Hermes was born on Mount Cyllene and quickly grew into a little boy.

He decided to steal a herd of cows

from Apollo, but instead made a number of shoes from the bark of a fallen oak and tied them with
plaited grass to the feet of the cows. Apollo discov ered the loss, but Hermes's trick deceived him and he
was forced to offer a reward for the apprehension of the thief. Silenus and his Satyrs tried to track
Hermes down, but without success. Finally, Cyllene told them that Hermes had constructed an ingenious
musical toy from the shell of a tortoise and some cow-gut, which he had lulled his mother to sleep.

Apollo found two hides outside a cave and accused Hermes of theft. Zeus encouraged Hermes to plead
not guilty, but Apollo would not be put off and Hermes eventually confessed. Apollo then cut up the
hides into twelve equal portions as a sacrifice to the twelve gods.

The two gods returned to Mount Cyllene, where Hermes showed Apollo his newly-invented tortoise-
shell lyre and played a ravishing tune on it with the plectrum he had invented, singing in praise of
Apollo's nobility, intelli- gence, and generosity. Apollo then gave him the remainder of the cattle, which
he had hidden in a cave, and they made a bargain: Hermes would give him a shepherd's pipe in
exchange for the golden staff with which he herd his cattle, and Apollo would teach him augury and
teach him how to divine from pebbles. Zeus warned Hermes that he must respect the rights of property
and refrain from telling lies, but he could not help being amused.

He had numerous sons, including Echion the Argonauts' her- ald, Autolycus the thief, and Daphnis the
inventor of bucolic poetry. Hermes turned him into a stone, which is still shown at the city of
Cephalenitanum, and caused a fountain called Daphnis to gush up at Syracuse.