Crete, where they were shut up within the labyrinth, and then wandered about till they perished by hunger, being unable to find the way out; or else they were devoured by the Minotaur, a terrible monster, partly man partly a bull. The time of sending this tribute being come, Theseus put himself among the youths that were doomed to go to Crete, where having arrived, he received of Ariadne, the daughter of king Minos, who had fallen in love with him, a clew of thread, and being instructed by her in the use of it, which was to conduct him through all the windings of the labyrinth, he escaped out of it, havingfirst slain the Minotaur; and so returned with his fellow captives, in triumph to Athens. ( In his return, through excess of joy for the happy success of his voyage, he forgot to hang out the white sail, which should have been the token of his success. to Egeus, who sat upon the top of a rock anxiously waiting his return. Ægeus not seeing the wished: for signal, concluded that the expedition had been unfortunate, threw himself headlong into the sea; and thus made way for Theseus's more early accession to the crown, than could have otherwise been expected. From Theseus to the Decennial Archons. Theseus being thus accidentally advanced to the regal sceptre soon found the inconvenience of having his people dispersed in villages, and cantoned up and down the country, he therefore to remedy this, as Plutarch informs us, conceived the vast design of gathering together all the inhabitants of Attica into one town, and making them one people of one city, who were, before, so dispersed as to be difficult to assemble together, upon any case of emergency. Nay frequently such differences and quarrels happened amongst them, as occasioned bloodshed and war: these, he, by his persuasions appeased, and going from people to people, and from tribe to tribe, proposed his plan of a common agreement among them. The inferior orders of society readily embracing such good advice, he brought over those of greater power and interest by promising them a commonwealth, in which, monarchy being laid aside, the power should be vested in the people; and that, reserving to himself only to be continued in the chief command of their arms, and the guardianship of their laws, there should be an equal distribution of all things else among them. By this means he brought most of them over to his proposal: the rest, fearing his power, which was now grown very formidable, and knowing his courage and resolution, chose rather to be persuaded, than forced into a compliance. He then dissolved all the distinct courts of justice, council-halls, and corporations, and built one common Prytaneum, and council hall, where it stands to this day; and out of the old and new city he made one which he named Athens, ordaining a common feast and sacrifice to be for ever observed; which he called Panathenæa, or the sacrifice of the united Athenians. He instituted another sacrifice for the sake of strangers that would come to settle at Athens, called Metækia, which is still celebrated on the 16th day of Hecatombæon. Then, as he had promised, he laid down his kingly power, and established a commonwealth; having entered on this great change, not without advice from the gods; for sending to consult the Delphic oracle, concerning the fortune of his new government and city, he received this answer: "Hear Theseus, Pittheus' daughter's son; He has, as in a storehouse, laid The settled periods, and fixed fates Of many cities, mighty states; But know thou neither fear nor pain, Solicit not thyself in vain; For, like a bladder that does bide The fury of the angry tide, Thou from high waves unhurt shall bound, } Always wet, but never drown'd.” Crete, where they were shut up within the labyrinth, and then wandered about till they perished by hunger, being unable to find the way out; or else they were devoured by the Minotaur, a terrible monster, partly man partly a bull. The time of sending this tribute being come, Theseus put himself among the youths that were doomed to go to Crete, where having arrived, he received of Ariadne, the daughter of king Minos, who had fallen in love with him, a clew of thread, and being instructed by her in the use of it, which was to conduct him through all the windings of the labyrinth, he escaped out of it, havingfirst slain the Minotaur; and so returned with his fellow captives, in triumph to Athens. In his return, through excess of joy for the happy success of his voyage, he forgot to hang out the white sail, which should have been the token of his success to Egeus, who sat upon the top of a rock anxiously waiting his return. Egeus not seeing the wished for signal, concluded that the expedition had been unfortunate, threw himself headlong into the sea; and thus made way for Theseus's more early accession to the crown, than could have otherwise been expected. From Theseus to the Decennial Archons. Theseus being thus accidentally advanced to the regal sceptre soon found the inconvenience of having his people dispersed in villages, and cantoned up and down the country, he therefore to remedy this, as Plutarch informs us, conceived the vast design of gathering together all the inhabitants of Attica into one town, and making them one people of one city, who were, before, so dispersed as to be difficult to assemble together, upon any case of emergency. Nay frequently such differences and quarrels happened amongst them, as occasioned bloodshed and war: these, he, by his persuasions appeased, and going from people to people, and from tribe to tribe, proposed his plan of a common agreement among them. The inferior orders of society readily embracing such good advice, he brought over those of greater power and interest by promising them a commonwealth, in which, monarchy being laid aside, the power should be vested in the people; and that, reserving to himself only to be continued in the chief command of their arms, and the guardianship of their laws, there should be an equal distribution of all things else among them. By this means he brought most of them over to his proposal: the rest, fearing his power, which was now grown very formidable, and knowing his courage and resolution, chose rather to be persuaded, than forced into a compliance. He then dissolved all the distinct courts of justice, council-halls, and corporations, and built one common Prytaneum, and council hall, where it stands to this day; and out of the old and new city he made one which he named Athens, ordaining a common feast and sacrifice to be for ever observed; which he called Panathenæa, or the sacrifice of the united Athenians. He instituted another sacrifice for the sake of strangers that would come to settle at Athens, called Metækia, which is still celebrated on the 16th day of Hecatombæon. Then, as he had promised, he laid down his kingly power, and established a commonwealth; having entered on this great change, not without advice from the gods; for sending to consult the Delphic oracle, concerning the fortune of his new government and city, he received this answer: "Hear Theseus, Pittheus' daughter's son; He has, as in a storehouse, laid The settled periods, and fixed fates Of many cities, mighty states; But know thou neither fear nor pain, Solicit not thyself in vain; For, like a bladder that does bide The fury of the angry tide, Thou from high waves unhurt shall bound, } Always wet, but never drown'd." L Which oracle, they say, one of the sibyls, a long time after did, in a manner repeat to the Athenians, in this verse 66 Thou, like a bladder, may'st be wet, but never drown'd." Designing to enlarge his city, he invited all strangers to come and enjoy equal privileges with the natives, and some are of opinion, that the common form of proclamation used in Athens,-"Come hither all ye people," were the words that Theseus caused to be proclaimed, when he thus set up a common-wealth consisting, in a manner, of all nations. For all this he suffered not his state to be turned into confusion and anarchy, by the introduction of this mixed multitude, nor to be without a proper distinction of classes, but was the first that divided the commonwealth into the three distinct ranks of noblemen, husbandmen, and artificers. To the nobility he entrusted the choice of magistrates-the teaching and dispensing of the laws; and the interpretation of all holy and religious things; the whole, as to all other matters, being, as it were reduced to an equality, the nobles excelling the rest of the citizens in honour: the husbandmen in profit: and the artificers in number. And Theseus was ihe first, who, as Aristotle says, out of an inclination to a popular government parted with regal power; which Homer also seems to intimate in his catalogue of ships, wherein he gives the name of Demos, or the people, to the Athenians only, In this manner Theseus settled the Athenian government, and it continued in the same state till the death of Codrus, the seventeenth and last king-a prince more renowned for his bravery than his fortune; for Attica being invaded by the Dorians, or the Spartans, or Peloponnesians, or, as some will have it, by the Thracians, the oracle being consulted on the occasion, answered that the invaders would be successful, if they did not kill the Athenian king; whereupon Codrus, preferring |