Myth Library · Divine Conflict And Exchange
Hermes Steals Apollo's Cattle and Gives Him the Lyre
2 source witnesses · 2 source-scoped variants · reviewed 2026-08-30
The infant Hermes steals Apollo's cattle, conceals his tracks, and finally reconciles with Apollo through musical and pastoral exchanges, above all the lyre.
Canonical narrative
The Homeric Hymn to Hermes makes the newborn god precocious, hungry, and inventive. Hermes fashions a lyre from a tortoise, steals Apollo's cattle, and drives them backward to confuse the trail. As the theft moves through the night, bright Selene, daughter of Pallas son of Megamedes, climbs her watch-post. Hermes sacrifices two animals and returns to his cradle. Apollo discovers the theft and carries him before Zeus. Hermes lies with theatrical skill, but the dispute changes when he plays the lyre. Apollo desires the instrument, accepts it in exchange, and gives Hermes authority over cattle and further tokens of friendship.
Pseudo-Apollodorus condenses the tale and rearranges details, but preserves the theft, discovery, and exchange. Neither source describes an eternal rivalry. The narrative explains a negotiated distribution of divine arts and possessions, with Apollo receiving the lyre and Hermes acquiring pastoral authority.
The exchange does more than end a quarrel. Possession and status are renegotiated through the beauty of a new instrument. Apollo's delight in the lyre creates room for Hermes among the gods, while the theft remains part of the younger brother's identity. Reconciliation redistributes divine arts instead of pretending that the conflict never happened.
Episodes in this myth
Episode 1
Hermes steals Apollo's cattle
The infant Hermes drives Apollo's herd backward beneath Selene's rising watch, kills two animals in sacrifice, and returns to his cradle before Apollo discovers the theft.
Episode 2
The lyre exchange
Before Zeus and afterward in private exchange, Hermes' music moves Apollo from threat to desire; Apollo receives the lyre and gives Hermes pastoral authority and friendship.
Participants and roles
Apollo
owner of the stolen cattle who accepts the lyre and negotiates a lasting exchange
The exchange explains possession and friendship, not an enduring simple rivalry.Hermes
infant thief, lyre-maker, musician, and negotiator
His infancy and inventions are especially developed in the Homeric Hymn.Zeus
divine judge amused by Hermes and supportive of reconciliation
The Homeric Hymn gives Zeus a prominent judicial role.Selene
climbs her bright watch-post while Hermes drives away Apollo's cattle
The brief appearance belongs only to the Homeric Hymn witness and creates no relationship edge to Pallas.Apollo's cattle
stolen herd whose concealed movement initiates the dispute
Some animals are killed in sacrifice within the hymn.The lyre
new instrument whose music changes conflict into exchange
The hymn makes the tortoise-shell instrument the decisive object of reconciliation.Source-scoped variants
The Homeric Hymn's infant trickster
The newborn Hermes invents the lyre, steals the herd under Selene's rising watch, deceives his pursuers, faces Zeus, and reconciles with Apollo through reciprocal gifts.
What differs: The full hymn develops Selene's night-watch appearance, tracks, sacrifice, song, comedy, threats, and multiple exchanges. Later mythography compresses these into a short genealogy of inventions and possessions.
Greek Archaic · Ancient GreecePseudo-Apollodorus's condensed exchange
The mythographer preserves Hermes' theft, discovery, lyre, and exchange with Apollo in a compressed divine genealogy.
What differs: The abbreviated sequence lacks much of the hymn's dialogue, sacrificial detail, and negotiated distribution of further powers.
Greek Roman Imperial · Ancient GreeceSource witnesses
EXPLICIT PRIMARY · Reviewed
Homeric Hymns
Anonymous Homeric Hymns; edited and translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White · 1914
Hymn Homeric Hymn 4 to Hermes · Line 1-568b
Full exact eng2 component: invention, theft, discovery, judgment, music, reconciliation, gifts, and offices through line 568b.
Open reviewed sourceEXPLICIT PRIMARY · Reviewed
Library
Pseudo-Apollodorus; edited and translated by James G. Frazer · 1921
Book 3 · Chapter 10 · Section 2
Condensed later mythography preserving the theft and exchange.
Open reviewed source