Autolycus

In Greek mythology, Autolycus (/ɔːˈtɒlɪkəs/; Ancient Greek: Αὐτόλυκος Autolykos 'the wolf itself')^[1] was a successful robber who had the power to metamorphose or make invisible the things he stole.^[2] He had his residence on Mount Parnassus and was renowned among men for his cunning and oaths.

There are a number of different accounts of the birth of Autolycus. According to most, he was the son of Hermes^[3] and Chione^[4] or Philonis.^[5] In Ovid's version, Autolycus was conceived after Hermes had intercourse with the virgin Chione.^[6] Pausanias instead states that Autolycus' real father was Daedalion.^[7][8] In some accounts, his mother was also called Telauge.^[9]

Depending on the source, Autolycus was the husband of Mestra (who could change her shape at will and was a daughter of Erysichthon^[10][11]), or of Neaera,^[7] or of Amphithea.^[12] He became the father of Anticlea (who married Laertes of Ithaca and was the mother of Odysseus^[13]) and several sons, of whom only Aesimus, father of Sinon was named.^[14] Autolycus' other daughter was Polymede, mother of Jason, the famous Argonaut who led a group of men to find the coveted Golden Fleece.^[3]

According to Bibliotheca, Autolycus was counted as one of the Argonauts.^[3]

Autolycus obtained most of the same skills that his supposed father Hermes possesses, such as the arts of theft and trickery. It was said that he "loved to make white of black, and black of white, from a hornless animal to a horned one, or from horned one to a hornless". He was given the gift that his thievery could not be caught by anyone.^[15]

Autolycus, master of thievery, was also well known for stealing Sisyphus' herd right from underneath him – Sisyphus, who was commonly known for being a crafty king that killed guests, seduced his niece and stole his brothers' throne^[16] and was banished to the throes of Tartarus by the gods. However, according to other versions of the myth, Autolycus failed to steal Sisyphus' herd and the king banished him from his city.

Heracles, the great Greek hero, was taught the art of wrestling by Autolycus.^[17] However, Autolycus was a source of trouble in Heracles' life, because when Autolycus stole some cattle from Euboea and Eurytus, they accused Heracles of the deed; upon going mad from these accusations, Heracles killed them and another one of Eurytus' sons, Iphitus. This led to Heracles serving three years of punishment to repent the deed.^[18]

Through Anticleia, Autolycus was also the grandfather of the famous warrior Odysseus,^[13] and he was responsible for the naming of the child as well. This happened when the nurse of the child Eurycleia "laid the child upon his knees and spoke, and addressed him: Autolycus, find now thyself a name to give to thy child's own child; be sure he has long been prayed for". Then Autolycus answered: "Since I have been angered (ὀδυσσάμενος odyssamenos)^[19] with many, both men and women, let the name of the child be Odysseus".^[20]

Although not as well known as many other Greek mythological figures, Autolycus has appeared in works of fiction.

• Autolycus appears as a paragon of thievery in Thomas De Quincey's "On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts".
• A comic thief in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale boasts that he is named after Autolycus and, like the latter's father, Mercury/Hermes, is "a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles".

• Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Autolycus".