A Trickster'S Oaths in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes

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.