Autolycus
Is Autolycus the son of Hermes?
How is Autolycus related to Odysseus?
Who is Autolycus in The Winter’s Tale?
Autolycus, in Greek mythology, thief and swindler with magical abilities. In some accounts he was regarded as the maternal grandfather, through his daughter Anticleia, of the hero Odysseus. In Homer’s Odyssey the god Hermes rewards Autolycus’s faithful sacrifices to him by granting him skill in trickery, but later ancient authors made Autolycus the god’s son. Late sources say that Sisyphus (the son of Aeolus), during a visit to Autolycus, seduced Anticleia and that hence Odysseus was really the son of Sisyphus, not of Laertes, whom Anticleia afterward married. The object of the story probably was to establish the close connection between Hermes, the god of theft and cunning, and the three persons—Sisyphus, Odysseus, and Autolycus—who were the incarnate representations of that practice and quality. Autolycus was believed to live at the foot of Mount Parnassus.
Family and abilities
Odysseus spent part of his youth on Mount Parnassus with Autolycus, from whom he also received his name. While visiting his grandfather the young Odysseus hunted and killed a wild boar and was wounded in the process. The encounter left him with a scar that enabled his nurse, Eurycleia, to identify him as Odysseus years later, when he returned to Ithaca in disguise after the Trojan War and his subsequent wanderings.
Autolycus is commonly regarded as the son of Hermes, the divine patron of thieves, and the mortal Chione (also called Philonis). His wife’s name is variously given as Neaera, Amphitheia, and Mestra, and he had two daughters, Polymede and the aforementioned Anticleia. In some traditions Polymede is named as the mother of the Argonaut Jason, making Autolycus the grandfather of two legendary Greek heroes. A different Autolycus (son of Deimachus of Thessaly) is named in the Argonautica as having accompanied Jason on his quest for the Golden Fleece.
Autolycus inherited from or was granted by Hermes the power of shape shifting, by which he could transform his own person as well as the objects he stole. He also possessed a helmet that made him invisible and a reputation for craftiness. His criminal exploits included stealing a leather helmet with boar’s tusks from Amyntor, king of Ormenium; the helmet was eventually passed on to Odysseus, who wore it during the Trojan War.
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Autolycus and Heracles
Among Autolycus’s many disreputable deeds is his probable thievery of the cattle of Eurytus. The blame, however, fell to Heracles, who had attempted to win Eurytus’s daughter, Iole, as his bride and failed. When Heracles was accused of the theft, he killed Eurytus and some of his family and was sentenced to servitude for three years. Autolycus is commonly believed to have instructed Heracles in wrestling, although it is likely that the Autolycus in question was the Argonaut.
Autolycus and Sisyphus
Cattle theft was the focal point of a famous conflict between Autolycus and the equally cunning Sisyphus. Autolycus, shielded by his supernatural abilities, persistently stole livestock from Sisyphus, who noted his depleting herd. In order to expose the thief, Sisyphus branded his cattle in a manner that would render the signs visible despite Autolycus’s transformation of the looted livestock. Sisyphus was thus able to identify his cattle among Autolycus’s herd and seduced Anticleia as revenge (accounts differ on whether the seduction took place with Anticleia’s consent or was forced on her).
Shakespeare’s Autolycus
A version of Autolycus appears in William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale (c. 1609–11). Like his namesake, he is a trickster and a thief—a self-described “snapper-up of unconsidered trifles” who picks pockets and poses as a peddler in order to run a confidence scheme. Unlike the original Shakespeare’s Autolycus is a comic creation. His criminal activities are pivotal to the plot’s concluding events, in which the shepherd girl Perdita is revealed to be of royal birth. True to his roguish nature, Autolycus describes his part in the proceedings as having “done good…against my will.”