We know that this interpretation is
right, from a passage in which Euripides describes the shield of
Hippomedon, which bore for his sign, "Argus the all-seeing, covered
with eyes; open towards the rising of the stars and closed towards
their setting."
And thus Hermes becomes the spirit of the movement of the sky or
firmament; not merely the fast flying of the transitory cloud, but the
great motion of the heavens and stars themselves. Thus, in his highest
power, he corresponds to the "primo mobile" of the later Italian
philosophy, and, in his simplest, is the guide of all mysterious and
cloudy movement, and of all successful subtleties. Perhaps the prettiest
minor recognition of his character is when, on the night foray of Ulysses
and Diomed, Ulysses wear the helmet stolen by Autolycus, the son of
Hermes.
29. The position in the Greek mind of Hermes as the lord of cloud is,
however, more mystic and ideal than that of any other deity, just on
account of the constant and real presence of the cloud itself under
different forms, giving rise to all kinds of minor fables.
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