Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Ancient Studies Faculty of Arts 2008 A Trickster’s Oaths in The Homeric Hymn to Hermes Judith Fletcher Wilfrid Laurier University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/ams_faculty Recommended Citation Fletcher, Judith, "A Trickster’s Oaths in The Homeric Hymn to Hermes" (2008). Ancient Studies. 1. https://scholars.wlu.ca/ams_faculty/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty of Arts at Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ancient Studies by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. A TRICKSTER’S OATHS IN THE HOMERIC HYMN TO HERMES JUDITH FLETCHER u ὅρκος γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἀνδρὶ φιλήτῃ βαρύς “No oath is a burden for a thief.” —Soph. fr. 933 Radt Abstract. Hermes’ maturation into a god of commerce and diplomacy is punctuated by a series of oaths. At first he uses tricky or unsworn oaths in the investigation of his theft of Apollo’s cattle, but eventually he and Apollo exchange oaths that evoke the protocols of ritualized friendship. Although the ceremony suggests that Hermes has achieved adulthood, a narrative sleight of hand leaves some ambiguity about the completion of the ritual. HERMES IS FAMOUS AS A GOD OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION, credentials that he earned before he was but two days old, according to the fourth Homeric Hymn. The baby god displays an exceptional facility with “clever words” (h. Merc. 260) during the investigation of his theft of Apollo’s cattle (274–75, and 383–89), first with a tricky oath to his brother and then again to his father.