Autolycus

In Greek mythology, Autolycus (in Greek, Αὐτόλυκος, Autolykos, "The Wolf Itself") was a son of Hermes and Chione. He was the husband of Neaera,^[1] or according to Homer,^[2] of Amphithea. Autolycus fathered Anticlea (who married Laertes of Ithaca and was the mother of Odysseus) and several sons, of whom only Aesimus is named.

Life and major events

Autolycus was born the son of Hermes and Chione^[3] or Philonis.^[4] He had a helmet to make him invisible. However Pausanias stated that his real father was Daedalion (Pausanias 8.4.7). Autolycus was conceived by Hermes touching the virgin Chione's face (Ovid 11. 301).

Autolycus was husband to Mestra, daughter of Erysichthon (Ovid 8. 738), or to Neaera (Pausanias 8. 4. 3), or to Amphithea (Homer, Odyssey, 19. 394). He became the father of Anticlea and Polymede, of whom the latter was the mother of Jason, the famous Argonaut who led a group of men to find the coveted Golden Fleece (Apollodorus 1.9.16). A different Autolycus, the son of Deimachus, was a part of the Argonauts who went on the journey to find the fleece.

Through Anticleia, Autolycus was also the grandfather of the famous warrior Odysseus (Homer 24.330), 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" (Homer 19.386-403).

Autolycus obtained most of the same skills that his supposed father Hermes possesses, such as the art of theft, trickery (Hyginus 201), and skill with the lyre and gracious song (Ovid 11. 301). 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" (Hyginus 201). He was given the gift that his thievery could not be caught by anyone (Hyginus 201).

He put his skills to the test when he stole the helmet of the great warrior and his grandson, Odysseus, "he had broken into the stout-built house of Amyntor, son of Ormenus; and he gave it to Amphidamas of Cythera to take to Scandeia, and Amphidamas gave it to Molus as a guest-gift, but he gave it to his own son Meriones to wear; and now, being set thereon, it covered the head of Odysseus" (Homer 10.254 I). 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 (Hyginus 50-99) and was banished to the throes of Tartarus by the gods.

Herakles, the great Greek hero, was taught the art of wrestling by Autolycus (Apollodorus 2.4.9). However, Autolycus was a source of some controversy in Herakles' life, because Autolycus stole some cattle from Euboea and Eurytus, who accused Herakles of the deed and, upon his going mad about these accusations, Herakles killed them plus another one of Autolycus' sons, Iphitus. This led to Herakles serving three years of punishment for the deed to repent for this (Apollodorus 2.6.3).

Cultural references

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

• A comic thief in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale boasts that he is named after Autolycus and, like him, is "a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles".
• Autolycus appeared in Diana Wynne Jones' book The Game as a very mischievous brat.
• In the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, Autolycus appeared as a comical antihero, portrayed by cult actor Bruce Campbell, who has a kinder heart than he lets on. As the self-proclaimed "King of Thieves", he was depicted as a thief of great cunning but even greater ego, which typically resulted in him getting in over his head in one scenario after another.
• Autolycus is also the name of a fictional racehorse in the 1934 film The Clairvoyant, starring Claude Rains.
• Autolycus is the name of Debbie Aldridge's horse in the BBC Radio 4 series 'The Archers'.
• Autolycus is the name of a midget submarine owned by the Lost Boys, the thieves of Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines series of books.
• Autolycus is the name of a pet Jackdaw belonging to the fictional detective Albert Campion in the novels by Margery Allingham.
• Autolycus appeared in an episode of the Canadian television series Class of the Titans, stealing Hercules's last surviving arrow for Cronus.
• The superhero/trickster figure of Uncle Sam in Robert Coover's The Public Burning (1977, New York, Grove Books) is described in the following terms (p.7): "American Autolycus, they called him in the Gospels, referring to his cunning powers of conjuration, transmutation, and magical consumption (he can play the shell game, not with a mere pea, but with whole tin mines, forests, oil fields, mountain ranges, and just before Thanksgiving this past year made an entire island disappear!)”.

Sources

• Bibliotheca I, ix, 16; II, iv, 9; vi, 2.
• Ovid. Metamorphoses XI, 301-17; Homer. Iliad X, 265-271.
• Homer. Odyssey XI, 84-6; XIX,395-566.
• Hyginus, Fabulae
• Homer, Odyssey
• Ovid, Metamorphoses
• Pausanias, Description of Greece
• Aeschylus, Fragments
• Bibliotheca
• Homer, Iliad
• Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica

References

External links

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

• Godchecker - Autolycus: The Prince of Thieves
• Classic Encyclopedia (1911) - Autolycus
• Marvel Characters - Captain Autolycus
• http://www.Theoi.com