Herm (sculpture)

Okay, let's imagine that you're playing with some dough and you make a long and skinny snake out of it. You can shape this snake to look like a person, right? Now, let's say you want to make a statue that is just a person's head and upper body. This is called a bust.

Well, a herm is kind of like a bust, but instead of just being a person's head and upper body, it also has a long and skinny snake-like shape at the bottom. This part is usually made to look like a post or pillar. So you could imagine a herm looking a bit like a person's head and body on top of a post that's shaped like a snake.

But why would someone make a statue like this? Well, the ancient Greeks used to make herms as markers or signposts to show people where to go. They would put a herm outside of their homes or along roads to help guide travelers.

Another reason for making herms was as a way to honor the god Hermes, who was often portrayed with a snake-like staff called a caduceus. So the long and skinny part of the herm is meant to look like Hermes' staff.

Overall, herms are just a type of statue that was popular in ancient Greece. They usually have a human head and upper body on top of a post that looks like a snake, and were used as markers or to honor the god Hermes.