Following the success of Christopher Nolan’s latest film, The Odyssey, Odysseus has returned to prominence as the cleverest of all ancient Greek heroes. He defeated enemies through deception, escaped monsters by creating false identities, and returned to his homeland of Ithaca disguised as a beggar after twenty years of fighting against impossible odds.
His extraordinary talent for trickery, however, did not appear out of nowhere. According to Greek mythology, the maternal grandfather of Odysseus, a man named Autolycus, was described by Homer as surpassing all others in the arts of theft and deceitful oath-taking. In other words, Odysseus’ grandfather may have been the supreme thief in the entire mythological world of Ancient Greece.
Autolycus was unlike any ordinary criminal. Theft was not merely something he practiced; it was his defining skill. He was so gifted at making property vanish that even the most cunning men in Greece struggled to uncover his schemes. In a family tree filled with gods, heroes, kings, and monsters, Autolycus stood apart as a professional criminal—a true blemish on an otherwise legendary lineage.
Who was Autolycus, Odysseus’ grandfather, in Greek mythology?
Autolycus was the father of Anticleia (the mother of Odysseus), meaning he was the maternal grandfather of the king of Ithaca. In The Odyssey (19.392–398), Homer describes Autolycus as “the noble father of his mother,” a man who surpassed all others in “the arts of theft and oath-breaking.” Homer also notes that Hermes himself had granted Autolycus special favor, reflecting the god’s connection with cunning, deception, and clever survival.
The episode reveals an important connection between Odysseus and his maternal grandfather. Autolycus embodies a darker form of the same intelligence that later defines Odysseus. He possesses the ability to deceive, adapt, and overcome challenges through cleverness rather than physical strength. When Odysseus travels to Mount Parnassus in central Greece to visit Autolycus and his sons, Homer presents the family line as one marked by extraordinary cunning—a trait that would become one of the hero’s greatest strengths.
The association between Odysseus’ grandfather and Hermes was nevertheless fitting. The god himself had demonstrated his talent for deception from birth, famously stealing Apollo’s cattle shortly after entering the world. Autolycus, in his own way, continued this family tradition with extraordinary skill.
The miraculous talents of Odysseus’ grandfather
Livestock had recognizable features, and owners knew the colors, markings, horns, and other characteristics of their animals. A thief who appeared in a nearby region with a similar herd could easily be exposed and face severe punishment.
According to some accounts, Autolycus overcame this problem through a supernatural ability. He was said to have the power to transform the appearance of stolen animals, turning black cattle white and vice versa. He could make horned animals appear hornless just as he could make hornless animals grow horns. These extraordinary abilities made his crimes almost impossible to prove, allowing him to escape punishment. Even if a victim discovered the stolen herd, the animals no longer resembled those that had vanished, leaving no clear evidence of wrongdoing.
It was the mythological equivalent of changing the license plates, color, and identifying features of a stolen vehicle before anyone began searching for it. This unique talent made Autolycus nearly impossible to catch. Depending on the version of the myth, Hermes either taught him these tricks or granted him the ability to disguise the property he stole.
Autolycus versus Sisyphus
The most famous victim of Autolycus was Sisyphus, the notoriously cunning king of Corinth. In Greek mythology, Sisyphus deceived the gods, manipulated his rivals, and even escaped death before ultimately receiving his infamous punishment—of endlessly pushing a boulder uphill only to watch it roll back down again—in the Underworld. This eternal punishment transformed him into a symbol of futile struggle and endless suffering. A contest between Autolycus and Sisyphus was therefore destined to become a clash between two of the most deceptive figures ever imagined by the ancient Greeks.
Autolycus repeatedly stole animals from Sisyphus’ herds. Each time livestock disappeared, the number of animals owned by Autolycus seemed to increase. Sisyphus quickly realized what was happening, but he initially had no way to prove it because the stolen animals had been magically transformed.
The king eventually found a solution worthy of his legendary cunning. In one version of the story, he secretly marked the hooves of his animals before they were stolen. When the cattle disappeared, he followed their tracks and discovered the hidden marks, finally exposing Autolycus. Even the greatest thief in mythology had encountered someone whose intelligence surpassed his own.
The rivalry between the two figures also became connected to a more scandalous tradition involving the birth of Odysseus himself. According to some later accounts, Sisyphus slept with Anticleia, the daughter of Autolycus, as revenge for the thefts he had committed. According to this alternative genealogy, Sisyphus, rather than Laertes, was the biological father of Odysseus.
Homer does not include this version of the story. In both The Iliad and The Odyssey, Odysseus is clearly identified as the son of Laertes. The later tradition was likely an attempt to explain the hero’s extraordinary intelligence and talent for deception. With Autolycus as his grandfather and Sisyphus as his supposed father, cunning would have been woven into every branch of his ancestry.
How Autolycus gave Odysseus his name
According to The Odyssey, Autolycus was also responsible for naming Odysseus. When he visited the island of Ithaca after the birth of his grandson, the nurse Eurycleia placed the infant on his knees and asked him to choose a name.
Autolycus explained that he had arrived after becoming hated and angered by many men and women during his travels. He therefore named the child Odysseus, connecting the name with the Greek verb odýssomai (ὀδύσσομαι), associated with anger, hatred, or causing pain. The name would prove remarkably fitting.
Throughout his life, Odysseus would become surrounded by conflict and resentment. He provoked the fury of Poseidon after blinding the Cyclops Polyphemus. He became the target of hatred among the suitors (mnestires) who occupied his palace during his absence. And when he finally returned to Ithaca, he unleashed his own terrible wrath against those who had dishonored his home and family.
The boar hunt that revealed Odysseus
The relationship between Odysseus and his grandfather also resulted in the scar that would eventually reveal the hero’s true identity. As a young man, Odysseus traveled to Mount Parnassus to visit Autolycus and his maternal relatives. On one of these visits, a wild boar suddenly charged from its hiding place and wounded him above the knee with its tusk.
Odysseus killed the animal, and his relatives treated the injury before having him returned to Ithaca. The wound eventually healed, but the scar remained as a lasting mark—one that would later reveal his identity to those who were not meant to discover it.
Many years later, after the Trojan War and his long journey home, Odysseus returned to his palace disguised as an elderly beggar. Penelope did not recognize him, and the suitors had no idea that the stranger standing before them was the very king whose position they had tried to usurp.
Eurycleia, however, discovered the truth while washing the beggar’s feet. As she touched the old scar, she immediately recognized that the man before her was none other than Odysseus. The wound he received while visiting the greatest thief in Greece nearly exposed the greatest disguise in The Odyssey.
Did Odysseus inherit his cunning from his grandfather?
Greek myths often explained personal traits through ancestry and genealogy. Courage, violence, beauty, intelligence, and even curses were believed to pass through generations of the same family. Odysseus was famous for metis, a Greek concept that combined cunning intelligence, adaptability, practical wisdom, and the ability to escape danger through clever solutions. Autolycus, however, represented a darker expression of this same quality.
Nonetheless, both men understood that appearances could be manipulated. Autolycus changed the appearance of stolen animals, while Odysseus repeatedly changed his own appearance and identity. Autolycus used deceptive oaths, while Odysseus fabricated convincing stories to assist him in his plans. Autolycus avoided punishment by hiding evidence, while Odysseus survived by ensuring that his enemies rarely figured out who he truly was.
The famous episode with the Cyclops demonstrates this perfectly. When Odysseus encounters Polyphemus, he tells the giant: “‘Nobody’ is my name. Nobody is what my mother, my father, and all my companions call me.” When the blinded Cyclops cries out that Nobody is attacking him, the other Cyclopes refuse to come to his aid. It was exactly the kind of deception that would have made Autolycus proud.
The difference, however, is that Odysseus usually used deception for warfare, survival, and the restoration of his household rather than for ordinary theft. His cunning could be dangerous and morally questionable, but it was also the quality that repeatedly saved his life.
Greek mythology contains several gods and mortals associated with theft and deception. Hermes stole Apollo’s cattle. Prometheus stole fire from the gods. Heracles occasionally took livestock and sacred objects during his adventures. Sisyphus deceived nearly everyone, including death itself. Yet Autolycus occupies a unique place among mythological tricksters. He was defined by theft, connected with Hermes, and explicitly described in The Odyssey as surpassing all other men in thievery and oath-making. It is therefore reasonable to describe Autolycus as the greatest mortal thief in Greek mythology.
His greatest achievement, however, may not have been any animal he stole. It was the grandson who inherited his intelligence. Autolycus could make stolen cattle unrecognizable, while Odysseus was capable of transforming himself. The old thief altered colors, horns, and physical markings, whereas his grandson transformed names, clothing, voices, and entire personal histories as he saw fit for his own benefit.
Hence, the greatest thief in Greece successfully established the family legacy he would have been so proud of.
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