Hera's jealousy.
According to some mythographers, Zeus entrusted Maia with the upbringing of Arcas after Callisto had been transformed into a bear. Maia raised the child with great care, serving as a surrogate mother for the illegitimate sons of Zeus.
This foundational text of Greek mythology places Maia at the heart of the story of Hermes' birth. It is the primary source describing her cave, her beauty, and her role as a devoted mother, left astonished by her son's precocious genius.
Maia is immortalized in the sky as one of the stars of the Pleiades. The Greeks and Romans used the rising of this star cluster to mark the agricultural seasons and the start of sailing in the Mediterranean.
In the Roman tradition, the month of May (Maius) takes its name from Maia. This calendrical legacy makes Maia one of the rare ancient deities whose memory is still present in the daily life of people around the world.
Anecdotes
Maia lived as a recluse in a deep cave on Mount Cyllene, in Arcadia, far from the quarrels and intrigues of Olympus. Zeus, captivated by her beauty and discretion, would secretly visit her each night, concealing their affair from Hera, his jealous wife. It was in this hidden cave that Hermes was born — the most mischievous of the Olympian gods.
The birth of Hermes is one of the most spectacular in Greek mythology. Born at dawn, he had already invented the lyre — by hollowing out a tortoise shell — before the end of his very first day. He then slipped quietly from his cradle to steal Apollo's sacred herds, leaving Maia astonished at her son's precocious genius.
Maia is the eldest of the seven Pleiades, daughters of the Titan Atlas and the Oceanid Pleione. According to legend, the giant hunter Orion pursued them for so long that Zeus took pity on them and transformed them into stars. Since then, the Pleiades constellation has been visible in the night sky, with the star Maia among the brightest in the cluster.
The Romans worshipped a goddess of the same name, Maia, associated with spring growth and the fertility of the earth. Every May 1st, the priests of Vulcan would offer her a solemn sacrifice. It is most likely from her that the month of May — Maius in Latin — takes its name, making Maia a figure whose legacy lives on to this day in our calendar.
According to some versions of the myth, when Zeus transformed Callisto into a bear due to Hera's jealousy, he entrusted Maia with raising Arcas, the son born from their union. In her cave on Mount Cyllene, Maia thus found herself raising both her own son Hermes and this divine half-brother, serving as a nurturing foster mother to Zeus's illegitimate children.
Primary Sources
“Maia, the fair-tressed nymph, had conceived a glorious son, wily, cunning, a skilled thief, cattle-driver, bringer of dreams, night-watcher, gate-keeper.” Hermes is born in a deep cave that his mother frequented, sheltered from the blessed gods.
“Atlas fathered the fair-veiled Pleiades: Alcyone, Merope, Celaeno, Electra, Sterope, Taygete, and ox-eyed Maia.” Hesiod presents Maia as one of the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas, condemned to carry the sky upon his shoulders.
“The first day of May bears the name of Maia: she gave her name to this month, as some believe. [...] The pontiffs offer Maia a sacrifice of a pregnant sow.”
“Zeus lay with Maia, daughter of Atlas, who gave birth to Hermes on Mount Cyllene.” Apollodorus places the birth of Hermes in the cave of Mount Cyllene, in Arcadia, and confirms Maia's genealogy.
Key Places
Mount Cyllene is the mythological home of Maia and the birthplace of Hermes. She lived there in a deep, cool cave, far from the gods of Olympus. This massif in the Peloponnese rises to 2,376 meters and was considered a sacred site in ancient Greece.
Mount Olympus is the home of the Greek gods, a place Maia seldom visited, preferring solitude. Yet it was from Olympus that Zeus would secretly descend to join Maia in her cave on Mount Cyllene, away from Hera's jealous gaze.
Maia is immortalized in the sky as one of the stars in the Pleiades open cluster, visible in the constellation Taurus. The star bearing her name is a blue giant among the brightest in this stellar cluster.
In Rome, the goddess Maia had an official cult, notably practiced by the priests of Vulcan, who sacrificed a pregnant sow to her on May 1st. The Forum was the heart of the Roman religious celebrations held in her honor.