Autolycus

In Greek mythology, the maternal grandfather of Odysseus, who surpassed all men in thieving. He was said to be a son of Hermes. The name was also used by Shakespeare for a pedlar, ‘a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles’, in The Winter's Tale.

In Greek mythology, Autolycus (Greek Αὐτόλυκος) was the son of Chione and Hermes.

Autolycus was a renowned thief (skills passed down from his father, the God of Thieves) and wrestler (which he taught to Hercules). Autolycus stole the cattle of Sisyphus and the helmet that his grandson, Odysseus, eventually wore during the Trojan War.

Though not as well known as many other Greek mythological figures, Autolycus has appeared in a number of works of fiction. A comic thief in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale boasts that he is named after Autolycus and, like him, is "a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles". In the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, Autolycus appeared as a somewhat bumbling and comical antihero, referring to himself as the "King of Thieves".