During the time of Ancient Rome, each of the seven celestial bodies known at that time was connected to a specific metal: gold for the sun, silver for the moon, copper for Venus, iron for Mars, tin for Jupiter, lead for Saturn, and mercury for Mercury. The element mercury, usually in liquid form, was linked to both the planet and the god due to their shared characteristics of mobility and rapid change (which is where we get the term “mercurial”). The god Mercury was associated with tradesmen, possibly stemming from the Latin word “merx”, meaning “merchandise”. The Greek word for mercury, “hydrargyros”, is why it is represented as “Hg” on the Periodic Table, derived from “hydor” for “water” and “argyros” for “silver” (translating to “silver water”).
