 Part 2 of Theseus from The Heroes. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Heroes, or Greek fairy tales for my children by Charles Kingsley. Part 2 of Theseus. How Theseus Slew the Devourers of Men. So Theseus stood there alone, with his mind full of many hopes, and first he thought of going down to the harbor and hiring a swift ship, and sailing across the bay to Athens. But even that seemed too slow for him, and he longed for wings to fly across the sea and find his father. But after a while his heart began to fail him, and he sighed and said within himself, What if my father have other sons about him who he loves? What if he will not receive me? And what have I done that he should receive me? He has forgotten me ever since I was born. Why should he welcome me now? Then he thought a long while sadly, and at last he cried aloud, Yes, I will make him love me, for I will prove myself worthy of his love. I will win honour and renown, and do such deeds that Theseus shall be proud of me, though he had fifty other sons. Did not Heracles win himself honour, though he was oppressed and the slave of Eurystheus? Did he not kill all robbers and evil beasts and drain great lakes and marshes, breaking the hills through with his club? Therefore it was that all men honoured him, because he rid them of their miseries, and made life pleasant to them and their children after them. Where can I go to do as Heracles has done? Where can I find strange adventures, robbers and monsters, and the children of hell, the enemies of men? I will go by land, and into the mountains, and round by the way of the Isthmus. Perhaps there I may hear of brave adventures, and do something which shall win my father's love. So he went by land, and away into the mountains, with his father's sword upon his thigh, till he came to the spider mountains which hang over Epidaurus and the sea, where the glens run downward from one peak in the midst as the rays spread in the spider's web. And he went up into the gloomy glens, between the furrowed marble walls, till the lowland grew blue beneath his feet, and the clouds drove damp about his head. But he went up and up forever, through the spider's web of glens, till he could see the narrow gulfs spread below him, north and south and east and west, black cracks half choked with mists, and above all a dreary down. But over that down he must go, for there was no road right or left, so he toiled on through bog and break till he came to a pile of stones. And on the stones a man was sitting, wrapped in a bearskin cloak. The head of the bear served him for a cap, and its teeth grinned white around his brows. And the feet were tied about his throat, and their claws shone white upon his chest. And when he saw Theseus he rose, and laughed till the glens rattled. And who are thou, fair fly, who has walked into the spider's web? But Theseus walked on steadily, and made no answer. But he thought, is this some robber, and has an adventure come already to me? But the strange man laughed louder than ever, and said, bold fly! Know you not that these glens are the web from which no fly ever finds his way out again? And this down the spider's house? And I, the spider who sucks the flies? Come hither, and let me feast upon you, for it is of no use to run away so cunning a web as my father Hephisto's spread for me, when he made these clefs in the mountains, through which no man finds his way home. But Theseus came on steadily, and asked, And what is your name among men, bold spider, and where are your spider's fangs? Then the strange man laughed again. My name is Peraphitis, the son of Hephisto's, and Anticlia the mountain nymph, but men call me Coranites, the club-bearer. And here is my spider's fang, and he lifted from off the stones at his side a mighty club of bronze. This my father gave me, and forged it himself in the roots of the mountain, and with it I pound all proud flies till they give out their fatness and their sweetness. So give me up that gay sword of yours and your mantle and your golden sandals, lest I pound you, and by illuck you die. But Theseus wrapped his mantle round his left arm quickly, in hard folds, from his shoulder to his hand, and drew his sword, and rushed upon the club-bearer, and the club-bearer rushed upon him. Thrice he struck at Theseus, and made him bend under the blows like a sapling. But Theseus guarded his head with his left arm, and the mantle which was wrapped around it. And Thrice Theseus sprang upright after the blow, like a sapling when the storm is past, and he stabbed at the club-bearer with his sword, but the loose folds of the bear-skin saved him. Then Theseus grew mad and closed with him, and caught him by the throat, and they fell and rolled over together, but when Theseus rose up from the ground, the club-bearer lay still at his feet. Then Theseus took his club and his bear-skin, and left him to the kites and crows, and went upon his journey down the glens on the farther slope, till he came to a broad green valley, and saw flocks and herds sleeping beneath the trees. And by the side of a pleasant fountain, under the shade of rocks and trees, were nymphs and shepherds dancing, but no one piped to them while they danced. And when they saw Theseus, they shrieked, and the shepherds ran off and drove away their flocks, while the nymphs dived into the fountain like coots and vanished. Theseus wondered and laughed, what strange fancies have folks here who run away from strangers and have no music when they dance! But he was tired and dusty and thirsty, so he thought no more of them, but drank and bathed in the clear pool, and then lay down in the shade under a plain tree, while the water sang him to sleep as it tinkled down from stone to stone. And when he woke, he heard a whispering, and saw the nymphs peeping at him from across the fountain, from the dark mouth of a cave where they sat on green cushions of moss, and one said, Surely he is not Peraphites, and another he looks like no robber, but a fair and gentle youth. Then Theseus smiled and called them. Fair nymphs, I am not Peraphites, he sleeps among the kites and crows, but I have brought away his bearskin and his club. Then they leapt across the pool and came to him, and called the shepherds back, and he told them how he had slain the club-bearer, and the shepherds kissed his feet and sang, Now we shall feed our flocks in peace, and shall not be afraid to have music when we dance, for the cruel club-bearer has met his match, and he will listen for our pipes no more. Then they brought him kids' flesh and wine, and the nymphs brought him honey from the rocks, and he ate, and drank, and slept again, while the nymphs and shepherds danced and sang. And when he woke, they begged him to stay, but he would not. I have a great work to do, he said, I must be away toward the ifthmus that I may go to Athens. But the shepherds said, Will you go alone toward Athens? None travel that way now except in armed troops. As for arms I have enough, as you see, and as for troops an honest man is good enough company for himself. Why should I not go alone toward Athens? If you do, you must look warily about you on the ifthmus, lest you meet Sinus, the robber, whom men call Petuo Camptis, the pine-bender. For he bends down two pine trees, and binds all travelers hand and foot between them, and when he lets the trees go again, their bodies are torn in sunder. And after that, said another, you must go inland, and not dare to pass over the cliffs of Siron, for on the left hand are the mountains, and on the right the sea, so that you have no escape, but must needs meet Siron the robber, who will make you wash his feet, and while you are washing them, he will kick you over the cliff, to the tortoise who lives below, and feeds on the bodies of the dead. And before Theseus could answer, another cried, and after that is a worse danger still, unless you go inland always and leave Ilusis far on your right, for in Ilusis rules Kerkuan the cruel king, the terror of all mortals, who killed his own daughter Allope in prison. But she was changed into a fair fountain, and her child he cast out upon the mountains, but the wild mares gave it milk. And now he challenges all comers to wrestle him, for he is the best wrestler in all Attica, and overthrows all who come, and those whom he overthrows he murders miserably, and his palace court is full of their bones. Then Theseus frowned and said, This seems indeed an ill-ruled land, and adventures enough in it to be tried, but if I am the heir of it I will rule it and write it, and here is my royal scepter, and he shook his club of bronze, while the nymphs and shepherds clung around him, and entreated him not to go. But on he went, nevertheless, till he could see both the seas and the citadel of Corinth towering high above all the land, and he passed swiftly along the Isthmus, for his heart burned to meet the cruel Sinus, and in a pine wood he at last met him, where the Isthmus was narrowest, and the road ran between high rocks. There he sat upon a stone by the wayside, with a young fir tree for a club across his knees, and a cord laid ready by his side, and over his head upon the fir tops hung the bones of murdered men. Then Theseus shouted to him, Hola, thou valiant pine bender, has thou two fir trees left for me? And Sinus leapt to his feet and answered, pointing to the bones above his head. My larder has grown empty lately, so I have two fir trees ready for thee. And he rushed on Theseus, lifting his club, and Theseus rushed upon him. Then they hammered together till the greenwoods rang, but the metal was tougher than the pine, and Sinus's club broke right across as the bronze came down upon it. Then Theseus heaved up another mighty stroke, and smote Sinus down upon his face, and knelt upon his back, and bound him with his own cord, and said, As thou hast done to others, so shall it be done to thee. Then he bent down two young fir trees, and bound Sinus between them for all his struggling and his prayers, and let them go. And ended Sinus, and went on, leaving him to the hawks and crows. Then he went over the hills toward Megara, keeping close along the Saronic Sea till he came to the cliffs of Siron, and the narrow path between the mountain and the sea. And there he saw Siron sitting by a fountain at the edge of the cliff. On his knees was a mighty club, and he had barred the path with stones, so that everyone must stop who came up. Then Theseus shouted to him, and said, Holah, thou tortoise feeder, do thy feet need washing today? And Siron leapt to his feet, and answered, My tortoise is empty and hungry, and my feet need washing today. And he stood before his barrier, and lifted up his club in both hands. Then Theseus rushed upon him, and sore was the battle upon the cliff. For when Siron felt the weight of the bronze club, he dropped his own, and closed with Theseus, and tried to hurl him by main force over the cliff. But Theseus was a wary wrestler, and dropped his own club, and caught him by the throat, and by the knee, and forced him back against the wall of stones, and crushed him up against them till his breath was almost gone, and Siron cried panting, Loose me, and I will let thee pass. But Theseus answered, I must not pass till I have made the rough way smooth, and he forced him back against the wall till it fell, and Siron rolled head over heels. Then Theseus lifted him up all bruised, and said, Come hither, and wash my feet. He drew his sword, and sat down by the well, and said, Wash my feet, or I cut you piecemeal. And Siron washed his feet, trembling, and when it was done, Theseus rose, and cried, As thou hast done to others, so shall it be done to thee. Go, feed thy tortoise, thy self, and he kicked him over the cliff into the sea. And whether the tortoise ate him, I know not, for some say that earth and sea both disdained to take his body, so foul it was with sin. So the sea cast it out upon the shore, and the shore cast it back into the sea, and at last the waves hurled it high into the air in anger, and it hung there long without a grave till it was changed into a desolate rock which stands there in the surge until this day. This, at least, is true, which Posanias tells, that in the royal porch at Athens he saw the figure of Theseus muddled in clay, and by him Siron the robber falling headlong into the sea. Then he went on a long day's journey past Megara into the Attic land, and high before him rose the snow peaks of Scytheron, all cold above the black pine woods, where haunt the furies, and the raving Baki, and the nymphs who drive men wild far loft upon the dreary mountains, where the storms howl all day long, and on his right hand was the sea always, and Salamis with its inland cliffs, and the sacred strait of the sea fight, where afterwards the Persians fled before the Greeks. So he went all day until the evening, till he saw the Threeacean plain, and the sacred city of Elusis, where the earth mother's temple stands. For there she met Tryptolimus, when all the land lay waste, dimitre the kind earth mother, and in her hands a sheaf of corn. And she taught him to plow the fallows, and to yoke the lazy kind, and she taught him to sow the seed fields, and to reap the golden grain, and sent him forth to teach all nations and give corn to laboring men. So at Elusis all men honour her, whosoever tills the land, her and Tryptolimus her beloved, who gave corn to laboring men. And he went along the plain into Elusis, and stood in the marketplace, and cried, Where is Kirkuan, the king of the city? I must wrestle a fall with him today. Then all the people crowded round him, and cried, Fair youth, why will you die, hasten out of the city before the cruel king hears that a stranger is here? But Theseus went up through the town, while the people wept and prayed, and through the gates of the palace yard, and through the piles of bones and skulls, till he came to the door of Kirkuan's hall, the terror of all mortal men. And there he saw Kirkuan sitting at the table in the hall alone, and before him was a whole sheep roasted, and beside him a whole jar of wine, and Theseus stood and called him, Holah, thou valiant wrestler, will thou wrestle a fall today? And Kirkuan looked up and laughed, and answered, I will wrestle a fall today, but come in, for I am lonely, and thou weary, and eat and drink before thou die. Then Theseus went up boldly and sat down before Kirkuan at the board, and he ate his fill of the sheep's flesh, and drank his fill of the wine, and Theseus ate enough for three men, but Kirkuan ate enough for seven. But neither spoke a word to the other, though they looked across the table by stealth, and each said in his heart, he has broad shoulders, but I trust mine are as broad as his. At last, when the sheep was eaten, and the jar of wine drained dry, King Kirkuan rose and cried, Let us wrestle a fall before we sleep. So they tossed off all their garments, and went forth in the palace yard, and Kirkuan bathed strew fresh sand in an open space between the bones. And there the heroes stood face to face, while their eyes glared like wild bulls, and all the people crowded at the gates to see what would befall. And there they stood, and wrestled, till the stars shone out above their heads, up and down and round, till the sand was stamped hard beneath their feet, and their eyes flashed like stars in the darkness, and their breath went up like smoke in the night air, but neither took nor gave a footstep, and the people watched, silent at the gates. But at last Kirkuan grew angry, and caught Theseus round the neck, and shook him as a mastiff shakes a rat, but he could not shake him off his feet. But Theseus was quick and wary, and clasped Kirkuan round the waist, and slipped his loin quickly underneath him, while he caught him by the wrist. And then he hove a mighty heave, a heave which would have stirred an oak, and lifted Kirkuan, and pitched him right over his shoulder on the ground. Then he leapt on him, and called, yield, or I kill thee! But Kirkuan said no word, for his heart was burst within him with the fall, and the meat, and the wine. Then Theseus opened the gates, and called in all the people, and they cried, You have slain our evil king! Be you now our king, and rule us well! I will be your king in elusis, and I will rule you right and well, for this cause I have slain all evildoers, Sinus and Cyron, and this man last of all. Then an aged man stepped forth, and said, Young hero, hast thou slain Sinus? Beware then of Aegeus, king of Athens, to whom thou goest, for he is near of kin to Sinus. Then I have slain my own kinsmen, said Theseus, though well he deserved to die, who will purge me from his death? For rightfully I slew him, unrighteous and accursed as he was. And the old man answered, That will the heroes do, the sons of Thetalus, who dwell beneath the own tree in Aphidnai by the bank of the silver Cephesus, for they know the mysteries of the gods. Thither you shall go and be purified, and after you shall be our king. So he took an oath of the people of elusis, that they would serve him as their king, and went away next morning, across the Triassian plain, and over the hills toward Aphidnai, that he might find the sons of Thetalus. And as he was skirting the veil of Cephesus, along the foot of lofty Parnes, a very tall and strong man came down to meet him, dressed in rich garments. On his arms were golden bracelets, and round his neck a collar of jewels, and he came forward, bowing courteously, and held out both his hands, and spoke. Welcome, fair youth, to these mountains. Happy am I to have met you, for what greater pleasure to a good man than to entertain strangers. But I see that you are weary. Come up to my castle, and rest yourself awhile. I give you thanks, Senthesius, but I am in haste to go up to the valley and to reach Aphidnai in the veil of Cephesus. Alas, you have wandered far from the right way, and you cannot reach Aphidnai tonight, for there are many miles of mountain between you and it, and steep passes, and cliffs dangerous after nightfall. It is well for you that I met you, for my whole joy is to find strangers, and to feast them at my castle, and hear tales from them of foreign lands. Come up with me, and eat the best of venison, and drink the rich red wine, and sleep upon my famous bed, of which all travellers say that they never saw the like. For whatsoever the stature of my guest, however tall or short, that bed fits him to a hair, and he sleeps on it as he never slept before. And he laid hold on Thesius's hands, and would not let him go. Thesius wished to go forwards, but he was ashamed to seem churlish to so hospitable a man, and he was curious to see that wondrous bed, and besides he was hungry and weary. Yet he shrank from the man, he knew not why, for though his voice was gentle and fawning, it was dry and husky like a toad's. And though his eyes were gentle, they were dull and cold like stones. But he consented, and went with the man up a glen which led from the road towards the peaks of Parnes under the dark shadow of the cliffs. And as they went up, the glen grew narrower and the cliffs higher and darker, and beneath them a torrent roared, half seen between the bare limestone crags, and around there was neither tree nor bush, while from the white peaks of Parnes the snowblasts swept down the glen, cutting and chilling till a horror fell on Thesius as he looked round at that doleful place, and he asked at last, your castle stands, it seems, in a dreary region. Yes, but once within it hospitality makes all things cheerful. But who are these? And he looked back, and Thesius also, and far below along the road which they had left, came a string of laden asses, and merchants walking by them, watching their wear. Ah, poor souls, said the stranger, well for them that I looked back and saw them, and well for me too, for I shall have the more guests at my feast. Wait a while till I go down and call them, and we will eat and drink together the live long night. Happy am I to whom Heaven sends so many guests at once! And he ran back down the hill, waving his hand and shouting to the merchants while Thesius went slowly up the steep pass. But as he went up he met an aged man who had been gathering driftwood in the torrent bed. He had laid down his faggot on the road, and was trying to lift it again to his shoulder, and when he saw Thesius he called to him and said, Oh, fair youth, help me up with my burden, for my limbs are stiff and weak with years. Then Thesius lifted the burden on his back, and the old man blessed him, and then looked earnestly upon him and said, Who are you, fair youth, and wherefore travel you this doleful road? Who I am my parents know, but I travel this doleful road because I have been invited by a hospitable man who promises to feast me, and to make me sleep upon I know not what wondrous bed. Then the old man clapped his hands together and cried, Oh, house of Hades, man devouring, will thy maw never be full? No, fair youth, that you are going to torment and to death, for he who met you, I will requite your kindness by another, is a robber and a murderer of men. Whatsoever stranger he meets he entices him hither to death, and as for this bed of which he speaks, truly it fits all comers, yet none ever rose alive off it, save me. Why, asked Thesius, astonished, because if a man be too tall for it, he lops his limbs till they be short enough, and if he be too short, he stretches his limbs till they be long enough. But me only he spared, seven weary years are gone, for I alone of all fitted his bed exactly, so he spared me, and made me his slave. And once I was a wealthy merchant, and dwelt in brazen gated thieves, but now I hue wood and draw water for him, the torment of all mortal men. Then Thesius said nothing, but he ground his teeth together. Escape then, said the old man, for he will have no pity on thy youth, but yesterday he brought up hither a young man and a maiden, and fitted them upon his bed, and the young man's hands and feet he cut off, but the maiden's limbs he stretched until she died, and so both perished miserably. But I am tired of weeping over the slain, and therefore he is called Procrustes the Stretcher, though his father called him Damastes. Flea from him, yet whither will you flea? The cliffs are steep, and who can climb them, and there is no other road. But Thesius laid his hand upon the old man's mouth, and said, there is no need to flea, and he turned to go down the pass. Do not tell him that I have warned you, or he will kill me by some evil death, and the old man screamed after him down the glen. But Thesius strode on in his wrath, and he said to himself, this is an ill-ruled land. When shall I have done ridding it of monsters? And as he spoke, Procrustes came up the hill, and all the merchants with him smiling and talking gaily, and when he saw Thesius he cried, Ah fair young guest, have I kept you too long waiting? But Thesius answered, The man who stretches his guests upon a bed, and hues off their hands and feet what shall be done to him when right is done throughout the land. Then Procrustes' countenance changed, and his cheeks grew as green as a lizard, and he fell for his sword in haste, but Thesius leapt upon him and cried, Is this true, my host, or is it false? And he clasped Procrustes' round waist and elbow, so that he could not draw his sword. Is this true, my host, or is it false? But Procrustes never answered a word. Then Thesius flung him from him, and lifted up his dreadful club, and before Procrustes could strike him he had struck and felled him to the ground, and once again he struck him, and his evil soul fled forth, and went down to Hades, squeaking like a bat into the darkness of a cave. Then Thesius stripped him of his gold ornaments, and went up to his house, and found there great wealth and treasure, which he had stolen from passers-by, and he called the people of the country whom Procrustes had spoiled a long time, and parted the spoil among them, and went down the mountains and away. And he went down the glens of Parnes, through mist and cloud and rain, down the slopes of oak and lentus, and arbitus and fragrant bay, till he came to the Vale of Cephisus, and the pleasant town of Aphidnae, and the home of the fatalid heroes, where they dwelt beneath a mighty elm. And there they built an altar and bathed him in Cephisus, and offered a yearling ram, and purified him from the blood of Sinus, and sent him away in peace. And he went down the valley by Acarnae, and by the silver swirling stream, while all the people blessed him for the fame of his prowess had spread wide, till he saw the plain of Athens, and the hill where Athene dwells. So Thesius went up through Athens, and all the people ran out to see him, for his fame had gone before him, and a few of his mighty deeds. And all cried, Here comes the hero who slew Sinus, and fire the wild sow of Chromion, and conquered Kirkuan and wrestling, and slew Procrustes the pitiless. But Thesius went on sadly and steadfastly, for his heart yearned after his father, and he said, How shall I deliver him from these leeches who suck his blood? So he went up the holy stairs, and into the Acropolis, where Aegius's palace stood, and he went straight into Aegius's hall, and stood upon the threshold, and looked round, and there he saw his cousin sitting around the table at the wine, many a son of palace, but no Aegius among them. There they sat and feasted, and laughed, and passed the wine-cup round, while harpers harped, and slave-girls sang, and the tumblers showed their tricks. Loud laughed the sons of palace, and fast went the wine-cup round, but Thesius frowned, and said under his breath, No wonder that the land is full of robbers. Well, such is these bear rule. Then the palented saw him, and called to him, half drunk with wine, Holla, tall stranger at the door! What is your will today? I come hither to ask for hospitality. Then take it, and welcome! You look like a hero and a bold warrior, and we like such to drink with us. I ask no hospitality of you. I ask it of Aegius, the king, the master of this house. At that some growled, and some laughed, and some shouted, Hey there, we are all masters here. Then I am master as much as the rest of you, said Thesius, and he strode past the table, up the hall, and looked round for Aegius, where to be seen. The palented looked at him, and then at each other, and each whispered to the man next to him. This is a forward fellow. He ought to be thrust out at the door. But each man's neighbor whispered in return, His shoulders are broad. Will you rise and put him out? So they all sat still where they were. Then Thesius called to the servants and said, Go tell King Aegius your master is here and asks to be his guest for a while. A servant ran and told Aegius where he sat in his chamber within by Medea, the dark witch woman, watching her eye and hand. And when Aegius heard of Troy Zene he turned pale and red again and rose from his seat trembling while Medea watched him like a snake. What is Troy Zene to you? she asked. But he said hastily do you not know who this Thesius is? The hero who has cleared the country from all monsters but had he came from Troy Zene I never heard before. I must go out and welcome him. So Aegius came out into the hall and when Thesius saw him his heart leaped into his mouth and he longed to fall on his neck and welcome him but he controlled himself and said my father may not wish for me after all I will try him before I discover myself and he bowed low before Aegius and said I have delivered the king's realm from many monsters therefore I am come to ask a reward of the king and old Aegius looked on him and loved him as what Fondheart would not have done but he only sighed and said it is little that I can give you noble lad and nothing that is worthy of you for surely you are no mortal man and at least no mortal's son all I ask said Thesius is to eat and drink at your table that I can give you said Aegius if at least I am master in my own hall then he bade them put a seat for Thesius and set before him the best of the feast and Thesius sat and ate so much that all the company wondered at him but always he kept his club by his side but Medea the dark witch woman had been watching him all the while and Aegius turned red and pale when the lad said he came from Trezzini she saw too how his heart was opened toward Thesius and how Thesius bore himself before all the sons of palace like a lion among a pack of currs and she said to herself this youth will be master here perhaps he is nearer to Aegius already than mere fancy at least the palanteds will have no chance by the side of such as he then she went back into her chamber modestly while Thesius ate and drank and all the servants whispered this then is the man who killed the monsters how noble are his looks and how huge his size ah would that he were our master's son but presently Medea came forth decked in all her jewels and her rich eastern robes and looking more beautiful than the day so that all the guests had nothing else and in her right hand she held a golden cup and in her left a flask of gold and she came up to Thesius and spoke in a sweet soft winning voice hail to the hero the conqueror the unconquered the destroyer of all evil things drink hero of my charmed cup which gives rest after every toil heals all wounds and pours new life into the veins drink of my cup for in it sparkles the wine of the east and Nepenthe the comfort of the immortals and as she spoke she poured the flask into the cup and the fragrance of the wine spread through the hall like the scent of thyme and roses and Thesius looked up in her fair face and into her deep dark eyes and as he looked he shrank and shuddered for they were dry like the eyes of a snake and he rose and said the wine is rich and fragrant and the wine bearer as fair as the immortals but let her pledge me first herself in the cup that the wine may be the sweeter from her lips then Medea turned pale and cried forgive me fair hero but I am ill and dare drink no wine and Thesius looked again into her eyes and cried thou shalt pledge me in that cup or die and he lifted up his brazen club while all the guests looked on aghast Medea shrieked a fearful shriek and dashed the cup to the ground and fled and flowed over the marble pavement the stone bubbled and crumbled and hissed under the fierce venom of the draft but Medea called her dragon chariot and sprang into it and fled aloft away over the land and sea and no man saw her more and Egeus cried what hast thou done but Thesius pointed to the stone I have rid the land of an enchantment now I will rid it of one more and he came close to Egeus and drew from his bosom the sword and the sandals and said the words which his mother bade him and Egeus stepped back a pace and looked at the lad till his eyes grew dim and then he cast himself on his neck and wept and Thesius wept upon his neck till they had no strength left to weep more and Egeus turned to all the people and cried behold my son children of sea crops a better man than his father was before him who then were mad but the palanteds though they had been mad enough before and one shouted shall we make room for an upstart a pretender who comes from we know not where and another if he be one we are more than one and the stronger can hold his own and one shouted one thing and one another for they were hot and wild with wine but all caught swords and lances off the wall where the weapons hung round and sprang forward to Thesius and Thesius sprang forward to them and he cried go in peace if you will my cousins but if not your blood will be on your own heads they rushed at him and then stopped short and railed him as currs stop and bark when they rouse a lion from his lair but one hurled a lance from the rear rank which passed close by Thesius's head and at that Thesius rushed forward and the fight began indeed twenty against one they fought and yet Thesius beat them all and those who were left fled down into the town where the people sat on them and drove them out till Thesius was left alone in the palace with Aegius his new found father but before nightfall all the town came up with victims and dances and songs and they offered sacrifices to Athene and rejoiced all the night long because their king had found a noble son and an heir to his royal house so Thesius stayed with his father all the winter and when the spring equinox drew near all the Athenians grew sad and silent and Thesius saw it and asked the reason but no one would answer him a word then he went to his father and asked him but Aegius turned away his face and wept do not ask my son beforehand about evils which must happen it is enough to have to face them when they come when the spring equinox came a herald came to Athens and he remarked and cried oh people and king of Athens where is your yearly tribute then a great lamentation arose throughout the city but Thesius stood up to the herald and cried and who are you dog faced who dared a man tribute here if I did not reverence your herald's staff I would brain you with this club and the herald answered proudly for he was a grave fair youth I am not dog faced or shameless but I do my masters bidding Minos the king of hundred cityed Crete the wisest of all kings on earth and you must surely be a stranger here or you would know why I come and that I come by right I am a stranger here tell me then why you come to fetch the tribute which king Aegius promised to Minos and confirmed his promise with an oath for Minos conquered all this land and Megara which lies to the east when he came hither with a great fleet of ships enraged about the murder of his son for his son Androgios came hither to the Panathenaic games and overcame all the Greeks in the sports so that the people honoured him as a hero but when Aegius saw his valor he envied him to join the sons of Pallas and take away the scepter from him so he plotted against his life and slew him basely no man knows how or where some say that he waylaid him at Oinoi on the road which goes to Thebes and some say that he sent him against the bull of Marathon that the beast might kill him but Aegius says that the young men killed him from Envy because he had conquered them in the games so Minos came hither and would not depart till this land had promised him tribute seven youths and seven maidens every year who go with me in a black sailed ship till they come to Hundred City Crete and Theseus ground his teeth together and said work thou not a herald I would kill thee for saying such things of my father but I will go to him and know the truth so he went to his father but he turned away his head and wept and said blood was shed in the land unjustly and by blood it is avenged break not my heart by questions it is enough to endure in silence then Theseus groaned inwardly and said I will go myself with these youths and maidens and kill Minos upon his royal throne and Heegis shrieked and cried you shall not go my son the light of my old age to whom alone I look to rule this people after I am dead and gone you shall not go to die horribly as those youths and maidens die for Minos thrusts them into a labyrinth which Dedalus made for him among the rocks Dedalus the renegade the accursed the pest of this his native land from that labyrinth no one can escape and tangled in its winding ways before they meet the Minotaur the monster who feeds upon the flesh of men there he devours them horribly and they never see this land again then Theseus grew red and his ears tingled and his heart beat loud in his bosom and he stood a while like a stone pillar in the cliffs above some hero's grave and at last he spoke therefore all the more I will go with them and slay the accursed beast have I not slain all evildoers and monsters that I might free this land where are Paraphites and Sinus and Kerkuan and Faia the wild sow where are the fifty sons of Pallas and this Minotaur shall go the road which they have gone and Minos himself if he dares stay me but how will you slay him my son for you must leave your club and armor behind and be cast to the monster defenseless and naked like the rest and Theseus said are there no stones in that labyrinth and have I not fists and teeth did I need my club to kill Kerkuan the terror of all mortal men then Aegius clung to his knees but he would not hear and at last he let him go weeping bitterly and said only this one word promise me this if you return in peace though that may hardly be take down the black sail of the ship for I shall watch for it all day upon the cliffs and hoist instead a white sail that I may know a far off that you are safe and Theseus promised and went out and to the marketplace where the Herald stood while they drew lots for the youths and maidens who were to sail in that doleful crew and the people stood wailing and weeping as the lot fell on this one and on that but Theseus strode into the midst and cried here is a youth who needs no lot I myself will be one of the seven and the Herald asked and wonder where a youth know you wither you are going and Theseus said I know let us go down to the black sail ship so they went down to the black sail ship seven maidens and seven youths and Theseus before them all and the people following them lamenting but Theseus whispered to his companions have hope for the monster is not immortal where are Peraphites and Sinus and Cyron and all whom I have slain their hearts were comforted a little but they wept as they went on board and the cliffs of Sunium rang and all the aisles of the Aegean Sea with the voice of their lamentation as they sailed on toward their deaths in Crete end of part two of Theseus recording by Tisto T-Y-S-T-O dot com part three of Theseus from the heroes This is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Lizzie Driver the heroes or Greek fairy tales from my children by Charles Kingsley part three of Theseus how Theseus slew the Minotaur and at last they came to Crete and to Sinosus beneath the peaks of Ida and the palace of Minos the Great King to whom Zeus himself taught laws so he was the wisest of all mortal kings and conquered all the Aegean Isles and his ships were as many as the seagulls and his palace like a marble hill and he sat among the pillars of the hall upon his throne of beaten gold and around him stood the speaking statues which Diadolos had made by his skill for Diadolos was the most cunning of all Athenians and he first invented the plum-line and the auger and glue and many a tall with which wood is wrought and he first set up masts and ships and yards and his son made sails for them but Perdix his nephew excelled him for he first invented the saw in its teeth copying it from the backbone of a fish and invented to the chisel and the compass and the potter's wheel which moulds the clay therefore Diadolos envied him and hurled him headlong from the temple of Athena but the goddess pitied him for she loves the wise and changed him into a partridge which flits forever about the hills and Diadolos fled to Crete to Minos and worked for him many a year till he did a shameful deed at which the sun hid his face on high then he fled from the anger of Minos he and Icarus his son having made themselves wings of feathers and fixed the feathers with wax so they flew over the sea towards Sicily but Icarus flew too near the sun and the wax of his wings was melted and he fell into the Icarian sea but Diadolos came safe to Sicily and there wrought many a wanderer to Icarus' work for he made for King Cocolos a reservoir from which a great river watered all the land and a castle and a treasury on a mountain which the giants themselves could not have stormed and in Salinos he took the steam which comes up from the fires of Etna and made of it a warm bath of vapor to cure the pains of mortal men and he made a honeycomb of gold in which the bees came and stored the honey and made the forecourt of the temple of Hephaestus in Memphis and a statue of himself within it and many another wondrous work and for Minos he made statues which spoke and moved and the temple of Britomatis and the dancing hall of Eredeni which he carved of fair white stone and in Sardinia he worked for Aeolius and in many a land beside wandering up and down forever with his cunning unlovely and accursed by men but Thesias stood before Minos and they looked each other in the face and Minos Bey take them to prison and cast them to the monster one by one that the death of Androgyus might be avenged then Thesias cried a boon oh Minos let me be thrown first to the beast for I came hither for that very purpose of my own will and not by lot who art thou then brave youth I am the son of him whom all of men thou hate is most Aegeus the king of Athens and I am come here to end this matter and Minos pondered a while looking steadfastly at him and he thought the lad means to atone by his own death for his father's sin and he answered at last mildly go back in peace my son it is a pity that one so brave should die but Thesias said I have sworn that I will not go back till I have seen the monster face to face and that Minos frowned and said then thou shalt see him take the madman away and they led Thesias away into the prison with the other youths and maids but Erieddoni, Minos's daughter saw him as she came out of a white stone hall and she loved him for his courage and his majesty and said I am the son of Minos I am the son of Minos and she loved him for his courage and his majesty and said shame that such a youth should die and by night she went down to the prison and told him all her heart and said flee down to your ship at once for I have bribed the guards before the door flee you and all your friends and go back in peace to Greece and take me, take me with you for I dare not stay after you are gone for my father will kill me miserably if he knows what I have done and Thesias stood silent a while for he was astonished and confounded by her beauty but at last he said I cannot go home in peace till I have seen and slain this Minotaur and avenge the deaths of the youths and maidens and put an end to the terrors of my land and will you kill the Minotaur how then I know not nor do I care but he must be strong if he be too strong for me then she loved him all the more and said but when you have killed him how will you find your way out of the labyrinth I know not neither do I care but it must be a strange road if I do not find it out before I have eaten up the monsters carcass then she loved him all the more and said fair youth you are too bold but I can help you weak as I am I will give you a sword and with that perhaps you may slay the beast and a clue of thread and by that perhaps you may find your way out again only promise me that if you escape safe you will take me home with you to Greece for my father will surely kill me if he knows what I have done then Thesias laughed and said am I not safe enough now and he hid the sword in his bosom and rolled up the clue in his hand and then he swore to Eridine and fell down before her and kissed her hands and feet and she wept over him a long while and then went away and Thesias lay down and slept sweetly and when the evening came the guards came in and led him away to the labyrinth and he went down into that doleful gulf through winding paths among the rocks under caverns and arches and galleries and over heaps of fallen stone and he turned on the left hand and on the right hand and went up and down till his head was dizzy but all the while he held his clue for when he went in he had fastened it to a stone and left it to unravel out of his hand as he went on and it lasted him till he met the minotaur in a narrow chasm between black cliffs and when he saw him he stopped a while for he had never seen so strange a beast his body was a man's but his head was the head of a bull and his teeth were the teeth of a lion and with them he tore his prey and when he saw Thesias he roared and put his head down and rushed right at him but Thesias stepped aside nimbly and as he passed by cut him in the knee and ere he could turn in the narrow path he followed him and stagged him again and again from behind till the monster fled bellowing wildly for he never before had felt a wound and Thesias followed him at full speed holding the clue of thread in his left hand then on through cavern after cavern under dark ribs of sounding stone and up rough glens and torrent beds among the sunless roots of Ida and to the edge of the eternal snow went they the hunter and the hunted while the hills bellowed to the monster's bellow and at last Thesias came up with him where he lay panting on a slab among the snow and caught him by the horns and forced his head back and drove the keen sword through his throat then he turned and went limping back and weary feeling his way down by the clue of the thread till he came to the mouth of that doleful place and saw waiting for him whom but a radony and he whispered it is done and showed to the sword and she laid her finger on her lips and led him to the prison and opened the doors and set all the prisoners free while the guards lay sleeping heavily for she had silenced them with wine then they fled to their ship together and leapt on board and hoisted up the sail and the night lay dark around them so that they passed through minus his ships and escaped all safe to Naxos and their aridine became Thesias's wife end of part 3 of Thesias part 4 of Thesias from the Heroes this is the LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Lizzie Driver the Heroes or Greek fairy tales for my children by Charles Kingsley part 3 of Thesias how Thesias fell by his pride but that fair radony never came to Athens with her husband some say that Thesias left her sleeping on Naxos among the Cyclades and that Dionysus the wine king found her and took her up into the sky as you shall see some day in a painting of old Titans one of the most glorious pictures upon earth and some say that Dionysus drove Thesias away and took a radony from him by force but however that may be in his haste or in his grief Thesias forgot to put up the white sail now Adias his father sat and watched on sunny him day after day and strained his old eyes across the sea to see the ship afar and when he saw the black sail and not the white one he gave up Thesias for dead and in his grief he fell into the sea and died so it is called the Aegean to this day and now Thesias was king of Athens and he guarded it and ruled it well for he killed the bull of Marathon which had killed Androgius minus his son and he drove back the famous Amazons the war like women of the east when they came from Asia and conquered all Helias and broke into Athens itself but Thesias stopped them there and conquered them and took apolita their queen to be his wife then he went out to fight against the Lepithia and Perthus their famous king but when the two heroes came face to face they loved each other and embraced and became noble friends so that the friendship of Thesias and Perthus is a proverb even now and he gathered so the Athenians say all the boroughs of the land together and knit them into one strong people while before they were all parted and weak and many another wise thing he did so that his people honoured him after he was dead for many a hundred years as the father of their freedom and their laws and six hundred years after his death in the famous fight at Marathon men said that they saw the ghost of the city brazen club fighting in the van of battle against the invading Persians for the country which he loved and twenty years after Marathon his bones they say were found in Scyros and are all beyond the sea and they were bigger than the bones of mortal men so the Athenians brought them home in triumph and all the people came out to welcome them and they built over them a noble temple and adorned it with sculptures and all the noble deeds of Theseus and the centaurs and the Lepithae and the Amazons and the ruins of it are still standing but why did they find his bones in Scyros why did he not die in peace at Athens and sleep by his father's side because after his triumph he grew proud and broke the laws of God and man and one thing worst of all he did which brought him to his grave with sorrow for he went down they say beneath the earth with that bold friend Perathus his friend to help him to carry off Persephone the queen of the world below but Perathus was killed miserably in the dark fire kingdoms underground and Theseus was chained to a rock in everlasting pain and there he sat for years till Hercules the mighty came down to bring up the three headed dog who sits at Pluto's gate so Hercules loosed him from his chain and brought him up to the light once more but when he came back his people had forgotten him and Castor and Polyjusus the sons of the wondrous swan had invaded his land and carried off his mother Aethra for a slave in revenge for a grievous wrong so the fair land of Athens was wasted and another king ruled it who drove out Theseus shamefully and he fled across the sea to Scouros and there he lived in sadness in the house of Locomedes the king till Locomedes killed him by treachery and there was an end of all his labours so it is still my children and so it will be to the end in those old Greeks and in us all all strength and virtue come from God but if men grow proud and self-willed and misuse God's fair gifts he lets them go their own ways and fall pitifully that the glory may be his alone God help us all and give us wisdom and courage to do noble deeds but God keep pride from us when we have done them lest we fall and come to shame end of part four of Theseus end of the heroes or Greek fairy tales from my children by Charles Kingsley