Hymn to Hermes

AfterHermes sprang forth from his mother's immortal limbs, he did not remain for long lying in his holy cradle, but he leaped up and searched for the cattle of Apollon, stepping over the threshold of the high-roofed cave. There he found a tortoise and won boundless bliss, for Hermes was the first to make a singer of a tortoise, which met him at the gates of the courtyard, grazing on the lush grass near the dwelling and dragging its straddling feet; and the helpful son of Zeus laughed when he saw it and straightway he said:

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After the translation of A. N. Athanassakis, The Homeric Hymns. Baltimore and London: John Hopkins University Press. (1976). Return