The Homeric Hymn to Hermes portrays Hermes as a character seeking success in order to be noticed and honored by the other

immortal gods. In order to achieve this goal, Hermes takes a risk and uses his clever and crafty thieving skills to steal fifty of Apollos cows (pp. 23-28), which catches Apollos immediate attention and causes the other gods to notice Hermes talents. Not only does Hermes become known as a master thief, he also receives the honor of the gods and even ends up becoming best friends with Apollo (pp. 54-55). However, Hermes is not the only character to think outside the box and break some rules to achieve success. Luffy, the main character of the popular on-going Japanese manga series One Piece, also veers off societys norm to achieve his own goal of becoming king of all the pirates of the world. Most would attempt Hermes goal of success and high stature among the immortals by serving the other gods or perhaps by earning their favor through peaceful methods with minimal risk of angering them. Instead, Hermes ignores such passive methods to get the gods attention and goes straight for Apollos cows, inciting Apollos anger but also his admiration (pp. 36-38, 41-43). Apollo is so impressed by Hermes work that he even calls Hermes The Prince of Thieves, giving him an honor among the gods (pp. 38). Hermes also gains further approval and favor from Apollo by skillfully playing his lyre, which he brutally murdered a turtle to make (pp. 20-21, 48-50). Through his musical talents and his skills as a master thief, Hermes achieves his goal of success among the gods that he so dearly wanted. Likewise, the most sensible and straightforward way for Luffy to become the king of pirates would be to conquer everyone in his pathpirates, civilians, and everyone else regardless of whether they were good or bad. However, Luffy takes a more peaceful approach as a pirate, despite his incredible strength and fighting skills. Rather than pillage and plunder, Luffy and his crew spend their time enjoying themselves and helping others in need, such as a kidnapped

mermaid and an island country suffering a civil war. While rescuing the mermaid, Luffy even goes so far as to attack a world noble because of the nobles crimes against minorities, even though the world nobles are considered untouchable by anyone, including the government. Luffy also breaks into a top-security prison in an attempt to rescue his brother and attacks the world government headquarters with his crew in order to rescue a friend who was wrongly labeled a world-class criminal. In all of his outrageous rule-breaking incidents, Luffy and his crew only target the corrupt in order to help others, which boosts his fame higher than if he simply plunders the innocent. And because Luffy does not try to conquer everyone he runs into, he even gains the favor and friendship of several other pirate crews, some of them highly powerful and famous. By breaking rules and expectations of a normal pirate in order to help others, Luffy achieves success and fame as a renowned and powerful pirate and continues on his journey to become the king of piratesa goal that now appears easily within reach. Just as Hermes breaks rules in order to gain success and honor among the gods, Luffy goes against the rules of the corrupt government and achieves glory wherever he goes. Hermes gains the approval and honor of Zeus and the friendship of Apollo through his skills with the lyre and theft, just as Luffy gains the friendship and gratitude of countless people through his combat skills and by acting as a righteous pirate. Both characters break rules and go against the norm of their places in their respective societies, but they do so in a way that ends up helping them in the long run, rather than trapping them in inescapable trouble or a bad reputation.