by kjartan » Fri Apr 21, 2006 6:19 pm
Or: the name embodies (in Latin rather than Greek) the motto inscribed in gold letters over the portico of the temple at Delphi, "gnothi seauton", or "know thyself". (Auto = self, Lycos = search engine, i.e. Know). Although really "know thyself" is not a very good translation, what it meant was more like "know that this is a temple of the gods and you are a crappy little mortal".
Actually, the wikipedia entry for Autolycus explains that there was an actual mythical character that the Hercules/Xena character is based on, so presumably Shakespeare borrowed it from there.