[50] The flight of Hermes may be compared with that of Hera, Il.14. 225“Ἥρη δ᾽ ἀίξασα λίπεν ῥίον Οὐλύμποιο”,
“Πιερίην δ᾽ ἐπιβᾶσα καὶ Ἠμαθίην ἐρατεινὴν”“σεύατ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἱπποπόλων Θρῃκῶν ὄρεα νιφόεντα”,
“ἀκροτάτας κορυφὰς, οὐδὲ χθόνα μάρπτε ποδοῖιν:”
“ἐξ Ἀθόω δ᾽ ἐπὶ πόντον ἐβήσετο κυμαίνοντα”. Here then the words Πιερίην δ᾽ ἐπιβάς refer to his passage over the peaks of the Pierian range, which runs north-west from Olympus.
ἐξ αἰθέρος should be joined with ἔμπεσε. Or it is possible to regard Pieria as the plain of that name, to which Hermes descends from Mount Olympus, as to a stage between it and the sea; in which case ἐξ αἰθέρος must be taken with ἐπιβάς, for “αἰθήρ” is the clear air of mountain heights, as distinguished from the lower atmosphere, “ἀήρ”. Zeus on Olympus is described, Od.15. 523, as “αἰθέρι ναίων”.
