The Homeric Hymn to Hermes is traditionally credited to Homer.
The poem is one of the Homeric Hymns, a collection of ancient Greek hexameter poems addressed to individual gods. Although they are called “Homeric,” modern scholarship generally treats the collection as the work of multiple anonymous poets rather than as compositions definitively written by Homer himself.
The hymn to Hermes tells a lively story of the god’s birth, his theft of Apollo’s cattle, the invention of the lyre, and the reconciliation that follows. It is especially important because it explains several of Hermes’ powers and honors through narrative rather than through a simple list of attributes.
The traditional attribution therefore differs from modern authorship conclusions. Homer is the canonical answer because the poem belongs to the Homeric Hymns, while Hesiod, Pindar, and Sappho were separate ancient poets with their own surviving works.