THE GRAEAE AND THE GORGONS

THE GRAEAE AND THE GORGONS

THE Graeae were three sisters who were gray-haired from their birth,whence their name. The Gorgons were monstrous females with hugeteeth like those of swine, brazen claws, and snaky hair. None of thesebeings make much figure in mythology except Medusa, the Gorgon,whose story we shall next advert to. We mention them chiefly to intro-duce an ingenious theory of some modern writers, namely, that theGorgons and Graeae were only personifications of the terrors of thesea, the former denoting the strong billows of the wide open main, andthe latter the white-crested waves that dash against the rocks of thecoast. Their names in Greek signify the above epithets.[see also: The Gor-gon Medusa][see also: images - Gorgon head (Temple of Apollo, Veii, 500 BC)]

PERSEUS AND MEDUSA

Perseus was the son of Jupiter (Zeus) and Danae. His grandfatherAcrisius, alarmed by an oracle which had told him that his daughter'schild would be the instrument of his death, caused the mother and childto be shut up in a chest and set adrift on the sea.

The chest floated towards Seriphus, where it was found by a fisher-man who conveyed the mother and infant to Polydectes, the king ofthe country, by whom they were treated with kindness. When Perseuswas grown up Polydectes sent him to attempt the conquest of Me-dusa, a terrible monster who had laid waste the country. She was oncea beautiful maiden whose hair was her chief glory but as she

dared to vie in beauty with Minerva(Athena), the goddess deprived her ofher charms and changed her beautifulringlets into hissing serpents. She be-came a cruel monster of so frightfulan aspect that no living thing couldbehold her without being turned intostone. All around the cavern whereshe dwelt might be seen the stony fig-ures of men and animals which hadchanced to catch a glimpse of her and

had been petrified with the sight. Perseus, favoured by Minerva andMercury (Hermes), the former of whom lent him her shield and the lat-ter his winged shoes, approached Medusa while she slept and takingcare not to look directly at her, but guided by her image reflected in thebright shield which he bore, he cut off her head and gave it to Minerva,

who fixed it in the middle of her AEgis.[see image and commentary: DanaeReceiving the Golden Rain - painting by Tiziano Vecellio (Titian)][see image: 126K- The Arming of Perseus - painting by Edward Coley Burne-Jones] Milton, in his"Comus," thus alludes to the AEgis:

"What thus snaky-headed Gorgon-shieldThat wise Minerva wore, un-conquered virgin,Wherewith she freezed her foes to congealedstone,But rigid looks of chaste austerity,And noble grace that dashedbrute violenceWith sudden adoration and blank awe!"

Armstrong, the poet of the "Art of Preserving Health," thus describesthe effect of frost upon the waters:

"Now blows the surly North and chills throughoutThe stiffening re-gions, while by stronger charmsThan Circe e'er or fell Medeabrewed,Each brook that wont to prattle to its banksLies all bestilledand wedged betwixt its banks,Nor moves the withered reeds...Thesurges baited by the fierce North-east,Tossing with fretful spleen theirangry heads,E'en in the foam of all their madness struckTo monu-mental ice.. . . . . . . .Such execution,So stern, so sudden, wrought thegrisly aspectOf terrible Medusa,When wandering through the woodsshe turned to stoneTheir savage tenants; just as the foaming LionS-prang furious on his prey, her speedier powerOutran his haste,And

fixed in that fierce attitude he standsLike Rage in marble!"- Imita-tions of Shakespeare.

PERSEUS AND ATLAS

After the slaughter of Medusa, Perseus, bearing with him the head ofthe Gorgon, flew far and wide, over land and sea. As night came on,he reached the western limit of the earth, where the sun goes down.Here he would gladly have rested till morning. It was the realm ofKing Atlas, whose bulk surpassed that of all other men. He was richin flocks and herds and had no neighbour or rival to dispute his state.But his chief pride was in his gardens whose fruit was of gold,hanging from golden branches, half hid with golden leaves. Perseussaid to him, "I come as a guest. If you honour illustrious descent, Iclaim Jupiter for my father; if mighty deeds, I plead the conquest ofthe Gorgon. I seek rest and food." But Atlas remembered that an an-cient prophecy had warned him that a son of Jove should one day robhim of His golden apples. So he answered, "Begone! or neither yourfalse claims of glory nor parentage shall protect you;" and he attemp-ted to thrust him out. Perseus, finding the giant too strong for him,said, "Since you value my friendship so little, deign to accept apresent;" and turning his face away, he held up the Gorgon's head. At-las, with all his bulk, was changed into stone. His beard and hair be-

came forests, his arms and shoulders cliffs, his head a summit, and hisbones rocks. Each part increased in bulk till be became a mountain,and (such was the pleasure of the gods) heaven with all its stars restsupon his shoulders.

THE SEA-MONSTER

Perseus, continuing his flight, arrived at the country of the AEthiopi-ans, of which Cepheus was king. Cassiopeia his queen, proud of herbeauty, had dared to compare herself to the Sea-nymphs, whichroused their indignation to such a degree that they sent a prodigioussea-monster to ravage the coast. To appease the deities, Cepheus wasdirected by the oracle to expose his daughter Andromeda to be de-voured by the monster. As Perseus looked down from his aerialheight he beheld the virgin chained to a rock, and waiting the ap-proach of the serpent. She was so pale and motionless that if it hadnot been for her flowing tears and her hair that moved in the breeze,he would have taken her for a marble statue. He was so startled at thesight that he almost forgot to wave his wings. As he hovered over herhe said, "O virgin, undeserving of those chains, but rather of such asbind fond lovers together, tell me, I beseech you, your name, and thename of your country, and why you are thus bound." At first she wassilent from modesty, and, if she could, would have hid her face with

her hands; but when he repeated his questions, for fear she might bethought guilty of some fault which she dared not tell, she disclosedher name And that of her country, and her mother's pride of beauty.Before she had done speaking, a sound was heard off upon the water,and the sea-monster appeared, with his head raised above the surface,cleaving the waves with his broad breast. The virgin shrieked, thefather and mother who had now arrived at the scene, wretched both,but the mother more justly so, stood by, not able to afford protection,but only to pour forth lamentations and to embrace the victim. Thenspoke Perseus; "There will be time enough for tears; this hour is allwe have for rescue. My rank as the son of Jove and my renown as theslayer of the Gorgon might make me acceptable as a suitor; but I willtry to win her by services rendered, if the gods will only be propi-tious. If she be rescued by my valour, I demand that she be my re-ward." The parents consent (how could they hesitate?) and promise aroyal dowry with her.[see image: 43K - Perseus Hastening to RescueAndromeda - painting by Fredrick, Lord Leighton][see image: 137K - The Rock ofDoom - painting by Edward Coley Burne-Jones] And now the monster waswithin the range of a stone thrown by a skilful slinger, when with asudden bound the youth soared into the air. As an eagle, when fromhis lofty flight he sees a serpent basking in the sun, pounces upon himand seizes him by the neck to prevent him from turning his headround and using his fangs, so the youth darted down upon the back of

the monster and plunged his sword into its shoulder. Irritated by thewound, the monster raised himself into

the air, then plunged into thedepth; then, like a wild boarsurrounded by a pack ofbarking dogs, turned swiftlyfrom side to side, while theyouth eluded its attacks bymeans of his wings.Wherever he can find a pas-sage for his sword betweenthe scales he makes awound, piercing now theside, now the flank, as itslopes towards the tail. Thebrute spouts from his nos-trils water mixed with blood.

The wings of the hero are wet with it, and he dares no longer trust tothem. Alighting on a rock which rose above the waves, and holding onby a projecting fragment, as the monster floated near he gave him adeath stroke. The people who had gathered on the shore shouted so thatthe hills reechoed with the sound. The parents, transported with joy,

embraced their future son-in-law, calling him their deliverer and thesaviour of their house, and the virgin, both cause and reward of thecontest, descended from the rock.[see image: 146K - The Baleful Head -painting by Edward Coley Burne-Jones] Cassiopeia was an AEthiopian, andconsequently, in spite of her boasted beauty, black; at least so Miltonseems to have thought, who alludes to this story in his "Penseroso,"where he addresses Melancholy as the

"...goddess, sage and holy,Whose saintly visage is too brightTo hit thesense of human sight,And, therefore, to our weaker view,O'erlaidwith black, staid Wisdom's hue.Black, but such as in esteemPrinceMemnon's sister might beseem.Or that starred AEthiop queen thatstroveTo set her beauty's praise aboveThe sea-nymphs, and theirpowers offended."

Cassiopeia is called "the starred AEthiop, queen" because after herdeath she was placed among the stars, forming the constellation ofthat name. Though she attained this honour, yet the Sea-Nymphs, herold enemies, prevailed so far as to cause her to be placed in that partof the heaven near the pole, where every night she is half the timeheld with her head downward, to give her a lesson of humility. Mem-non was an AEthiopian prince, of whom we shall tell in a futurechapter.

THE WEDDING FEAST

The joyful parents, with Perseus and Andromeda, repaired to thepalace, where a banquet was spread for them, and all was joy andfestivity. But suddenly a noise was heard of warlike clamour, andPhineus, the betrothed of the virgin, with a party of his adherents,burst in, demanding the maiden as his own. It was in vain that Ceph-eus remonstrated- "You should have claimed her when she lay boundto the rock, the monster's victim. The sentence of the gods doomingher to such a fate dissolved all engagements, as death itself wouldhave done." Phineus made no reply, but hurled his javelin at Perseus,but it missed its mark and fell harmless. Perseus would have thrownhis in turn, but the cowardly assailant ran and took shelter behind thealtar. But his act was a signal for an onset by his hand upon the guestsof Cepheus. They defended themselves and a general conflict ensued,the old king retreating from the scene after fruitless expostulations,

calling the gods to witness that he was guiltless of this outrage on therights of hospitality.

Perseus and his friends maintained for some timethe unequal contest; but the numbers of the assail-ants were too great for them, and destructionseemed inevitable, when a sudden thought struckPerseus,- "I will make my enemy defend me." Thenwith a loud voice he exclaimed, "If I have anyfriend here let him turn away his eyes!" and heldaloft the Gorgon's head. "Seek not to frighten uswith your jugglery," said Thescelus, and raised hisjavelin in the act to throw, and became stone in thevery attitude. Ampyx was about to plunge his

sword into the body of a prostrate foe, but his arm stiffened and hecould neither thrust forward nor withdraw it. Another, in the midst of avociferous challenge, stopped, his mouth open, but no sound issuing.One of Perseus's friends, Aconteus, caught sight of the Gorgon andstiffened like the rest. Astyages struck him with his sword, but insteadof wounding, it recoiled with a ringing noise. Phineus beheld thisdreadful result of his unjust aggression, and felt confounded. He calledaloud to his friends, but got no answer; he touched them and foundthem stone. Falling on his knees and stretching out his hands to

Perseus, but turning his head away, he begged for mercy. "Take all,"said he, "give me but my life." "Base coward," said Perseus, "thusmuch I will grant you; no weapon shall touch you; moreover, you shallbe preserved in my house as a memorial of these events." So say-ing, he held the Gorgon's head to the side where Phineus was looking,and in the very form which he knelt, with his hands outstretched andface averted, he became fixed immovably, a mass of stone![Library ofApollodorus: Perseus] The following allusion to Perseus is from Milman's"Samor":

"As 'mid the fabled Libyan bridal stoodPerseus in stern tranquillity ofwrath,Half stood, half floated on his ankle-plumesOut-swelling, whilethe bright face on his shieldLooked into stone the raging fray; sorose,But with no magic arms, wearing aloneTh' appalling and controlof his firm look,The Briton Samor; at his rising aweWent abroad, andthe riotous hall was mute."

TheseusI. Just as geographers, O Socius Senecio,1 crowd on to the outeredges of their maps the parts of the earth which elude their know-ledge, with explanatory notes that “What lies beyond is sandy desertwithout water and full of wild beasts,” or “blind marsh,” or “Scythiancold,” or “frozen sea,” so in the writing of my Parallel Lives, now that

I have traversed those periods of time which are accessible to prob-able reasoning and which afford basis for a history dealing with facts,I might well say of the earlier periods “What lies beyond is full ofmarvels and unreality, a land of poets and fabulists, of doubt and ob-scurity.” [2] But after publishing my account of Lycurgus the law-giver and Numa the king, I thought I might not unreasonably go backstill farther to Romulus, now that my history had brought me near histimes. And as I asked myself,

With such a warrior” (as Aeschylus says) “who will dare to fight?”2

Aesch. Seven 435

Whom shall I set against him? Who is competent?”3

Aesch. Seven 395 f.

it seemed to me that I must make the founder of lovely and famousAthens the counterpart and parallel to the father of invincible andglorious Rome. [3] May I therefore succeed in purifying Fable, mak-ing her submit to reason and take on the semblance of History. Butwhere she obstinately disdains to make herself credible, and refuses

to admit any element of probability, I shall pray for kindly readers,and such as receive with indulgence the tales of antiquity.

II. It seemed to me, then, that many resemblances made Theseus a fitparallel to Romulus. For both were of uncertain and obscure parent-age, and got the reputation of descent from gods;

Both were also warriors, as surely the whole world knoweth,”1

Hom. Il. 7.281

and with their strength, combined sagacity. Of the world's two mostillustrious cities, moreover, Rome and Athens, Romulus founded theone, and Theseus made a metropolis of the other, and each resorted tothe rape of women. [2] Besides, neither escaped domestic misfortunesand the resentful anger of kindred, but even in their last days both aresaid to have come into collision with their own fellow-citizens, ifthere is any aid to the truth in what seems to have been told with theleast poetic exaggeration.

III. The lineage of Theseus, on the father's side, goes back to Erech-theus and the first children of the soil; on the mother's side, to Pelops.For Pelops was the strongest of the kings in Peloponnesus quite as

much on account of the number of his children as the amount of hiswealth. He gave many daughters in marriage to men of highest rank,and scattered many sons among the cities as their rulers. One of these,named Pittheus, the grandfather of Theseus, founded the little city ofTroezen, and had the highest repute as a man versed in the lore of histimes and of the greatest wisdom. [2] Now the wisdom of that dayhad some such form and force as that for which Hesiod was famous,especially in the sententious maxims of his “Works and Days.” Oneof these maxims is ascribed to Pittheus, namely

Payment pledged to a man who is dear must be ample and certain.

Pittheus Verse 370.

At any rate, this is what Aristotle the philosopher says,1 and Eurip-ides,2 when he has Hippolytus addressed as “nursling of the pure andholy Pittheus,” shows what the world thought of Pittheus.

[3] Now Aegeus, king of Athens, desiring to have children, is said tohave received from the Pythian priestess the celebrated oracle inwhich she bade him to have intercourse with no woman until he cameto Athens. But Aegeus thought the words of the command somewhat

obscure, and therefore turned aside to Troezen and communicated toPittheus the words of the god, which ran as follows:--

Loose not the wine-skin's jutting neck, great chief of the people,Untilthou shalt have come once more to the city of Athens.”3

[4] This dark saying Pittheus apparently understood, and persuadedhim, or beguiled him, to have intercourse with his daughter Aethra.Aegeus did so, and then learning that it was the daughter of Pittheuswith whom he had consorted, and suspecting that she was with childby him, he left a sword and a pair of sandals hidden under a greatrock, which had a hollow in it just large enough to receive these ob-jects. [5] He told the princess alone about this, and bade her, if a sonshould be born to her from him, and if, when he came to man's estate,he should be able to lift up the rock and take away what had been leftunder it, to send that son to him with the tokens, in all secrecy, andconcealing his journey as much as possible from everybody; for hewas mightily in fear of the sons of Pallas,4 who were plotting againsthim, and who despised him on account of his childlessness; and theywere fifty in number, these sons of Pallas. Then he went away.

IV. When Aethra gave birth to a son, he was at once named Theseus,as some say, because the tokens for his recognition had been “placed”

in hiding; but others say that it was afterwards at Athens, whenAegeus “acknowledged”1 him as his son. He was reared by Pittheus,as they say, and had an overseer and tutor named Connidas. To thisman, even down to the present time, the Athenians sacrifice a ram onthe day before the festival of Theseus, remembering him and honor-ing him with far greater justice than they honor Silanio and Parrhasi-us, who merely painted and moulded likenesses of Theseus.

V. Since it was still a custom at that time for youth who were comingof age to go to Delphi and sacrifice some of their hair to the god,Theseus went to Delphi for this purpose, and they say there is a placethere which still to this day is called the Theseia from him. But hesheared only the fore part of his head, just as Homer1 said theAbantes did, and this kind of tonsure was called Theseis after him.[2] Now the Abantes were the first to cut their hair in this manner, notunder instruction from the Arabians, as some suppose, nor yet inemulation of the Mysians, but because they were war-like men andclose fighters, who had learned beyond all other men to force theirway into close quarters with their enemies. Archilochus is witness tothis in the following words:--

[3] Not many bows indeed will be stretched tight, nor frequent sling-sBe whirled, when Ares joins men in the moil of warUpon the plain,

but swords will do their mournful work;For this is the warfarewherein those men are expertWho lord it over Euboea and are famouswith the spear.

Bergk, Poet. Lyr. Gr., ii. p. 383.

[4] Therefore, in order that they might not give their enemies a holdby their hair, they cut it off. And Alexander of Macedon doubtless un-derstood this when, as they say, he ordered his generals to have thebeards of their Macedonians shaved, since these afforded the readiesthold in battle.

VI. During the rest of the time, then, Aethra kept his true birth con-cealed from Theseus, and a report was spread abroad by Pittheus thathe was begotten by Poseidon. For Poseidon is highly honored by thepeople of Troezen, and he is the patron god of their city; to him theyoffer first fruits in sacrifice, and they have his trident as an emblemon their coinage. [2] But when, in his young manhood, Theseus dis-played, along with his vigor of body, prowess also, and a firm spiritunited with intelligence and sagacity, then Aethra brought him to therock, told him the truth about his birth, and bade him take away hisfathers tokens and go by sea to Athens. [3] Theseus put his shoulderto the rock and easily raised it up, but he refused to make his journey

by sea, although safety lay in that course, and his grandfather and hismother begged him to take it. For it was difficult to make the journeyto Athens by land, since no part of it was clear nor yet without perilfrom robbers and miscreants.[4] For verily that age produced men who, in work of hand and speedof foot and vigor of body, were extraordinary and indefatigable, butthey applied their powers to nothing that was fitting or useful. Nayrather, they exulted in monstrous insolence, and reaped from theirstrength a harvest of cruelty and bitterness, mastering and forcing anddestroying everything that came in their path. And as for reverenceand righteousness, justice and humanity, they thought that most menpraised these qualities for lack of courage to do wrong and for fear ofbeing wronged, and considered them no concern of men who werestrong enough to get the upper hand. [5] Some of these creatures Her-acles cut off and destroyed as he went about, but some escaped hisnotice as he passed by, crouching down and shrinking back, and wereoverlooked in their abjectness. And when Heracles met with calamityand, after the slaying of Iphitus, removed into Lydia and for a longtime did slave's service there in the house of Omphale, then Lydia in-deed obtained great peace and security; but in the regions of Hellasthe old villainies burst forth and broke out anew, there being none torebuke and none to restrain them.

[6] The journey was therefore a perilous one for travellers by landfrom Peloponnesus to Athens, and Pittheus, by describing each of themiscreants at length, what sort of a monster he was, and what deedshe wrought upon strangers, tried to persuade Theseus to make hisjourney by sea. But he, as it would seem, had long since been secretlyfired by the glorious valor of Heracles, and made the greatest accountof that hero, and was a most eager listener to those who told whatmanner of man he was, and above all to those who had seen him andbeen present at some deed or speech of his. [7] And it is altogetherplain that he then experienced what Themistocles many generationsafterwards experienced, when he said that he could not sleep for thetrophy of Miltiades.1 In like manner Theseus admired the valor ofHeracles, until by night his dreams were of the hero's achievements,and by day his ardor led him along and spurred him on in his purposeto achieve the like.VII. And besides, they were kinsmen, being sons of cousins-german.For Aethra was daughter of Pittheus, as Alcmene was of Lysidice,and Lysidice and Pittheus were brother and sister, children of Hippo-dameia and Pelops. Accordingly, he thought it a dreadful and unen-durable thing that his famous cousin should go out against the wickedeverywhere and purge land and sea of them, while he himself ranaway from the struggles which lay in his path, [2] disgracing his re-puted father1 by journeying like a fugitive over the sea, and bringing

to his real father as proofs of his birth only sandals and a sword un-stained with blood, instead of at once offering noble deeds andachievements as the manifest mark of his noble birth. In such a spiritand with such thoughts he set out, determined to do no man anywrong, but to punish those who offered him violence.

VIII. And so in the first place, in Epidauria, when Periphetes, whoused a club as his weapon and on this account was called Club-bearer,laid hold of him and tried to stop his progress, he grappled with himand slew him. And being pleased with the club, he took it and made ithis weapon and continued to use it, just as Heracles did with the lion'sskin. That hero wore the skin to prove how great a wild beast he hadmastered, and so Theseus carried the club to show that although it hadbeen vanquished by him, in his own hands it was invincible.[2] On the Isthmus, too, he slew Sinis the Pine-bender in the verymanner in which many men had been destroyed by himself, and hedid this without practice or even acquaintance with the monster'sdevice, but showing that valor is superior to all device and practice.Now Sinis had a very beautiful and stately daughter, named Perigune.This daughter took to flight when her father was killed, and Theseuswent about in search of her. But she had gone off into a place whichabounded greatly in shrubs and rushes and wild asparagus, and withexceeding innocence and childish simplicity was supplicating these

plants, as if they understood her, and vowing that if they would hideand save her, she would never trample them down nor burn them.[3] When, however, Theseus called upon her and gave her a pledgethat he would treat her honorably and do her no wrong, she cameforth, and after consorting with Theseus, bore him Melanippus, andafterwards lived with Deioneus, son of Eurytus the Oechalian, towhom Theseus gave her. From Melanippus the son of Theseus, Ioxuswas born, who took part with Ornytus in leading a colony into Cariawhence it is ancestral usage with the Ioxids, men and women, not toburn either the asparagus-thorn or the rush, but to revere and honorthem.IX. Now the Crommyonian sow, which they called Phaea, was no in-significant creature, but fierce and hard to master. This sow he wentout of his way to encounter and slay, that he might not be thought toperform all his exploits under compulsion, and at the same time be-cause he thought that while the brave man ought to attack villainousmen only in self defence, he should seek occasion to risk his life inbattle with the nobler beasts. However, some say that Phaea was a fe-male robber, a woman of murderous and unbridled spirit, who dweltin Crommyon, was called Sow because of her life and manners, andwas afterwards slain by Theseus.

X. He also slew Sciron on the borders of Megara, by hurling himdown the cliffs. Sciron robbed the passers by, according to the preval-ent tradition; but as some say, he would insolently and wantonlythrust out his feet to strangers and bid them wash them, and then,while they were washing them, kick them off into the sea. [2] Megari-an writers, however, taking issue with current report, and, as Si-monides1 expresses it, “waging war with antiquity,” say that Scironwas neither a violent man nor a robber, but a chastiser of robbers, anda kinsman and friend of good and just men. For Aeacus, they say, isregarded as the most righteous of Hellenes, and Cychreus theSalaminian has divine honors at Athens, and the virtues of Peleus andTelamon are known to all men. [3] Well, then, Sciron was a son-in-law of Cychreus, father-in-law of Aeacus, and grandfather of Peleusand Telamon, who were the sons of Endeis, daughter of Sciron andChariclo. It is not likely, then, they say, that the best of men madefamily alliances with the basest, receiving and giving the greatest andmost valuable pledges. It was not, they say, when Theseus first jour-neyed to Athens, but afterwards, that he captured Eleusis from theMegarians, having circumvented Diocles its ruler, and slew Sciron.Such, then, are the contradictions in which these matters are involved.

XI. In Eleusis, moreover, he out-wrestled Cercyon the Arcadian andkilled him and going on a little farther, at Erineus, he killed Da-

mastes, surnamed Procrustes, by compelling him to make his ownbody fit his bed, as he had been wont to do with those of strangers.And he did this in imitation of Heracles. For that hero punished thosewho offered him violence in the manner in which they had plotted toserve him, and therefore sacrificed Busiris, wrestled Antaeus to death,slew Cycnus in single combat, and killed Termerus by dashing in hisskull. [2] It is from him, indeed, as they say, that the name “Termeri-an mischief” comes, for Termerus, as it would seem, used to killthose who encountered him by dashing his head against theirs. ThusTheseus also went on his way chastising the wicked, who were visitedwith the same violence from him which they were visiting upon oth-ers, and suffered justice after the manner of their own injustice.

XII. As he went forward on his journey and came to the riverCephisus, he was met by men of the race of the Phytalidae, whogreeted him first, and when he asked to be purified from bloodshed,cleansed him with the customary rites, made propitiatory sacrifices,and feasted him at their house. This was the first kindness which hemet with on his journey.It was, then, on the eighth day of the month Cronius, now calledHecatombaeon, that he is said to have arrived at Athens. And when heentered the city, he found public affairs full of confusion and dissen-sion, and the private affairs of Aegeus and his household in a distress-

ing condition. [2] For Medea, who had fled thither from Corinth, andpromised by her sorceries to relieve Aegeus of his childlessness, wasliving with him. She learned about Theseus in advance, and sinceAegeus was ignorant of him, and was well on in years and afraid ofeverything because of the faction in the city, she persuaded him to en-tertain Theseus as a stranger guest, and take him off by poison.Theseus, accordingly, on coming to the banquet, thought best not totell in advance who he was, but wishing to give his father a clue to thediscovery, when the meats were served, he drew his sword, as ifminded to carve with this, and brought it to the notice of his father.[3] Aegeus speedily perceived it, dashed down the proffered cup ofpoison, and after questioning his son, embraced him, and formally re-cognized him before an assembly of the citizens, who received himgladly because of his manly valor. And it is said that as the cup fell,the poison was spilled where now is the enclosure in the Delphini-um,1 for that is where the house of Aegeus stood, and the Hermes tothe east of the sanctuary is called the Hermes at Aegeus's gate.

Now the sons of Pallas had before this themselves hoped to gain pos-session of the kingdom when Aegeus died childless. But whenTheseus was declared successor to the throne, exasperated thatAegeus should be king although he was only an adopted son of Pandi-on and in no way related to the family of Erechtheus, and again that

Theseus should be prospective king although he was an immigrantand a stranger, they went to war. [2] And dividing themselves intotwo bands, one of these marched openly against the city from Sph-ettus with their father; the other hid themselves at Gargettus and layin ambush there, intending to attack their enemies from two sides. Butthere was a herald with them, a man of Agnus, by name Leos. Thisman reported to Theseus the designs of the Pallantidae. [3] Theseusthen fell suddenly upon the party lying in ambush, and slew them all.Thereupon the party with Pallas dispersed. This is the reason, theysay, why the township of Pallene has no intermarriage with the town-ship of Agnus, and why it will not even allow heralds to make theircustomary proclamation there of “Akouete leo!” (Hear, ye people!)For they hate the word on account of the treachery of the man Leos.XIV. But Theseus, desiring to be at work, and at the same time court-ing the favour of the people, went out against the Marathonian bull,which was doing no small mischief to the inhabitants of the Tetrapol-is.1 After he had mastered it, he made a display of driving it alivethrough the city, and then sacrificed it to the Delphinian Apollo.[2] Now the story of Hecale and her receiving and entertainingTheseus on this expedition seems not to be devoid of all truth. For thepeople of the townships round about used to assemble and sacrificethe Hecalesia to Zeus Hecalus, and they paid honors to Hecale, call-ing her by the diminutive name of Hecaline, because she too, when

entertaining Theseus, in spite of the fact that he was quite a youth,caressed him as elderly people do, and called him affectionately bysuch diminutive names. [3] And since she vowed, when the hero wasgoing to his battle with the bull, that she would sacrifice to Zeus if hecame back safe, but died before his return, she obtained the abovementioned honors as a return for her hospitality at the command ofTheseus, as Philochorus has written.

XV. Not long afterwards there came from Crete for the third time thecollectors of the tribute. Now as to this tribute, most writers agree thatbecause Androgeos was thought to have been treacherously killedwithin the confines of Attica, not only did Minos harass the inhabit-ants of that country greatly in war,1 but Heaven also laid it waste, forbarrenness and pestilence smote it sorely, and its rivers dried up; alsothat when their god assured them in his commands that if they ap-peased Minos and became reconciled to him, the wrath of Heavenwould abate and there would be an end of their miseries, they sentheralds and made their supplication and entered into an agreement tosend him every nine years a tribute of seven youths and as manymaidens. [2] And the most dramatic version of the story declares thatthese young men and women, on being brought to Crete, were des-troyed by the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, or else wandered about at

their own will and, being unable to find an exit, perished there; andthat the Minotaur, as Euripides says, was

A mingled form and hybrid birth of monstrous shape,

and that

Two different natures, man and bull, were joined in him.

XVII. Accordingly, when the time came for the third tribute, and itwas necessary for the fathers who had youthful sons to present themfor the lot, fresh accusations against Aegeus arose among the people,who were full of sorrow and vexation that he who was the cause of alltheir trouble alone had no share in the punishment, but devolved thekingdom upon a bastard and foreign son, and suffered them to be leftdestitute and bereft of legitimate children. [2] These things troubledTheseus, who, thinking it right not to disregard but to share in the for-tune of his fellow-citizens, came forward and offered himself inde-pendently of the lot. The citizens admired his noble courage and weredelighted with his public spirit, and Aegeus, when he saw that his sonwas not to be won over or turned from his purpose by prayers and en-treaties, cast the lots for the rest of the youths.

[3] Hellanicus, however, says that the city did not send its young menand maidens by lot, but that Minos himself used to come and pickthem out, and that he now pitched upon Theseus first of all, followingthe terms agreed upon. And he says the agreement was that theAthenians should furnish the ship, and that the youths should embarkand sail with him carrying no warlike weapon, and that if theMinotaur was killed the penalty should cease.[4] On the two former occasions, then, no hope of safety was enter-tained, and therefore they sent the ship with a black sail, convincedthat their youth were going to certain destruction; but now Theseusencouraged his father and loudly boasted that he would master theMinotaur, so that he gave the pilot another sail, a white one, orderinghim, if he returned with Theseus safe, to hoist the white sail, but oth-erwise to sail with the black one, and so indicate the affliction.[5] Simonides, however, says1 that the sail given by Aegeus was notwhite, but “a scarlet sail dyed with the tender flower of luxuriantholm-oak,” and that he made this a token of their safety. Moreover,the pilot of the ship was Phereclus, son of Amarsyas, as Simonidessays; [6] but Philochorus says that Theseus got from Scirus of Sala-mis Nausithous for his pilot, and Phaeax for his look-out man, theAthenians at that time not yet being addicted to the sea, and thatScirus did him this favour because one of the chosen youths, Menes-

thes, was his daughter's son. And there is evidence for this in the me-morial chapels for Nausithous and Phaeax which Theseus built atPhalerum near the temple of Scirus, and they say that the festival ofthe Cybernesia, or Pilot's Festival, is celebrated in their honor.

XVIII. When the lot was cast, Theseus took those upon whom it fellfrom the prytaneium and went to the Delphinium, where he dedicatedto Apollo in their behalf his suppliant's badge. This was a bough fromthe sacred olive-tree, wreathed with white wool. Having made hisvows and prayers, he went down to the sea on the sixth day of themonth Munychion, on which day even now the Athenians still sendtheir maidens to the Delphinium to propitiate the god. [2] And it is re-ported that the god at Delphi commanded him in an oracle to makeAphrodite his guide, and invite her to attend him on his journey, andthat as he sacrificed the usual she-goat to her by the sea-shore, it be-came a he-goat (“tragos”) all at once, for which reason the goddesshas the surname Epitragia.

XIX. When he reached Crete on his voyage, most historians and poetstell us that he got from Ariadne, who had fallen in love with him, thefamous thread, and that having been instructed by her how to makehis way through the intricacies of the Labyrinth, he slew the Minotaurand sailed off with Ariadne and the youths. And Pherecydes says that

Theseus also staved in the bottoms of the Cretan ships, thus deprivingthem of the power to pursue. [2] And Demon says also that Taurus,the general of Minos, was killed in a naval battle in the harbor asTheseus was sailing out. But as Philochorus tells the story,1 Minoswas holding the funeral games, and Taurus was expected to conquerall his competitors in them, as he had done before, and was grudgedhis success. For his disposition made his power hateful, and he wasaccused of too great intimacy with Pasiphae. Therefore when Theseusasked the privilege of entering the lists, it was granted him by Minos.[3] And since it was the custom in Crete for women to view thegames, Ariadne was present, and was smitten with the appearance ofTheseus, as well as filled with admiration for his athletic prowess,when he conquered all his opponents. Minos also was delighted withhim, especially because he conquered Taurus in wrestling and dis-graced him, and therefore gave back the youths to Theseus, besidesremitting its tribute to the city.[4] Cleidemus, however, gives a rather peculiar and ambitious ac-count of these matters, beginning a great way back. There was, hesays, a general Hellenic decree that no trireme should sail from anyport with a larger crew than five men, and the only exception wasJason, the commander of the Argo, who sailed about scouring the seaof pirates. Now when Daedalus fled from Crete in a merchant-vesselto Athens, Minos, contrary to the decrees, pursued him with his ships

of war, and was driven from his course by a tempest to Sicily, wherehe ended his life.2 [5] And when Deucalion, his son, who was on hos-tile terms with the Athenians, sent to them a demand that they deliverup Daedalus to him, and threatened, if they refused, to put to deaththe youth whom Minos had received from them as hostages, Theseusmade him a gentle reply, declining to surrender Daedalus, who washis kinsman and cousin, being the son of Merope, the daughter ofErechtheus. But privately he set himself to building a fleet, part of itat home in the township of Thymoetadae, far from the public road,and part of it under the direction of Pittheus in Troezen, wishing hispurpose to remain concealed. [6] When his ships were ready, he setsail, taking Daedalus and exiles from Crete as his guides, and sincenone of the Cretans knew of his design, but thought the approachingships to be friendly, Theseus made himself master of the harbor, dis-embarked his men, and got to Gnossus before his enemies were awareof his approach. Then joining battle with them at the gate of theLabyrinth, he slew Deucalion and his body-guard. [7] And since Ari-adne was now at the head of affairs, he made a truce with her, re-ceived back the youthful hostages, and established friendship betweenthe Athenians and the Cretans, who took oath never to begin hostilit-ies.

XX. There are many other stories about these matters, and also aboutAriadne, but they do not agree at all. Some say that she hung herselfbecause she was abandoned by Theseus; others that she was conveyedto Naxos by sailors and there lived with Oenarus the priest ofDionysus, and that she was abandoned by Theseus because he lovedanother woman:--

Dreadful indeed was his passion for Aigle child of Panopeus.”1

[2] This verse Peisistratus expunged from the poems of Hesiod, ac-cording to Hereas the Megarian, just as, on the other hand, he insertedinto the Inferno of Homer the verse:--

Theseus, Peirithous, illustrious children of Heaven,

Hom. Od. 11.631

and all to gratify the Athenians. Moreover, some say that Ariadne ac-tually had sons by Theseus, Oenopion and Staphylus, and amongthese is Ion of Chios, who says of his own native city:--

This, once, Theseus's son founded, Oenopion.

Bergk, Poet. Lyr. Gr. ii.4 p. 254.

Now the most auspicious of these legendary tales are in the mouths ofall men, as I may say; but a very peculiar account of these matters ispublished by Paeon the Amathusian. [3] He says that Theseus, drivenout of his course by a storm to Cyprus, and having with him Ariadne,who was big with child and in sore sickness and distress from thetossing of the sea, set her on shore alone, but that he himself, whiletrying to succour the ship, was borne out to sea again. The women ofthe island, accordingly, took Ariadne into their care, and tried to com-fort her in the discouragement caused by her loneliness, brought herforged letters purporting to have been written to her by Theseus, min-istered to her aid during the pangs of travail, and gave her burial whenshe died before her child was born. [4] Paeon says further thatTheseus came back, and was greatly afflicted, and left a sum ofmoney with the people of the island, enjoining them to sacrifice toAriadne, and caused two little statuettes to be set up in her honor, oneof silver, and one of bronze. He says also that at the sacrifice in herhonor on the second day of the month Gorpiaeus, one of their youngmen lies down and imitates the cries and gestures of women in trav-ail; and that they call the grove in which they show her tomb, thegrove of Ariadne Aphrodite.

[5] Some of the Naxians also have a story of their own, that therewere two Minoses and two Ariadnes, one of whom, they say, wasmarried to Dionysus in Naxos and bore him Staphylus and his broth-er, and the other, of a later time, having been carried off by Theseusand then abandoned by him, came to Naxos, accompanied by a nursenamed Corcyne, whose tomb they show; and that this Ariadne alsodied there, and has honors paid her unlike those of the former, for thefestival of the first Ariadne is celebrated with mirth and revels, butthe sacrifices performed in honor of the second are attended with sor-row and mourning.

XXI. On his voyage from Crete, Theseus put in at Delos, and havingsacrificed to the god and dedicated in his temple the image of Aph-rodite which he had received from Ariadne, he danced with his youthsa dance which they say is still performed by the Delians, being an im-itation of the circling passages in the Labyrinth, and consisting of cer-tain rhythmic involutions and evolutions. [2] This kind of dance, asDicaearchus tells us, is called by the Delians The Crane, and Theseusdanced it round the altar called Keraton, which is constructed of horns(“kerata”) taken entirely from the left side of the head. They say thathe also instituted athletic contests in Delos, and that the custom wasthen begun by him of giving a palm to the victors.

XXII. It is said, moreover, that as they drew nigh the coast of Attica,Theseus himself forgot, and his pilot forgot, such was their joy andexultation, to hoist the sail which was to have been the token of theirsafety to Aegeus, who therefore, in despair, threw himself down fromthe rock and was dashed in pieces. But Theseus, putting in to shore,sacrificed in person the sacrifices which he had vowed to the gods atPhalerum when he set sail, and then dispatched a herald to the city toannounce his safe return. [2] The messenger found many of thepeople bewailing the death of their king, and others full of joy at histidings, as was natural, and eager to welcome him and crown himwith garlands for his good news. The garlands, then, he accepted, andtwined them about his herald's staff and on returning to the sea-shore,finding that Theseus had not yet made his libations to the gods, re-mained outside the sacred precincts, not wishing to disturb the sacri-fice. [3] But when the libations were made, he announced the death ofAegeus. Thereupon, with tumultuous lamentation, they went up inhaste to the city. Whence it is, they say, that to this day, at the festivalof the Oschophoria,1 it is not the herald that is crowned, but his her-ald's staff, and those who are present at the libations cry out: “Eleleu!Iou! Iou!” the first of which cries is the exclamation of eager hasteand triumph, the second of consternation and confusion.[4] After burying his father, Theseus paid his vows to Apollo on theseventh day of the month Pyanepsion; for on that day they had come

back to the city in safety. Now the custom of boiling all sorts of pulseon that day is said to have arisen from the fact that the youths whowere brought safely back by Theseus put what was left of their provi-sions into one mess, boiled it in one common pot, feasted upon it, andate it all up together. [5] At that feast they also carry the so-called “ei-resione,” which is a bough of olive wreathed with wool, such asTheseus used at the time of his supplication, and laden with all sortsof fruit-offerings, to signify that scarcity was at an end, and as they gothey sing:--

Eiresione for us brings figs and bread of the richest,brings us honey inpots and oil to rub off from the body,Strong wine too in a beaker, thatone may go to bed mellow.

Some writers, however, say that these rites are in memory of the Her-acleidae,2 who were maintained in this manner by the Athenians; butmost put the matter as I have done.

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