Medea shrieked a fearful shriek, and dashed the cup to the ground, and fled ; and where the wine flowed over the marble pavement the stone bubbled, and crumbled, and hissed, under the fierce venom1 of the draught.

But Medea called her dragon chariot, and sprang into it and fled aloft, away over land and sea; and no man saw her

more.

And geus cried, "What hast thou done?" But Theseus 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 geus 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 Theseus wept on his neck, till they had no strength left to weep more.

Then Ægeus turned to all the people, and cried, "Behold my son, children of

1 Venom, poison.

Cecrops,1 - a better man than his father was before him.'

Who then were mad but the Pallantids, 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 around, around, and sprang forward to Theseus; and Theseus sprang forward to them.

And he cried, "Go in peace, if you will, my cousins; but if not, your blood be on your own heads." But they rushed at him; and then stopped short, and railed him, as curs stop and bark when they rouse a lion from his lair.

But one hurled a lance from the rear rank, which passed close by Theseus's head; and at that Theseus rushed forward, and the fight began indeed. Twenty against 1 Cecrops, fabled ancestor of the Athenians.

one they fought, and yet Theseus beat them all; and those who were left fled down into the town, where the people set on them and drove them out, till Theseus was left alone in the palace with Egeus, his newfound father. But before nightfall all the town came up, with victims,1 and dances, and songs; and they offered sacrifices to Athens, and rejoiced all the night long, because their king had found a noble son, and an heir to his royal house.

CHARLES KINGSLEY.

QUESTIONS FOR STUDY

I

How many times did Theseus try to lift the stone before he succeeded?

What lesson did his mother draw from these repeated failures?

(a) Page 447.- What is the meaning of this sentence?

(b) Page 449. What became of Theseus's mother?

What did the sword and sandals mean to Theseus?

1 Victims, animals to be offered as sacrifices.

Why did not Theseus go directly to Athens? Find out and tell all you can of the adventures of Heracles and Eurystheus.

(c) Page 451.-What is lacking in this sentence? Supply it.

(d) Page 454.- What does this sentence mean? (e) Page 455.- Explain the meaning of these exclamations.

(f) Page 455.-To whom does this phrase refer? Did you ever hear the phrase "the bed of Procrustes"? or the adjective "Procrustean"? What do they mean?

III

Why did the Pallantids look angrily on The

seus?

What was the object of Medea in offering Theseus the cup?

Why does not the author tell us at the outset that Theseus was the son of Ægeus? Why does not Æthra tell Theseus?

What position did the Pallantids hold at court? What do you infer as to the character of Medea?

This story is taken from The Greek Heroes by Charles Kingsley, a popular English clergyman and author (1819– 1875). He wrote poems, novels, and popular scientific works.