Hermes did not know that Apollo, trembling with rage, had not given up his own claim on the beautiful Chione. As soon as Hermes had flown away towards Olympus, Apollo approached Chione and won her in turn with his charm. Nine months after this crazy springtime day, Chione brought two children into the world. The first, Autolycus, was the son of Hermes, the second, Philammon, was Apollo’s. How would Hermes react when he discovered this unexpected son?
To be continued…
EPISODE 97
DURING WHICH AUTOLYCUS MANAGES TO GET HIMSELF ADOPTED BY HERMES
Previously: Hermes has had an amorous escapade with a young woman called Chione. She was also seduced by his brother Apollo. Of this affair two boys were born, Autolycus, son of Hermes, and Philammon, son of Apollo.
Autolycus realized very young that he possessed an extraordinary gift: he was able to steal anything that came within reach without ever getting caught! The first time he discovered this talent, he was barely able to walk. His mother, Chione, was lying on a comfortable couch and had a plate of fruit placed beside her. She was chattering gaily with her female friends, talking as always of her incomparable beauty, which she considered to be superior to that of Artemis. Little Philammon had approached, had stretched out his hand towards the fruit, but Chione had refused him: “No, no, darling, these fruits are for my friends. Go and play elsewhere…” Philammon had left the room disappointed. It was then that his brother Autolycus sneaked stealthily towards the plate of fruit. He took one; no one noticed him. He took a second. The women were not aware of anything at all. Emboldened, Autolycus emptied the entire fruit bowl in this way. His mother and her friends never saw anything whatsoever: it was as if he had become transparent! Having eaten to his heart’s content, Autolycus left the room. Only then did Chione discover that the plate was empty. She suspected it was the boys’ doing, but she was unable to find the culprit because she had not seen a thing. Since that day, Autolycus never stopped having the time of his life.
How different they were, Chione’s sons! Autolycus was a tempestuous little boy, quarrelsome and a prankster. He never stopped teasing his brother. Philammon, for his part, was a calm and gentle boy, always daydreaming. He had inherited from his father Apollo a great beauty and everyone longed to be close to him and listen to his poetry. Every evening he recited poems at the centre of an admiring audience. Autolycus was jealous of Philammon’s gracefulness. Why were all these people only interested in his brother? He decided to get even. All those who pressed around his brother would soon regret not having spared him a single glance… While they were in a circle around the young poet, Autolycus sneaked in among them and stole anything that caught his fancy: a gilt belt here, a pouch full of money there, or even a sheepskin cloak. He even succeeded in undoing the laces of sandals and in removing them without their owners ever being aware of anything. No one was able to catch the mystery thief.
The more time passed, the more Philammon was irritated to see his admirers being robbed like this. One day, he appealed to Apollo: “Father, father, I have never asked you for anything,” he cried, “but today I would like a favour from you: can you try to unmask the thief?” From the heights of Olympus Apollo heard his son’s plea and descended to see what was happening on earth. When he discovered young Autolycus, he was struck by the boy’s resemblance to his own brother Hermes when he had been little. The same air of innocence, the same bewitching smile… There could be no doubt; he had to be the culprit. He went to see Hermes straight away. “My brother,” said Apollo, “you need to do something about your son Autolycus. I fear that he may have inherited from you the same partiality to stealing! You need to sort this out.”
Hermes had not chosen to have this child and he had no desire to take care of him. All the same, he promised to Apollo that he would go and take a look as soon as he could spare a moment. Time went by, and Hermes forgot his promise. Until one day a drama occurred.
The beautiful Chione boasted everywhere that she was more beautiful than Artemis, and in the end the goddess of Hunting grew vexed. “What a conceited woman! This mortal who dares to compare herself to a goddess must be punished: such is the law of Olympus.” And she descended on earth. While Chione was out hunting, as she was accustomed to do, one of Artemis’ arrows pierced her straight through the heart.
The two sons of Chione wept for their mother’s death.
“We are orphans now,” said Autolycus to Philammon.
“Not at all, we have our fathers,” Philammon replied to him between sobs.
Autolycus answered: “Some hope! As far as my father Hermes is concerned, I have never even seen him. I do not exist for him.”
While he spoke, Autolycus could not resist stealing a ring that his brother wore on his little finger and which he liked very much. Philammon of course did not notice anything. But someone had seen and heard it all, and that was Hermes. Forewarned by Artemis about Chione’s death, he had finally decided to go and visit Autolycus. When he caught sight of him, he was really bowled over; this child resembled him so much: how could he not have recognized him as his own son? And, watching him in action, he suddenly smiled: there was no doubt—this little one was truly his own offspring. He decided to look after him from now on.
To be continued…
EPISODE 98
IN WHICH AUTOLYCUS PROVES THAT HE DESERVES TO BE HIS FATHER’S SON
Previously: Following Chione’s death, Hermes has come to meet his son Autolycus and has decided to undertake his care.
Many years had gone by. Hermes had kept his promise. A promise made to Apollo, a promise made to himself as well: he had kept an eye on Autolycus. But, for a father, he had a strange way indeed of undertaking his son’s care: instead of preventing him from stealing, he had on the contrary offered his son an additional way to succeed in his thieving! This is how it had all happened. On the day that Hermes had shown himself to Autolycus for the first time, the latter had not jumped for joy. As soon as he had seen the winged sandals and hat, Autolycus had immediately recognized his father, but he had pretended not to see him. He had even turned his back to him! Embarrassed, Hermes had had to tap him on the shoulder:
“Er, ahem, good morning, my son…”
Without turning round, Autolycus had said: “So you remember you have a son now, do you?”
“This youngster is certainly full of character!” thought Hermes. Then he replied: “I ask you to forgive me. What if we tried to make amends?”
At that, Autolycus had flung himself into his arms. He was as full of pride and as impulsive as his father.
Hermes then said: “I saw you steal your brother’s ring. And from what Apollo has reported back to me, this is not your first theft?”
Autolycus lifted up his chin defiantly. “And what about you, what were you doing at my age? I am not the son of the god of Thieves for nothing…”
Hermes did not know how to reply—and this was something that never happened to him! This son was clearly not to be trifled with. As he watched the petulant expression on his face, Hermes burst into laughter.
“Very well, you win. In fact, I shall make you a gift: I grant you the power to steal any herd that takes your fancy. From now on, any animals you steal shall change their appearance: they will no longer be recognizable to their rightful owners.”
Autolycus’ smile stirred Hermes’ heart.
From time to time, Hermes came to see what his son was up to on earth. This is how he saw him sneak one night among his neighbour’s herds and make away with some of his animals. Nothing could be easier for him, since he only needed to change a black cow into a white cow, a bull with long, curvy horns into one with short, straight ones, for the theft to remain undetected. Several times, and full of suspicion, his neighbour had come to Autolycus’ stable to verify whether his beasts were there. His herd diminished in number, whereas that of Autolycus increased. But of course he never recognized any of his beasts, and could therefore prove nothing.
One night, Aut
olycus had gone surreptitiously to his neighbour’s property and stolen some cows. The following day, his neighbour knocked on his door, accompanied by several of his friends.
“Autolycus, you are a villainous thief,” he was shouting.
Feeling sure of his ground, Autolycus replied: “But dear friend, please, do come and check my herd, you will not find any of your beasts there.”
“It shan’t be necessary. We have proof this time,” snorted his neighbour. “I engraved on the underside of my cows’ hooves the words ‘stolen by Autolycus’. Look, all of you!”
And he pointed to hoof prints on the ground. Tracks of hooves with the words “stolen by Autolycus” at every step could be seen clearly on the muddy path. And these traces led straight to Autolycus’ stable! For the first time in his life, Autolycus had been caught red-handed. Hermes laughed and did not intervene on his son’s behalf. Because even though he was the god of Thieves, he also believed it was fair that once in a while theft should be punished as well.
To be continued…
EPISODE 99
IN WHICH HERMES BECOMES THE GREAT-GRANDFATHER OF ODYSSEUS
Previously: Autolycus, the son of Hermes, is very skilful at robbing his neighbours. Even if he is occasionally caught red-handed!
The years passed. Autolycus grew up. He got married and had children. Then he grew old. One of his daughters went away to live on that small island called Ithaca. She is the one who gave birth to Autolycus’ first grandson. As soon as Autolycus learnt the news, he hastened to the island. Deeply moved, Autolycus approached the baby. The wet-nurse who held it in her arms placed the child on his grandfather’s lap and said: “It is for you to find him a name now.” Autolycus hesitated and remained silent. As he was not very used to babies, he held him clumsily. And so the baby began to wail and wail! He was restless and he squirmed, and poor Autolycus, panicking and losing his wits, restored him hastily to the nurse’s arms. Then, addressing himself to the child, he said: “You shall be called Odysseus! It means ‘the one who gets angry’… and I hope that your anger will help you later in accomplishing great things.” The nurse began to laugh, rocking the baby in her arms at the same time to soothe him. Autolycus then kissed Odysseus and said one more thing to him: “When you are old enough, I shall offer you invaluable treasures. Come to my house and take them, as soon as you are ready to come for them on your own.” The nurse smiled. She promised to remind Odysseus about this.
Someone else had also arrived inconspicuously to greet the newborn and that was Hermes. He who never grew old, he who never died, felt nonetheless that he had changed over the years. And yet, for all that, he was greatly astonished to find himself already a great-grandfather. When the nurse had gone away he went close to the crib. Odysseus plunged his bright eyes into Hermes’ eyes. Hermes could sense that this child had inherited the cunning of his grandfather Autolycus. He knew that this cunning came from him, from Hermes, and he felt a great pride. But what would Odysseus do with it? He decided to follow his destiny closely.
Odysseus grew up. He was not very courageous, he did not always tell the truth, and sometimes it even happened that he did some thieving here and there, but he was by far the cleverest of men. One day he was old enough to go to his grandfather Autolycus on his own. His nurse reminded him then of the promise made by his grandfather on the day of his birth. Odysseus set off right away. Autolycus was delighted to receive him. He kept his word and offered him a priceless treasure. Then, in order to celebrate his coming, he organized a great hunt on Mount Parnassus.
There was rich game on that day and the hunt was very fruitful. Odysseus did not kill many animals, for he was not very skilled in archery, but he took pleasure in accompanying his grandfather. All of a sudden, an enormous wild boar sprang out of a bush and charged straight at him. The young man was frightened. He did not try to fight it; he only sought to avoid it. But he did not manage to get completely out of its way, and one of the animal’s tusks gashed his knee. The wound began to bleed profusely. His nurse, who never left his side, hastened to him. “What have you done to yourself now?” she cried. She was scolding him as though he were still a little boy. She treated his injury, bandaged it and the wound healed quickly. Odysseus was left from this adventure with a large scar on his knee. He always tried to hide it—to him, it was the mark of his lack of both skill and courage. But his nurse would laugh and say to him: “Odysseus, thanks to this scar, I shall always, always be able to recognize you. Even when you have become an old man, even if many years should go by without my seeing you, even if no one can recognize your face any more, even if I become blind, I shall always be able to recognize you thanks to this scar!”
Hermes, who had witnessed this misadventure, was concerned for his great-grandson. How would this clumsy boy manage to get through life?
To be continued…
EPISODE 100
IN WHICH HERMES TURNS HIS MOST BEAUTIFUL INVENTION INTO REALITY
Previously: Hermes has become the great-grandfather of a child called Odysseus. This boy seems to be sharp-witted but clumsy. Hermes is worried about him.
In order to set his mind at rest regarding the future of his great-grandson, Hermes threw little round pebbles in the limpid water and remained bent over the future life of Odysseus. When he stood up again, he had seen one of mankind’s most extraordinary adventures. He had discovered that his great-grandson would be one of the greatest heroes of all time. He would experience a strife which would pit thousands of men against one another for many years, the war of Troy. He would take part in an immense and long epic, which would take him to every sea, every ocean, and which would even come to bear his name: the Odyssey. He would emerge victorious from all the trials that awaited him and he would return to his homeland covered in glory. And it would be thanks to this scar caused by the wild boar that he would be recognized by his old nurse and recover his throne.
As he discovered this exceptional destiny, Hermes was filled with joy and with pride. He felt so very proud that he wanted to be certain that the entire world would hear of these adventures. But what could he do to keep a record of them? Men tell one another about the great events in their lives. Then those who have lived them die. Those who have heard the stories will retell them, but will also forget certain parts. Those who come after will forget even more parts. And so it goes, until death erases everything. And memory disappears. No, Hermes did not wish to allow the remembrance of the adventures that Odysseus would experience sink away into oblivion. He wished to see them recounted for centuries and centuries to come. He had to invent something which would allow their memory to be preserved for all eternity.
Suddenly an image stood out in his mind: the name of every human being was engraved in the cave where the Moirae spun the lives of men. The Moirae, then, had found a way of inscribing memory for ever and ever. This was where he had to draw his inspiration from.
Hermes had discovered fire; he had created the lyre with a tortoise and the flute with the help of a reed. On that day, it was the birds that helped him. He was lying on a beach and looking up at the sky. The light of the dying day tinged the clouds with pink hues. At that instant, he saw a majestic formation of cranes flying above. These graceful birds spread their long bodies in the air in a perfect geometric shape. Hermes slowly began to whistle through his teeth: “Fffff…” It was as though the shape that the birds had drawn in the sky had inspired in him the sound he was producing. “Fffff,” repeated Hermes, looking at the birds growing more distant. And at last he found what he was looking for.
He leapt to his feet, seized his caduceus and began to trace signs on the sand. A different sound corresponded to each sign he traced. And the sounds placed together formed words. Hermes began to draw and draw. His eyes ran across the signs. Little by little, the signs began to acquire meaning: each group of signs became a word. And the words strung together formed phrases. And the phrases put together told stories. Hermes let out a great shout of joy. He had just inven
ted the alphabet. Never again would stories be lost to oblivion. And people would be able to speak to each other without seeing one another; understand each other without ever having met; love one another across the centuries. Drunk with joy, Hermes fluttered around as on that first day when he had just learnt to fly. It occurred to him that Prometheus would have been proud of him.
As he was flying above the earth, he caught sight of Mount Parnassus. Antalia, Roxanne and Pausania, the three old nurses of the babies of the gods, were there. He heard the white sheets that they were hanging out to dry flap in the wind. He smelt the scent of the soap flakes. The three nurses gave a great wave of their hand.
“Thank you on behalf of the men of today,” cried Antalia to him.
“Thank you on behalf of the men of tomorrow,” Roxanne cried to him.
“And thank you on behalf of the men of yesterday,” cried Pausania to him. Thanks to the alphabet, men would be able to read and write their present lives, their future lives and their past lives. Hermes turned three somersaults in the air and went away, bursting into enormous laughter.
THE END
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The Adventures of Hermes, God of Thieves Page 25