Hermes was the son of Zeus and Maia, daughter of Atlas the Titan, eldest brother of Prometheus. His divine descent was revealed on the very first day by his extraordinary shrewdness and ingenuity, for he arose at noon from his cradle and hurriedly left the dark grotto of his mother. Espying a speckled tortoise feeding in the high grass, and laughing at the sight, he cried out: “Welcome, pretty one! It is well said where thou abidest there is neither anger nor witchcraft, and yet I think I will kill thee to make of thy shell a pleasant plaything.” Thereupon he seized the tortoise with both hands, went back to the grotto, and killed the animal. He perforated the speckled shell, inserted pegs in the openings, covered the whole with ox-hide, added a neck to it, and strung seven well-toned strings. It was all accomplished in the twinkling of an eye. He tested the strings and, behold, they resounded powerfully and harmoniously to his song. As he sang, another emotion filled his soul. He bethought himself of flesh, for he already had an appetite for well-prepared tasteful meat.
As the sun-chariot disappeared beneath the red gleaming waves of Oceanus, he took his well-toned lute and came at twilight to the shadowy mountains of Pireas, where the cattle of the Sun-god feed in luxuriant meadows. The crafty child enticed fifty of the herd to follow him and made them go backwards so that the hoof tracks would be concealed. That his own footsteps should not betray him, he took tamarisk and myrtle twigs and wove magic sandals with them. Thus he wandered, driving the herd before him, by many devious ways over blooming meadows and darkly wooded heights. At last night waned and the soft light which Selene (Luna) sends down when Apollo sinks in Oceanus was dissipated by the rosy shimmer of Eos (Aurora) in the smiling eastern sky.
When Hermes reached the river Alpheus with the cattle, he herded them and kindled a fire. He then seized two of them by their horns, threw them to the ground with great strength, and killed them with a sharp steel. Then he took the best pieces and spread them on wooden spits, but saved the skins for drying. Next he divided the flesh in twelve parts and offered them to the twelve highest Olympian deities. As he saw the smoke of offering rising to the skies, a longing seized him to learn from the flesh whether he belonged to the divine race which is nourished by nectar and ambrosia. But his exalted intelligence restrained him from the experiment. He left the flesh untouched, surrounded it with dry pieces of wood, and burned it together with the heads and hoofs of the animals. As the smoke rose, he threw his sandals into the Alpheus and hastened back to the grotto. Lightly as the breeze he slipped through the oval opening, sprang into his cradle, and like a playful child took his lute in his left hand. But his mother was not deceived and she scolded him for his long absence.
The rosy Aurora spread over the morning sky, and when Apollo rose in his chariot with its heavily-maned white steeds he looked down upon the lonely meadows and missed the cattle. Amazed, he looked for the tracks of their feet, but nowhere found a trace of them, and no sign that man or god had been that way. He came to Onchestus, where he found an old man, keeper of a vineyard, and asked him about it. The old man replied: “It was a wee child who swung a wand with his hand and drove the herd away.”
Apollo thought of Hermes and betook himself to Maia’s grotto. When Hermes saw the Sun-god’s dazzling face he buried himself deeper in the snow-white sheets and pretended to be asleep. But Apollo saw through the cunning of the child. He searched through the cavern and opened all the spacious chambers. In one he saw nectar and ambrosia and plenty of gold, in another chests of cedar filled with the purple and snow-white garments of the nymph. But as he nowhere found what he sought, he stepped to the cradle and said: “Cunning boy, arise and show me the cattle you carried off. If you do not hasten to obey me, I will hurl you without mercy into the blackened depths of Tartarus, from which no one can rescue you.”
As Hermes struggled to rise, Apollo seized him and took him to Zeus, who, after hearing the Sun-god’s complaint, laughed loudly and released his cunning son. After giving some living cattle to the Sun-god, Zeus kept Hermes and he became the deity of barter and business and the swift messenger of the gods. All ways were soon known to him and his winged feet bore him with the swiftness of the wind over land and sea.