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Then with a nod supreme Olympian Jupiter nodded:
Quaked thereat old Earth,- quaked, shuddered the terrified waters,
Ay, and the constellations in Heaven that glitter were jangled.
Straightway like some cloud on the inward vision of Theseus
Dropped oblivion down, enshrouding vows he had cherished,
Hiding away all trace of the solemn behest of his father.

For, as was said before, Ægeus, on the departure of his son for Creta, had given him this command: "If Minerva, goddess of our city, grant thee victory over the Minotaur, hoist on thy return, when first the dear hills of Attica greet thy vision, white canvas to herald thy joy and mine, that mine eyes may see the propitious sign and know the glad day that restores thee safe to me."

...

Even as clouds compelled by urgent push of the breezes
Float from the brow uplift of a snow-envelopèd mountain,
So from Theseus passed all prayer and

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He with a careless heart had aforetime dealt

Ariadne,

Fixed Ariadne that still, still stared where the

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Wounded, revolving in heart her countless mus

ter of sorrows.

$154. Bacchus and Ariadne. -But for the

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deserted daughter of Minos a happier fate was

yet reserved. This island, on which she had been abandoned, was Naxos, loved and especially haunted by Bacchus, where with his train of reeling devotees he was wont to hold high carnival.

Sweeping over the shore, lo, beautiful, blooming Iacchus,1Chorused of Satyrs in dance and of Nysian-born Sileni, —

Seeking fair Ariadne,―afire with

flame of a lover!

Lightly around him leaped Bacchantès, strenuous, frenzied, Nodding their heads, "Euhoe!" to the cry, "Euhoe, O Bacchus!"

Some enwreathed spears of Iacchus madly were waving: Some ensanguined limbs of the bullock, quivering, brandished;

Some

— were twining themselves with sinuous snakes that twisted;

Some with vessels of signs mysterious, passed in procession

Symbols profound that in vain the profane may seek to decipher;
Certain struck with the palms with tapered fingers on timbrels,
Others the tenuous clash of the rounded cymbals awakened;
Brayed with a raucous roar through the turmoil many a trumpet,
Many a stridulous fife went, shrill, barbarian, shrieking.

So the grieving, much-wronged Ariadne was consoled for the loss of her mortal spouse by an immortal lover. The blooming god of the vine wooed and won her. After her death, the golden crown that he had given her was transferred by him to the heavens. As it mounted the ethereal spaces, its gems, growing in brightness, became stars; and still it remains fixed, as a constellation, between the kneeling Hercules and the man that holds the serpent.

1 Catullus, LXIV. Translation, Charles Mills Gayley.

§ 155. The Amazons. As king of Athens, it is said that Theseus undertook an expedition against the Amazons. Assailing them before they had recovered from the attack of Hercules, he carried off their queen Antiope; but they in turn, invading the country of Athens, penetrated into the city itself; and there was fought the final battle in which Theseus overcame them.

§ 156. Theseus and Pirithoüs. A famous friendship between Theseus and Pirithoüs of Thessaly, son of Jupiter, originated in the midst of arms. Pirithoüs had made an irruption into the plain of Marathon, and had carried off the herds of the king of Athens. Theseus went to repel the plunderers. The moment the Thessalian beheld him, he was seized with admiration; and stretching out his hand as a token of peace, he cried, "Be judge thyself, — what satisfaction dost thou require?"—"Thy friendship," replied the Athenian; and they swore inviolable fidelity. Their deeds corresponding to their professions, they continued true brothers in arms. When, accordingly, Pirithoüs was to marry Hippodamia, daughter of Atrax, Theseus took his friend's part in the battle that ensued between the Lapitha (of whom Pirithous was king) and the Centaurs. For it happened that at the marriage feast, the Centaurs were among the guests; and one of them, Eurytion, becoming intoxicated, attempted to offer violence to the bride. Other Centaurs followed his example; combat was joined; Theseus leaped into the fray, and not a few of the guests bit the dust.

Later, each of these friends aspired to espouse a daughter of Jupiter. Theseus fixed his choice on Leda's daughter Helen, then a child, but afterwards famous as the cause of the Trojan war; and with the aid of his friend he carried her off, only, however, to restore her at very short notice. As for Pirithoüs, he aspired to the wife of the monarch of Erebus; and Theseus, though aware of the danger, accompanied the ambitious lover to the underworld. But Pluto seized and set them on an enchanted rock at his palace gate, where, fixed, they remained till Hercules, arriving, liberated Theseus, but left Pirithous to his fate.

§ 157. Phædra and Hippolytus. After the death of Antiope, Theseus married Phædra, sister of the deserted Ariadne, daughter of Minos. But Phædra, seeing in Hippolytus, the son of Theseus, a youth endowed with all the graces and virtues of his father, and of an age corresponding to her own, loved him. When, however, he repulsed her advances, her love was changed to despair and hate. Hanging herself, she left for her husband a scroll containing false charges against Hippolytus. The infatuated husband, filled, therefore, with jealousy of his son, imprecated the vengeance of Neptune upon him. As Hippolytus, one day, drove his chariot along the shore, a sea-monster raised himself above the waters, and frightened the horses so that they ran away and dashed the chariot to pieces. Hippolytus was killed, but by Æsculapius was restored to life; and then removed by Diana from the power of his deluded father, was placed in Italy under the protection of the nymph Egeria.

In his old age, Theseus, losing the favor of his people, retired to the court of Lycomedes, king of Scyros, who at first received him kindly, but afterwards treacherously put him to death.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE HOUSE OF LABDACUS.

§ 158. The Misfortunes of Thebes. Returning to the descendants of Inachus, we find that the curse which fell upon Cadmus when he slew the dragon of Mars followed inexorably every scion of his house. His daughters, Semele, Ino, Autonoë, Agave,- his grandsons, Melicertes, Actæon, Pentheus, -lived sorrowful lives, or suffered violent deaths. The misfortunes of one branch of his family, sprung from his son Polydorus, remain to be told. The curse seemed to have spared Polydorus himself. His son Labdacus, also, lived a quiet life as king of Thebes, and left a son, Laïus upon the throne. But ere long Laïus was warned by an oracle that there was danger to his throne and life if his son, new-born, should reach man's estate. He, therefore, committed the child to a herdsman, with orders for its destruction; but the herdsman, moved with pity, yet not daring entirely to disobey, pierced the child's feet, purposing to expose him to the elements on Mount Citharon.

§ 159. Edipus.1 — In this plight the infant was given to a tender-hearted fellow-shepherd, who carried him to King Polybus of Corinth and his queen, by whom he was adopted and called ŒŒdipus, or Swollen-foot.

Many years afterward, Edipus, learning from an oracle that he was destined to be the death of his father, left the realm of his reputed sire, Polybus. It happened, however, that Laïus was then driving to Delphi, accompanied only by one attendant. In a narrow road he met Edipus, also in a chariot. On the refusal of the youthful stranger to leave the way at their command, the attendant

1 Sophocles, Edipus Rex, Edipus Coloneus, Antigone; Euripides, Phoenissæ; Apollod. 3:5, §§ 7, 8.

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