Short answers, pulled from the story.
Hermes is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion, considered the herald and messenger of the gods. He is the protector of heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators, and serves as a psychopomp, guiding souls of the deceased to the afterlife. He is regarded as the divine trickster and is often presented as the son of Zeus and Maia.
The caduceus is a staff with two snakes coiled around it, sometimes crowned with wings, and it is the main symbol of Hermes. It was said to have the power to make people fall asleep or wake up, to bring peace between litigants, and to serve as a sign of Hermes's authority. The caduceus is documented among the Babylonians from around 3500 BC and was also a symbol of the Mesopotamian god Ningishzida.
On the night before the Athenian fleet set sail for Syracuse during the Peloponnesian War, all of the Athenian hermai were vandalized. The Athenians believed it was the work of saboteurs from Syracuse or from the anti-war faction in Athens. Socrates's pupil Alcibiades fell under suspicion, and one of the charges later brought against Socrates, contributing to his execution sixteen years later, was that he had corrupted Alcibiades.
Hermes Trismegistus, meaning thrice-greatest Hermes, is a title that arose from the syncretism of Hermes with the Egyptian god Thoth. An epithet from the temple at Esna, Thoth the great, the great, the great, was applied to Hermes from at least 172 BC. The figure of Hermes Trismegistus became a major component of Hermeticism, alchemy, and related esoteric traditions.
Romans adopted Hermes into their religion as early as the 4th century BC, combining his attributes with those of the Etruscan god Turms under the name Mercury. The Latin name Mercury is likely derived from merx, meaning merchandise, the root of the words merchant and commerce. Mercury became one of the most popular Roman gods, with his temple in Rome built in 495 BC at the Circus Maximus.
Hermes was worshipped in Boeotia as Hermes kriophoros, the ram-bearer, depicted carrying a lamb on his shoulders. Researchers have noted that this iconography may have influenced early Christianity, specifically the description of Christ as the Good Shepherd in the Gospel of John. Numerous depictions of Hermes as a ram-bearer have been found throughout the Mediterranean world.