The powerful giant-killer,
swooping down from Pieria, down the high clear air,
plunged to the sea and skimmed the waves like a tern
that down the deadly gulfs of the barren salt swells
glides and dives for fish,
dipping its beating wings in bursts of spray –
so Hermes skimmed the crests on endless crests.
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 5, lines 53-59. As Hermes flies to Calypso’s island, he is compared to a seabird skimming the sea in search of fish. This is one of Homer’s many glorious epic similes to be found throughout The Odyssey and the Iliad. Hermes earned the nickname the giant-killer because he lulled the hundred-eyed giant Argos to sleep with his music and slew him with his sword.