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[138] ᾧ πυμάτῳ. Schol. V. “ἐπεὶ ὀνειροπομπὸς ἢ ὕπνου παρεκτικός: διὸ καὶ ‘εἵλετο δὲ ῥάβδον, τῇ τ᾽ ἀνδρῶν ὄμματα” “θέλγει”.’ But Nitzsch remarks that the idea of Hermes as the dream-god belongs to the later conception of his office as “ψυχοπομπός”, Zeus being in Homer the real dispenser of dreams. He says further that the wand of Hermes is not the symbol of natural sleep, but of some extraordinary trance; and a good night's rest was too much a matter of course to be made the subject of a special libation. Nitzsch compares this libation to the one offered in later times to “Ζεὺς Σωτήρ” or “Τέλειος”, and thinks it was offered to Hermes as guardian and protector, so as to leave the whole household in his custody for the night.

Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1886-1901.

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