Mythology

who built the strange temple-towers known as ‘ziqqurats’ which are such a characteristic feature of their cities. Their language was of the type known as agglutinative, and its linguistic affiliations are uncertain. Their remains, as illustrated, for example, by Sir Leonard Woolley’s excavation of Ur, show a highly developed civilization of an agricultural type, with splendid temples, priests, laws, literature, and a rich mythology. At an early date, but probably later than the Sumerian settlement of the delta of the Tigris-Euphrates, the first wave of Semitic invasion entered the region of Sumer and Akkad, gradually conquered the Sumerians, absorbed their culture, and adopted their cuneiform script, but not their language. The language of the Semitic invaders is known as Akkadian, and is one of the important branches of the great Semitic family of languages of which Arabic is the ancestor. The second wave of Semitic invasion by a people known as Amurru, or Amorites, resulted in the foundation of the first Amorite dynasty in Babylon, and the rise of Babylon under Hammurabi to the hegemony of Sumer and Akkad. The date of the first king of the Amorite dynasty has been assigned to about 2200 B.C. About 500 years later another Semitic people who had settled higher up the Tigris valley, between the upper and lower Zab, conquered Babylon and established the first Assyrian empire in Mesopotamia. Hence the mythology of Mesopotamia has come to us in Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian forms, and while there is little difference between the Babylonian and Assyrian forms of any particular myth, there are very considerable differences between, for example, the Sumerian and the Assyro-Babylonian form of the Creation myth. Moreover, some curious Sumerian myths have no Semitic counterpart. We shall begin our account of Mesopotamian mythology with the Sumerian material. Sumerian Myths Among the great mass of mythological material which is now available through the devoted labours of Sumerologists, three types of myth appear whose distribution is so widespread that they might justly be called basic myths. It is clear that, although these three basic myths appear in Semitic mythology, their origin is Sumerian, hence we shall begin our account of Sumerian myths with them. The Myth of Dumuzi and Inanna The first of these myths has long been known as the descent of Ishtar into the underworld and existed in a fragmentary form; but as the result of Professor Kramer’s skilled labours it is now known in a complete form as the myth of Dumuzi and Inanna. Dumuzi is the Sumerian form of the more familiar name Tammuz, while Inanna is similarly the Sumerian equivalent of the Semitic Ishtar, the queen of heaven. Dumuzi is the prototype of all the vegetation gods who die and rise again with the rebirth of vegetation in the spring. In the form of the myth underlying the Tammuz liturgies, the imprisonment of the god in the underworld is a principal motive of the myth and is the cause of Inanna’s descent into the underworld. But in the earliest form of the myth as given by Kramer in The Ancient Near Eastern Texts relating to the Old Testament the reason for the descent of the goddess is not given. The form of the myth here related follows Kramer’s version. [1] For reasons unknown, Inanna, the queen of heaven, decides to go down into the nether world, the ‘land of no return’, ruled over by her sister, the goddess Ereshkigal. Kramer suggests that the motive may have been ambition, the desire to bring the nether world under her dominion. To provide against any disasters that may happen to her in the nether world, Inanna instructs

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her vizier, Ninshubur, that if she does not return in three days he is to perform mourning rites for her, and to go in turn to the three high gods, Enlil of Nippur, Nanna the moon-god of Ur, and Enki, the Babylonian god of wisdom, in Eridu, and entreat them to intervene on her behalf that she may not be put to death in the nether world. Then Inanna puts on her queenly apparel and her jewels, and approaches the gate of the nether world. There she is challenged by Neti, the gate-keeper of the seven gates. By the orders of Ereshkigal and in accordance with the laws of the nether world, Inanna, as she passes through the seven gates, is stripped of an item of her apparel at each gate; she is brought before Ereshkigal and the Anunnaki, the seven judges of the nether world. They turn ‘the eyes of death’ upon her and she is turned into a corpse and hung upon a stake. After three days, as she does not return, Ninshubur does as he was directed by Inanna. Enlil and Nanna refuse to intervene, but Enki performs certain magical operations by which Inanna is restored to life. Out of dirt from his finger-nail he creates two strange creatures, the kurgarru and the kalaturru, the meaning of whose names is unknown, and sends them to the nether world with the food of life and the water of life. They are told to sprinkle the food of life and the water of life sixty times upon the corpse of Inanna. They do so and the goddess is restored to life. It is a law of the nether world that no one may return from thence without providing a substitute. Hence the myth goes on to describe the ascent of Inanna to the land of the living accompanied by demons who are to carry back to the nether world the substitute whom she provides. First Ninshubur, then Shara the god of Umma, and then Latarak the god of Badtibira are in turn claimed by the demons and rescued by Inanna. Here the text as given in The Ancient Near Eastern Texts breaks off, but Kramer adds in a footnote to his introductory summary of the myth a surprising addition recently discovered. According to this fragment of the myth, Inanna and her escort of demons come to her own city of Erech and there find her husband Dumuzi. He does not humble himself before her as the other three had done, and she therefore hands him over to the demons to be carried off to the nether world. Dumuzi entreats Utu, the sun-god, to deliver him, and here the fragment breaks off. Hence we do not know whether, in the original Sumerian form of the myth, Dumuzi, who is Tammuz, was carried away by the demons into the nether world. This is the first of the three basic myths referred to above in its Sumerian form. It is possible that the Sumerians brought the myth with them when they settled in the delta, and that this is its earliest form. In this form Inanna does not descend into the nether world to bring back her husband/brother Dumuzi, or Tammuz, from death. On the contrary and against all later conceptions of the myth, it is manna who allows the demons to carry off Dumuzi to the nether world as her substitute, while the reason for her own descent is left unexplained. Nevertheless, the Tammuz-liturgies [2] which belong to the Sumerian period already show the later form of the myth. They describe the chaos and desolation which fall upon the land when Tammuz goes down into the nether world; they describe Ishtar’s lamentation and her descent into the nether world to rescue Tammuz from its powers; and they conclude with a description of the triumphant return of Tammuz to the land of the living. It is also clear that the liturgies form part of a seasonal ritual, and hence that the myth may rightly be classed as a ritual myth. A possible reason for the change in the original form of the myth may be found in the fact that the Sumerians, incoming into the delta, were passing from a pastoral economy to an agricultural mode of life. In the liturgies Tammuz and Ishtar are frequently represented under the figure of the male and female fir-tree, and the fir-tree is not found in the Tigris-Euphrates delta, but belongs to the mountainous region from which the

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myth is to express in symbolical terms, by means of images, what cannot be otherwise put into human speech. Here myth has become an expansion of symbolism. The Diffusion And Disintegration Of Myths There are two ways in which the presence of myths in any society may be explained; one is by way of diffusion, and the other is through the independent working of imagination when confronted by similar situations. Usener’s researches have shown that the myth of the Flood is to be found in almost every part of the world. We shall see when we come to deal with the Sumerian and Babylonian forms of the Flood myth that its presence in the region of the Tigris-Euphrates valley can be explained as due to the periodical occurrence there of disastrous floods. But when we find the Flood myth in countries where such floods are not possible, as in Greece or Canaan, for instance, it becomes clear that the myth has been brought there from the place of its origin, even if it is no longer possible to trace the method of diffusion. An example of the way in which myths might travel from their source is furnished by the discovery in Egypt of a cuneiform tablet containing the Babylonian myth of Adapa, with which we shall deal later. The tablet had been used by Egyptian scribes for the purpose of learning cuneiform. A similar instance occurred when a fragment of the myth of Gilgamesh was discovered during the American excavation of Megiddo. The legend of Cadmus tells us how the Phoenician alphabet was carried to Greece and became the parent of all our Western alphabets. Thus there are reasonable grounds for assuming that travel, trade movements, migrations of peoples, arid invasions were a means of diffusion by which myths might be carried from one country to another. It can be observed that rituals decayed and disappeared, or were transformed with the decay of the civilization in which they had played such an important part. Then we find that the myths attached to the decaying rituals were freed from their ritual associations and became literary forms, passing into the traditions of other peoples. For example, the myth of the slaying of the dragon which is, as we shall see, a central element in the Babylonian myth of Creation has given birth to the legends of Perseus and Andromeda, Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra, Siegfried and Fafnir, Beowulf and Grendel, and still survives in the mummers’ play of St George and the Dragon. ———————————– Mesopotamian Myths Chapter 1 Before we begin to give an account of the most important myths which have their origin in Mesopotamia, something should be said about the early cultural conditions out of which the myths which we are to examine came into existence in that part of the ancient Near East. Archaeological excavation of the sites of the ancient cities in the Tigris-Euphrates valley has shown that this region, known as Sumer and Akkad, was inhabited as early as 4,000 B.C. by a people known as the Sumerians. Some scholars are of the opinion that there are traces of an earlier settlement but it is certain that the fully developed civilization revealed by excavation of such sites as Ur, Erech, and Kish was the work of the Sumerians. They appear to have come into the delta from the mountainous region to the north-east of Mesopotamia, and their myths show that they came from a very different kind of country from that which they found in their new home. The form of writing called cuneiform was their invention, and it was they

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the Feast of Passover this event was celebrated with a ritual whose origin was far older than the historical event thus commemorated. Accompanying the ritual was the cult myth describing the event, not in historical terms, but in terms borrowed in part from Babylonian and Canaanite-myth. The function of the cult myth was to confirm the covenant relation between Yahweh and Israel, and to magnify the power and glory of Yahweh. In this new use of the myth it was divested of the magical potency which it had possessed in the ritual myth. We can see the cult myth still further developed in the prophetic use of it as a means of presenting the conception of ’salvation-history’ to Israel. The myth still describes a situation, and still has the function of securing the continuance of the situation, no longer by magical, but by moral force. The function of the myth has been lifted to a higher plane in the cult myth as we see it employed by the prophets of Israel. The Prestige Myth There is a form of the myth, distinct from any of the foregoing, which calls for notice. Its function is to invest the birth and exploits of a popular hero with an aura of mystery and wonder. While the story of the birth and exposure of Moses in an ark of bulrushes. on the Nile may ‘ rest upon historical tradition, it can be paralleled by similar stories relating to Sargon, Cyrus, Romulus and Remus, and other heroes of popular imagination. The birth and exploits of the Danite hero, Samson, are related in mythical terms intended to glorify the tribe of Dan and its hero. It may be remarked in passing that the attempt to find a sun-myth in the story of Samson is generally discredited. The stories of the exploits of Elijah and Elisha fall into the same category, although in this case the motive of magnifying the glory of Yahweh is also present. Prestige myths also tend to gather round the names of famous cities. Troy is built by the hands of gods, and even Zion is described in mythical terms borrowed from Babylonian and Canaanite mythology as being built ‘on the sides of the north’, the expression used in those myths to describe the abode of the gods. The Eschatological Myth Although it may owe something to the eschatology of Zoroastrianism, the eschatological myth is specially characteristic of Jewish and Christian thought. In the writings of the prophets, and above all in the apocalyptic literature, the conception of a catastrophic end of the present world-order has a prominent place. The prophets believed that the ’salvation- history’ must have its consummation in a decisive divine intervention. ‘It shall come to pass in the last days’ is a characteristic phrase in the prophetic vocabulary. When the prophets attempt to describe the final situation they have to fall back on the language of myth. The description of the conquest of the chaos-dragon by Marduk in the Babylonian Epic of Creation supplies them with the imagery which they use to describe Yahweh’s final victory over the forces of evil. Just as the divine act of creation lies outside the horizon of history and can only be described in the language of myth, so the divine act that brings history to a close can only be described in the same terms. The eschatological use of myth was carried over from Judaism into Christianity and appears in its fullest display in the Apocalypse of St John. It may, perhaps, be necessary to say that the application of the category of myth to the Gospel narratives is in no way intended to call in question their essential historical veracity. But for those who believe, as the prophets of Israel and the first disciples of Jesus did, that God has entered into human history, there are certain moments in history when events take place whose causes and nature lie beyond the range of historical causation. Here the function of

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performed in a fixed way, at regular times, by authorized persons who possessed the specialized knowledge of the correct way in which these actions should be carried out. The whole elaborate pattern of activities was designed to secure the well-being of the community by controlling the incalculable forces by which man found himself surrounded. But we now know that the ritual did not consist only of actions; the actions were accompanied by spoken words, chants, and incantations, whose magical efficacy was an essential part of the ritual. In other words, the ritual consisted of the part which was done, which the Greeks called the dromenon, and the spoken part, which they called the muthos, or myth. In the ritual the myth told the story of what was being enacted; it described a situation; but the story was not told to amuse an audience; it was a word of power. The repetition of the magic words had power to bring about, or recreate, the situation which they described. We shall see later that, at a central point in the Babylonian New Year Festival, the priests recited the chant called Enuma elish, which was the myth of Creation; and the recitation did something; it brought about a change in the situation which the ritual was enacting. Thus we may understand that in a society where such rituals formed an essential part of the life of the community, the historical truth of the story contained in the myth was irrelevant. The function of history is to find out and to record as accurately as possible the behaviour of communities in the past, i.e., to discover and impart a certain kind of knowledge. The function of the myth was not knowledge but action, action essential for the very existence of the community. Mankind has in the past existed for vast periods of time without feeling any need for history; but, long before the appearance of the earliest forms of historical records, the myth had a vital function in the life of the community; as an essential part of ritual it helped to secure, those conditions upon which the life of the community depended. This is why we have called this type of myth the ritual myth. It takes its name from its function, which is to aid in securing the efficacy of the ritual. It is possible that this was the earliest type of myth to come into existence. The Myth of Origin This type of myth is more generally called the aetiological myth. This myth is also very early; some scholars would regard it as the earliest. Its function is to give an imaginary explanation of the origin of a custom, a name, or even an object. For example, we shall see that the Sumerian myth of Enlil and the Pickaxe is a story intended to explain how that most valuable agricultural implement came into existence through the activity of a god. Another example is the Hebrew myth of Jacob’s conflict with a supernatural being. This story offers an explanation of an ancient Israelite food-tabu. The Cult Myth In the development of the religion of Israel a new use of myth makes its appearance. The three seasonal festivals prescribed in the Book of the Covenant were celebrated at the various local shrines, such as Bethel, Shechem, and Shiloh, during the early stages of Israel’s settlement in Canaan. Offerings were brought, and each of the festivals, Passover, Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks, and Tabernacles, had its own special ritual, preserved and carried out by the priests at the local shrines. On these occasions an important part of the ritual consisted in the public recitation by the priests of certain central events in the history of Israel; the recitation was accompanied by antiphonal responses from the people. One of the most deeply rooted traditions of Israel was that of the deliverance of the people from Egyptian bondage. At

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Introduction Since there is a considerable amount of ambiguity in the meaning and use of the term ‘myth’, it is desirable that something should be said about its use in this book. The usual distinction drawn between myth, legend, saga, folk story, and Marchen is based upon literary criteria; a further current usage distinguishes between myth and historical truth, with the implication that anything which is characterized as a myth is unworthy of belief. The criterion used in this study is neither literary, nor historical, but functional. The myth is a product of human imagination arising out ,of a definite situation and intended to do something. Hence the right question to ask about the myth is not, ‘Is it true?’ but ‘What is it intended to do?’ In studying the very varied mythological material yielded by the ancient Near East, and using the notion of ‘function’ as a criterion, it is possible to distinguish the following types of myth (Next Section). Types Of Myth The Ritual Myth It is a well-established fact that most of the texts from which our knowledge of the myths here described is taken have been found in temple archives. They imply the existence in the river- valleys of the Nile and the Tigris-Euphrates of a highly developed urban civilization resting on an agricultural basis. These texts show that the dwellers in Egypt and Mesopotamia had created an elaborate pattern of activities, to which we give the name of ritual. These activities were carried on by large staffs of priests in the temples. They constituted a system of actions

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Corinth. As far back as Homeric times he was reputed to be the craftiest of men. Sometimes he was even alleged to be the father of Odysseus, so great was their resemblance in this respect. It was Sisyphus who told the river-god Asopus that his daughter Aegina had been abducted by Zeus. Zeus in fury sent Thanatos for him, but the cunning Sisyphus succeeded in trapping the god of death and it required Ares to set him free. This time Sisyphus had to submit to his destiny. But before dying he advised his wife not to pay him funeral honours. He had scarcely arrived in the Underworld when he went to Hades to complain of his wife’s negligence and to ask for permission to go back to earth for a moment in order to punish her. Permission was granted and Sisyphus, back on earth again, refused to return to the Underworld. Hermes had to deal personally with this recalcitrant shade. Sisyphus was punished for his bad faith by being condemned eternally to roll up the slope of a mountain an enormous boulder which, each time it nearly reached the summit, rolled down again. Bellerophon. Sisyphus had a son, Glaucus, who offended Aphrodite and, in the course of funeral games, was trampled and killed by his horses, whom the goddess had driven mad. Afterwards the ghost of Glaucus continued to frighten horses. The son of Glaucus, Hipponous, was more celebrated under the name of Bellerophon, which was given to him after he had murdered a Corinthian named Bellerus. In expiation of the murder Bellerophon went to the palace of Proetus, King of Tiryns. The King’s wife, Stheneboea, at once fell in love with the young hero. Bellerophon scorned her and she told her husband that he had attempted to seduce her. Proetus did not dare to kill a man who was his guest and, instead, sent him to his father-in-law, lobates, with a sealed message containing his death sentence. lobates imposed various tasks on Bellerophon, trusting that in the attempt to accomplish them he would perish. First, he ordered Bellerophon to fight the Chimaera. Now Bellerophon had a marvellous winged horse called Pegasus, born of the Gorgon’s blood, which he had succeeded in taming thanks to a golden bridle that Athene gave him. Mounted on Pegasus, Bellerophon flew over the Chimaera and stuffed the monster’s jaws with lead. The lead melted in the flames which the Chimaera vomited forth and killed it. Bellerophon next triumphed over the savage tribes of the Solymia and the Amazons. On his return he successfully overcame an ambuscade which lobates had laid for him. lobates was so filled with admiration that he gave the hero his daughter in marriage. The end of Bellerophon’s life, however, was tragic. His two children, Laodameia and Isandrus, were slain, the first by Artemis, the second by Ares. According to Pindar Bellerophon himself attempted to reach Olympus on his flying steed, but was flung to earth by Zeus and lamed by his fall. Odious to all the Immortals, Homer says, Bellerophon wandered the earth, his heart consumed with misery, alone, fleeing the haunts of men. PERSEUS AND THE HEROES OF ARGOLIS When lo, daughter of the river-god Inachus, arrived in Egypt after all her tribulations she brought a son into the world, Epaphus. The great-grandsons of Epaphus were Aegyptus and Danaus. Both married, and Aegyptus had fifty sons while Danaus had fifty daughters. A quarrel broke out between the two brothers and on Athene’s advice Danaus embarked with his fifty daughters and sailed towards Greece. He landed on the Peloponnesian coast and was received at Argos by Gelanor, the King, whose crown he shortly afterwards seized. Some time later the sons of Aegyptus came to find their uncle, Danaus, and as a token of reconciliation asked him for the hand of his daughters. Danaus consented, but his rancour still seethed. On their wedding day he gave each of his daughters a dagger and ordered her to kill her husband during the night. All obeyed with the exception of Hypermnestra. who fled with her husband Lynceus. We have seen how the Danaids were condemned to everlasting torture in the infernal regions. The grandsons of Hypermnestra, Proetus and Acrisius, were also brother enemies. Proetus was finally driven from Argos by his brother and retired to Lycia where he married the

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rescue Theseus. When he returned to Athens the king found his house in an uproar. The Dioscuri, as Helen’s brothers were called, had come to take their sister back; and Phaedra had conceived an incestuous passion for her son-in-law Hippolytus, who, being consecrated to Artemis, had made a vow of chastity and refused her. In chagrin Phaedra told Theseus that his son had made an attempt on her honour, and Theseus, too credulous, banished Hippolytus and called down Poseidon’s wrath on the youth. The god summoned up a marine monster who terrified Hippolytus’ chariot horses, and Hippolytus was crushed to death. At Troezen his tomb could be seen near the tomb of Phaedra. In the temple which was consecrated to him maidens, on the vigil of their wedding, would hang up a lock of their hair. Sorely stricken by these tragedies, Theseus left Athens and retired to Scyros, to the palace of King Lycomedes. But Lycomedes was jealous of his guest’s great fame and treacherously threw him into the sea. The remains of Theseus were interred at Scyros and later found by Cimon who brought them back to Athens and placed them in the sacred enclosure of the Theseum. OTHER HEROES OF ATTICA Cecrops. Cecrops, who was called Autochthonus or ‘born of the earth’, was regarded as the founder of Athens. It was during his reign that the dispute between Athene and Poseidon for the possession of Attica took place. Erichthonius. Erichthonius was the son of Hephaestus who had engendered him by Gaea, the Earth, after being repulsed by Athene. In spite of this, Athene took charge of the infant, enclosed him in a chest which she confided to Pandrosos, the eldest daughter of Cecrops, forbidding her to open it. But the sisters of Pandrosos could not control their curiosity. When they saw that the newly born child was entwined by a serpent they were seized with terror. In their wild flight they fell from the top of the Acropolis and were killed. Erichthonius was King of Athens; he introduced the worship of Athene and the use of silver. He made war on Eumolpus and the Eleusinians. This Eumolpus, son of Poseidon, had come from Thrace to Eleusis and there instituted the mysteries of Demeter. It was told how Eumolpus was slain by Erichthonius and how, in expiation of the murder, Poseidon demanded the death of one of the King of Athens’ daughters. There were four of them and they decided to die together. As for Erichthonius, Zeus struck him dead with a thunderbolt. Descendants of Erichthonius. One of his daughters, Oreithyia, was seen one day by Boreas while she was playing on the shore; he carried her off and married her. Another daughter, Creusa, was loved by Apollo and by him had a son, Ion, whose adventure has been related in the chapter on Apollo. Pandion, son of Erichthonius, succeeded him to the throne of Athens. He had three daughters: Procris, Philomela and Procne. All three had tragic fates. Procris was married to Cephalus and we have already seen how the jealousy of Eos brought unhappiness to the couple. Philomela and Procne. When Pandion made war on Labdacus, King of Thebes, he was assisted by Tereus, King of Thrace, to whom he had given his daughter, Procne, in marriage. Procne bore Tereus a son, Itys. But when Tereus laid eyes on Philomela, his sister-in-law, he fell in love with her, violated her and, for fear that she would reveal the crime, cut out her tongue. Nevertheless the wretched Philomela was able to tell her sister what had occurred by embroidering the shocking story on a peplos. Procne, out of her mind with rage, killed Itys and served him to Tereus for dinner. Then she and Philomela fled while the tyrant Tereus pursued them with drawn sword. A benevolent deity intervened and turned Tereus into a hoopoe, Procne into a swallow and Philomela into a nightingale. As for Itys, he was resuscitated and changed into a goldfinch. BELLEROPHON AND THE HEROES OF CORINTH Sisyphus. If Bellerophon was Corinth’s most valiant hero, his grandfather, Sisyphus, was its most cunning. Sisyphus ‘was the son of Aeolus and founded Ephyra, the ancient name of

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s of the oracle. Oxylus became leader of the expedition. Tisamenus, son of Orestes, who reigned in Argos, perished in battle against the Heraclids and their Dorian allies, who then divided his country among themselves. Oxylus received Elis, Temenus was given Argos, the sons of Aristodemus obtained Sparta and Cresphontes took Messenia. THESEUS AND THE HEROES OF ATTICA The Birth and Youth of Theseus. Theseus, like Hercules, was a great destroyer of monsters; and like Hercules he perished tragically. His birth was also analogous to the Theban hero’s. His mother was Aethra, daughter of Pittheus, King of Troezen. She was loved at the same time by Aegeus, King of Athens, and by Poseidon. Theseus, who was conceived by this double union, thus had two fathers, a mortal and a god. Aegeus was obliged to return to Athens before the child was born and he hid his sword and his sandals under a heavy rock. When Theseus had grown strong enough to lift the rock and find these, he was to come to Athens and rejoin his father. So Theseus spent his childhood with his mother. When he was sixteen years, old Aethra revealed the secret of his birth and showed him the famous rock of his father. Theseus had already shown bravery. As a child he had attacked, thinking it was alive, the body of the Nemean Lion which Hercules, visiting Pittheus, had placed on a table. Theseus now lifted the mighty rock, took possession of his father’s sword and sandals and set forth for Athens. His First Exploits. His first adventures occurred on his journey to Athens. Near Epidaurus, he killed a dangerous bandit, Periphetes, son of Hephaestus, and took from him his terrible club. In the forests of the Isthmus he inflicted on Sinis, son of Poseidon, the same torture which Sinis imposed on others; namely, tearing them asunder by tying them to sprung pine-trees. He killed the wild sow of Crom-myon, called Phaea. On the slopes of Megaris he dashed Sciron against a boulder. Sciron had forced travellers to wash his feet and when they stooped to do so he would kick them over the cliff into the sea where they were devoured by a monstrous turtle. At Eleusis he vanquished Cercyon the Arcadian and, a little farther on, put an end to the criminal career of the giant Polypemon, known as Procrustes, who forced his victims to lie

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on a bed too short for them and then cut off whatever overlapped. Alternatively he would stretch them if the bed proved too long. Theseus made him undergo the same treatment. When he had purified himself after all these killings on the banks of the Cephissus, Theseus at last reached Athens. He had donned a white robe and carefully arranged his beautiful fair hair. Hence, the workmen building the temple of Apollo Delphinios mocked at his innocent air and foppish appearance. Without deigning to reply Theseus picked up a heavy ox-cart and tossed it clean over the temple. Then he arrived at his father’s palace. Aegeus had meanwhile married Medea who was instinctively jealous of the unknown newcomer and during the ensuing feast attempted to poison him. When Theseus drew his sword, his father recognised it and him. Aegeus then drove Medea and her children away and shared his throne with his son. From then on Theseus fought to strengthen his father’s authority. First he exterminated the Pallantids who were nephews of Aegeus and had schemed to overthrow their uncle. Then he went in search of a wild bull which was devastating Attica. He succeeded in capturing the beast near Marathon, brought it back to Athens and sacrificed it to Apollo Delphinios. Theseus and the Minotaur. In the midst of all this arrived ambassadors from Crete who for the third time had come to collect the annual tribute - seven virgins and seven young men - which had been imposed on Athens since the murder of Androgeus. These unfortunate young people were, when they arrived in Crete, thrown as food to a monster called the Minotaur. Theseus embarked with the victims with the intention of destroying the monster. He told his father that if he were victorious the ship when it returned would carry a white sail; if he were vanquished the black sail would be retained. When he arrived in Crete Theseus said that he was the son of Poseidon. Minos, to test this boast, tossed a golden ring into the sea and requested the hero to bring it back to him. Theseus dived in and returned not only with the ring but with a crown which Amphit-rite had given him. Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, fell in love with Theseus and furnished him with a ball of string by means of which he could guide himself through the Labyrinth in which the Minotaur was kept and, after killing him, return. When Theseus had slain the beast he left Crete and took Ariadne and her sister Phaedra with him; but he abandoned Ariadne on the isle of Naxos. We have already seen how she was consoled by Dionysus. In the joy of victory Theseus forgot to change the black sail which his ship was carrying. Aegeus saw it from the shore and, believing that his son was dead, threw himself into the sea. The ship which had been used on this expedition was piously preserved by the Athenians and carefully kept in a state of repair. It was named the Paralia and every year took gifts from Attica to Delos. The Last Exploits of Theseus. At the death of his father Theseus became King of Attica and endowed his people with wise institutions. He united them in a single group, built a communal prytaneum in Athens, divided the citizens into three classes, erected temples and instituted the Panathenaea. At the same time he continued his wandering life of adventure. He accompanied Hercules on his expedition against the Amazons, took part in hunting the wild boar of Calydon and sailed with the Argonauts. He was usually accompanied by his faithful friend Peirithous who at first had been his enemy. With Peirithous he also attacked the Amazons and abducted one of them, Antiope - which was the motive for an Amazonian invasion of Attica. Antiope bore him a son, Hippolytus, but he repudiated her and instead married Phaedra. Again with Peirithous he went to Sparta and carried off resistance ana mey were nnany marneu, ineir son was /Acrimes. DUULMII ui a uiccn cup uy uic young Helen. The two friends drew lots for her and she fell to Theseus. To console himself Peirithous decided to abduct Persephone, and the two heroes set forth for the Underworld. They succeeded in getting in, but they could not get out again and it required Hercules to

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