In Greek mythology, who was Hermes’s son and a famed master thief?

Autolycus was Hermes’s son and a famed master thief in Greek mythology.

Autolycus was the son of Hermes and Chione in Greek myth. Ancient stories portray him as exceptionally skilled at theft and deception, with Hermes granting him the ability to alter the appearance of stolen objects so they would be difficult to recognize.

Autolycus is also connected with the heroic world through his daughter Anticlea, who became the mother of Odysseus. Some traditions additionally identify him as Odysseus’s maternal grandfather and as the person who trained the young hero in certain forms of cunning.

He should not be confused with Autolycus, the comic character in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, although Shakespeare drew on the mythological name and reputation. In the mythological tradition, Autolycus’s defining qualities are trickery, theft and clever transformation.