Mercury was remarkable for his dexterity and cunning. On the day of his
birth he stole the “immortal oxen” of Apollo and drove them off to a
secluded spot where he concealed them. When Apollo missed his cattle he
began to search for some clue to their hiding place or to the thief,
but found nothing except a few broken limbs and scattered twigs.
Suddenly he remembered that the babe whose birth had been announced
that morning in high Olympus, had been appointed god of thieves. He
soon discovered the young rogue hidden away in his cradle. Mercury put
on a pretty air of innocence and denied all knowledge of the cattle;
but Apollo was not easily deceived. He took the thief to Jupiter, who
ordered him to make restitution. Mercury gave his lyre to Apollo who
presented him in return with the divining rod, which afterwards became
the caduceus, and they were then the best of friends.
Although Mercury in his lowest aspects was an accomplished liar and
cunning thief, he was at the same time a swift and trusted messenger of
the gods, the fair youth of whom Homer speaks:
“Straightway beneath his feet he bound his fair golden sandals divine
that bore him over the wet sea and o’er the boundless land with the
breathings of the wind.”
Mercury, when commissioned by the “high thundering Zeus” to perform an
errand much to his distaste, thus soliloquizes:
“Much must he toil who serves the Immortal Gods,
And I, who am their herald, most of all
No rest have I, nor respite. I no sooner
Unclasp the winged sandals from my feet,
Than I again must clasp them, and depart
Upon some foolish errand.”
--_Longfellow._