The Adventures of Hermes, God of Thieves

by Murielle Szac

  The earth was dry and it crumbled under the steps of Hermes and Apollo. A reddish dust enveloped them. The child was very impatient to discover Olympus, where all the gods of the universe lived. And he had great difficulty keeping silent.

  “What does our father’s palace look like?” he had asked gaily. Apollo had not replied. “Is it far from here to Olympus?” Hermes had enquired again.

  “Be quiet and walk!” Apollo had grumbled. And since then, the hours had gone by with no exchange of words.

  Hermes was hungry. He thought ruefully of the beautiful cow who had offered him her frothy milk. He missed her. He would have given anything to be able to be next to her and talk softly in her ear, as on the day before. Keeping quiet was very hard for him. It was obvious that Hermes’ presence bothered Apollo. Not only was he still annoyed about the theft of his herd, but the discovery of a new little brother vexed him.

  So then, his father Zeus, the god of gods, had fallen in love again with another woman! And he had fathered with her a new child! This was not the first time, and Apollo knew well that it would not be the last either. Zeus fell easily in love. And no woman seemed able to resist his charm. In point of fact, Apollo’s mother had not been Zeus’ wife either… All the same, Apollo did not like discovering new brothers… From the corner of his eye he threw a glance at the little chap by his side, and his wrath flared up even stronger.

  When it was time for lunch, the two brothers stopped to eat. Apollo took out of his bag a bowl full of a curious foodstuff. It was a kind of bronze-coloured broth. Its smell was deliciously sweet, and Hermes instantly felt his mouth water.

  “Could you maybe let me taste a little bit?” asked Hermes.

  “No,” grunted Apollo, “this is ambrosia, a meal reserved exclusively for the gods.”

  Hermes was silent for an instant, then he replied in a small voice:

  “But I too, I too am a god, since I am the son of Zeus. A small-sized god, but a god nonetheless…”

  Apollo did not deign to reply to him. He had got to his feet, and had picked up his bag and his staff once more.

  They finally arrived at the foot of a very high mountain, even higher than all the ones they had walked past on their way. A white cloud formed a cap on its summit. This cloud served to keep the palace of the gods hidden from view. The two brothers quickened their step as they climbed the mountainside. At the thought of discovering his father’s house, Hermes had recovered in full his joyful impatience. When he reached the summit, he was dazzled by the sight.

  The walls were dressed in marble, gold and precious stones. With each step, the child discovered a room even more beautiful than the one preceding it. Bowls filled with ambrosia were laid out on low tables. Hermes dipped his hand into one of them. The ambrosia was so delicious in his mouth that the child almost wept with delight. Magnificent atria accommodated fountains from which there jetted out an amber-coloured liquid with a bewitching smell. Hermes was fascinated by this golden-hued beverage.

  “What is it?” he asked, forgetting that Apollo had ordered him to remain silent.

  “You will know soon enough,” replied the god curtly.

  At that very moment, the double doors of the great throne room opened up. This was where the assembly of the gods was held. All the gods and goddesses were sitting in a semicircle around Zeus, the king of Olympus. And they all waited. Hermes shuddered. What would happen once Zeus learnt of the theft he had committed?

  To be continued…

  EPISODE 5

  IN WHICH HERMES MEETS ZEUS, HIS FATHER

  Previously: Hermes and Apollo have made a long journey in order to reach Olympus, the seat of the palace of the gods. Hermes is mesmerized by the beauty of the place. He is preparing to meet Zeus.

  When Hermes entered the council hall of the gods, his heart began to throb with great fast beats. He had just caught sight of his father, sitting at the centre of the room. So this was the man who had loved his mother to the point of giving her a child. He wore a white tunic which fell down to his feet. His long beard, his hair and his bushy eyebrows made him look severe. Yet Hermes thought he cut a fine, noble figure. He held in his hand an object which discharged a blinding light: it was the lightning bolt of the thunderstorm. “He is truly the king of kings,” Hermes told himself proudly, looking at the flashes of lightning which were the symbol of his father’s power.

  “Good morning, Apollo,” said Zeus, “who’s that you’ve brought along with you?”

  “It is your latest son,” replied Apollo drily. “And I have come to complain because, barely born, this scallywag has already stolen from me an entire herd of cows!”

  Apollo then told the story of the disappearance of his beasts. He recounted how he had picked up the trail of their hoof prints, how he had realized that the thief had made the cows walk backwards to cover his tracks, and how he had arrived in this manner at the cave where little Hermes was sleeping. Zeus listened to his eldest son with a faintly ironic smile on his lips.

  At the mention of Maia, the child’s mother, a tender glimmer flashed across his gaze. Hermes could not take his eyes off him. He had to win his father’s favour, no matter what it took. He had to attract his goodwill. Get himself adopted. He made up his mind to soften his father’s heart and he began to speak in turn:

  “Dear daddy, you I love a lot. My brother Apollo, he is mean to me, he frightens me. You are not going to believe his story, are you! How could I, so very little that I am, steal fifty cows from him? I was born yesterday! Please, come to my rescue, you who are the king of kings. I am the weakest of all the gods, and you always stand by those who are weak…”

  With his brown curls falling down his forehead, his bewitching smile and his sparkling eyes, Hermes was deploying all his charms. He spoke and spoke, with such natural eloquence that everyone suddenly saw the god of all the gods dissolve into hearty laughter.

  Zeus knew very well that Hermes was the cow thief, since Zeus always knew everything. Yet the little fellow amused him, and he liked his cheekiness. Deep down inside he was not at all displeased to see Apollo, who was always so sure of himself, be the loser for once. Hermes could tell that he had found the right words to touch his father’s heart. The only thing left now was to win over the other gods. He looked at the gods and goddesses surrounding the throne. He did not know any of them, yet they all cast a hard and severe eye on him. How dare he speak with such easy familiarity to the master of the gods?

  Zeus took the floor just then and said: “I wish that you make peace between you. You, Hermes, you shall return Apollo’s cows to him and you shall promise never to do this again. And you, Apollo, you will forgive him. Go, and come back fast.”

  Hermes was thrilled. He had managed to get out of this rather well, and what is more his father had invited him to return to Olympus as quickly as possible! Yet in the hall, the gods mumbled discontentedly.

  In order to mollify the crowd, Hermes suddenly had an idea. Plunging his hand inside his bag, he pulled out the piece of reed that he had collected. He brought it to his lips and blew delicately into it. A pure, clear sound came from it. A sound so light, so melodious, that a joyful rustling murmur ran through the assembly. No ear had ever heard any music like it. It was like the song of a bird, one might say, a song of joy and deliverance. Hermes had just invented the flute. And his music had given birth to a smile on everyone’s face. His music gently stroked their souls. Hermes had won.

  Once Hermes had finished playing, Zeus clapped his hands. The young boy made a deep bow and left the council hall radiant, accompanied by Apollo.

  Yet when he saw Apollo’s disgruntled face, he could tell that the return journey was going to be anything but easy.

  How was he going to get his brother to like him?

  To be continued…

  EPISODE 6

  IN WHICH HERMES SEDUCES HIS BROTHER WITH HIS LYRE

  Previously: Hermes has succeeded in winning the heart of his father Zeus, and in charming the go
ds of Olympus with his flute. Yet he still needs to win his brother over.

  The two brothers set out on foot and headed once more towards the cave. Apollo had gone back to being sulky and surly. He did not say a word, his forehead was stubbornly hardened, his eye full of black anger. He was brooding over his humiliation. How could his father allow himself to be so seduced by this younger brother, who had dropped from the sky, that he did not punish him? Was he to replace him in Zeus’ heart? Apollo was discovering an emotion unknown to him until then: jealousy.

  For his part, Hermes radiated with happiness. A single little phrase had filled him with joy, the last one that his father had uttered: “Come back fast!” He could not prevent himself from taking out his lyre so he could sing. Sometimes in life we feel so very happy that we feel the urge to dance, to cry out loud. Once again, Hermes let his joy burst out through his music. He sang of the beauty of the palace of Olympus. He sang of the happiness of knowing his father. He sang of the warmth there is deep inside one’s heart, when we know ourselves loved. He sang of the strength and power of Zeus. He also sang of the good luck of having an older brother he could admire. Then his song became more melancholy. He sang of the beautiful cow with the long horns that he loved so much. And of Maia, his mother, left alone in the cave to wait for him.

  Apollo had stopped walking. He was listening to his brother in hushed amazement. Hermes’ song was so delicate that Apollo had tears in his eyes. It wasn’t for nothing that he was the god of Music and Poetry, the protector of the Arts.

  “You may be very little, my brother, yet you know wondrous secrets,” he said to him. “Would you be willing to teach them to me?”

  At these words, Hermes turned red to his ears. Was it possible? The great Apollo was asking him, a little two-day-old fellow, to teach him something he did not know?

  He replied: “You are daddy’s firstborn son, you are his favourite. And you know so very many more things than I do! But I would happily show you how to play the lyre, and I can even give it to you as a gift, if you would like…”

  Apollo seized the lyre with trembling hands, plucked a string, then two. Hermes took his hand gently and guided the fingers along the strings. Little by little a melody rose from the lyre. Apollo was deeply moved. His anger had completely disappeared.

  “To thank you,” he told his brother, “I offer you my golden staff and name you herdsman of my cattle. In this way you can still see the beautiful cow with the long horns as often as you like.”

  Hermes was delighted by this offer. And as he was still just a very young child, he fell on Apollo’s neck to hug him. Apollo was a little taken aback and recoiled instinctively. Then he clasped the child in his arms, and hugged him in turn.

  The two brothers were about to start on their way once more when a great racket was heard. A jumbled noise of rustling, chafing and whistling coming from a thicket of dense grass by the roadside. They went hastily to see what it was, and discovered two long serpents wrestling ferociously. Jaws agape, fangs sticking out, tongues a-whistling, they sought to bite one another and they coiled and twisted in every direction. This fighting frightened Apollo, who only liked tranquillity and beauty. Hermes, for his part, was fascinated by the violence of the scene. He suddenly seized the golden staff that his brother had just offered to him and held it out towards the two serpents. Instantly the serpents ceased to fight, and they wound themselves in a double braid around the magic staff. Once united on the staff, their two heads found themselves facing each other, and they embraced one another. Hermes gave a little smile of satisfaction. He took the staff, now bearing the two reconciled snakes, and he decided that from that day onwards he would never be without it. Then he turned towards Apollo and said to him: “Shall we go then?”

  That evening, the two brothers stopped to spend the night by a river. The day’s heat had been intense, but night enveloped them in a cooling mantle. Hermes made a fire under Apollo’s admiring gaze. Then he sat cross-legged by the fire and took out his flute again. He had hardly begun to play, and already Apollo longed to possess that instrument as well.

  “Brother, what would you want in exchange for your flute?” he asked him.

  Hermes thought carefully for a moment, then he said in a clear voice: “You know so very many things, you must surely know what will happen to me. I would like you to teach me how to tell the future.”

  Apollo seemed ill at ease. “Yes, I know, but I don’t have the right to teach you that myself,” he answered. “The women who taught me to read the future, they alone can teach that skill to you as well.”

  Hermes’ curiosity was inflamed: “Who are they? Where can they be found? Can you take me to them?”

  “Calm down, calm down!” said his brother, smiling. “The women who taught me to foretell the future are the Thriae, the nurses of the babies of the gods. They are three old women living on Mount Parnassus. Go find them and tell them I sent you. Perhaps they will agree to entrust you with their secret…”

  Hermes set out instantly for Mount Parnassus. Was he going to be able to learn the secrets of the three nurses of the babies of the gods?

  To be continued…

  EPISODE 7

  IN WHICH HERMES LEARNS TO SEE AN INVISIBLE UNIVERSE

  Previously: Hermes has become friends with his brother Apollo. Curious about the world he is discovering, he has made up his mind to go to see the old nurses of the babies of the gods in order to learn how to read the future.

  Hermes was thirsting to know the world. He left instantly and headed towards Mount Parnassus, taking with him his golden staff with the two intertwined snakes. He walked singing all the way. He crossed the verdant plains, then the flowering orchards. Trees with pink or yellow flowers intermingled on the grassy meadows and this vision of nature filled him with happiness.

  Hermes soon arrived at the foot of Mount Parnassus. That mountain was not as high as the mountain of the gods, yet it was dark and cold, despite the springtime warmth. The more Hermes climbed, the more the herbs and flowers became scarce. Soon there were only stones.

  A little brook appeared at the turn of the path. There, an old woman squatting on her heels was washing great white sheets, which served to swaddle babies. Her grey hair was done up in a tight bun. She had a beautiful face, still smooth in spite of her advanced age. Yet her eyes were unsmiling.

  “What have you come here for?” she asked gruffly.

  “I have been sent by the great Apollo, who loves you so very fondly, O nurse,” replied Hermes, “I would like to learn how to foretell the future.”

  The nurse gazed hard at him: “Why do you wish to know what will exist? Do you already know how to see what exists around you?”

  The young god hesitated and then replied: “No. Teach me.”

  The stern-faced old woman beckoned to Hermes to approach. “Look down into this brook and tell me what you see,” she told him.

  Hermes looked at the flowing water and replied: “Good nurse, I see nothing but water flowing on the pebbles.”

  “When you leave this place, you will see there a thousand hidden treasures,” she said. She took the boy’s bundle and led him to the cave where she slept.

  Hermes stayed for seven days and seven nights with the first nurse, whose name was Antalia. And she taught him to open his eyes upon the world. She taught him to observe life under a blade of grass, to smell the scent of the flowers, to recognize the taste of honey and that of salt, to love the caresses of the sun and of the wind, to listen to the voice of the earth, to hear the murmur of the stars.

  By the end of the seventh day, Antalia returned to the bank of the brook with Hermes and she asked him: “Look down into these flowing waters and tell me what you see.”

  Hermes squatted down on his heels over the brook and this is what he said: “I see the dancing and graceful curve of the running water, I see the golden flecks of sun reflected on its surface, I see the little silver fish huddling under this stone, I see the green seaweed ripplin
g in the current, I see the insect skating on the surface, and I see the tracks of animals who have come to drink. I smell the fresh scent of the moss, and that of bluebells. I hear the music of the droplets as they strike against the rock. I hear the dragonflies skimming the water with their vibrating wings. I hear the song of the little frogs crouching behind the blades of grass.” Hermes stopped for an instant. He dipped his fingers into the current and brought a mouthful to his lips. “And I find again the wholesome taste of the earth and the sun in the purity of this water.” Hermes had found the key to an invisible universe. Only he who knows how to wait and how to see may enter it.

  Antalia smiled at last and said: “Hermes, you now know how to see what exists around you. You may continue your way. Go and find my sister, farther up on the mountain, she might be able to help you.” The young god thanked the old nurse warmly for all that she had taught him. He picked up his golden staff once more and left, impatient to discover all the other mysteries of this world.

  To be continued…

  EPISODE 8

  IN WHICH HERMES LEARNS HOW TO FORETELL THE FUTURE

  Previously: Hermes has met Antalia, one of the nurses of the babies of the gods. She has revealed to him how to see the unseen around him. Now he is off again to seek out the one who will teach him to foretell the future.

  Hermes walked for a long, long time. As the path turned, he suddenly met another old woman. She was hanging on a washing line great white sheets which served to swaddle babies. The wet sheets flapped in the cold wind, which blew very hard at this altitude. This woman resembled the one he had just left, but she was older. In her tight bun, the silver hairs were more numerous than the black strands. She had the same beautiful face as Antalia, but it was already lined with numerous wrinkles. Her eyes were unsmiling.