they sing all day, rejoicing in the genial sun. What would
you do, son Theseus, if you were king of such a land?'

Then Theseus stood astonished, as he looked across the broad
bright sea, and saw the fair Attic shore, from Sunium to

Hymettus and Pentelicus, and all the mountain peaks which
girdle Athens round. But Athens itself he could not see, for

purple AEgina stood before it, midway across the sea.
Then his heart grew great within him, and he said, 'If I were

king of such a land I would rule it wisely and well in wisdom
and in might, that when I died all men might weep over my

tomb, and cry, "Alas for the shepherd of his people!"'
And Aithra smiled, and said, 'Take, then, the sword and the

sandals, and go to AEgeus, king of Athens, who lives on
Pallas' hill; and say to him, "The stone is lifted, but whose

is the pledge beneath it?" Then show him the sword and the
sandals, and take what the Gods shall send.'

But Theseus wept, 'Shall I leave you, O my mother?'
But she answered, 'Weep not for me. That which is fated must

be; and grief is easy to those who do nought but grieve.
Full of sorrow was my youth, and full of sorrow my womanhood.

Full of sorrow was my youth for Bellerophon, the slayer of
the Chimaera, whom my father drove away by treason; and full

of sorrow my womanhood, for thy treacherous father and for
thee; and full of sorrow my old age will be (for I see my

fate in dreams), when the sons of the Swan shall carry me
captive to the hollow vale of Eurotas, till I sail across the

seas a slave, the handmaid of the pest of Greece. Yet shall
I be avenged, when the golden-haired heroes sail against

Troy, and sack the palaces of Ilium; then my son shall set me
free from thraldom, and I shall hear the tale of Theseus'

fame. Yet beyond that I see new sorrows; but I can bear them
as I have borne the past.'

Then she kissed Theseus, and wept over him; and went into the
temple, and Theseus saw her no more.

PART II - 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 harbour 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 whom 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 the 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 AEgeus shall be proud of me, though he had

fifty other sons! Did not Heracles win himself honour,
though he was opprest, 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 for ever, 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 brake, till he came to
a pile of stones.

And on the stones a man was sitting, wrapt 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 art thou, fair fly, who hast 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 has my father Hephaistos spread for me

when he made these clefts 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 Periphetes, the son of Hephaistos and Anticleia
the mountain nymph. But men call me Corynetes 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 ill-luck you die.'

But Theseus wrapt 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 on 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 wrapt around it.
And thrice Theseus sprangupright 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 bearskin

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 bearskin, 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 plane-

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 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 Periphetes;' and another, 'He looks

like no robber, but a fair and gentle youth.'
Then Theseus smiled, and called them, 'Fair nymphs, I am not

Periphetes. 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 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 kid's 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
Isthmus, 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 Isthmus,

lest you meet Sinis the robber, whom men call Pituocamptes
the pine-bender; for he bends down two pine-trees, and binds

all travellers 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 Sciron; for on the left hand

are the mountains, and on the right the sea, so that you have
no escape, but must needs meet Sciron 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 upon 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 Eleusis far on your right. For in Eleusis rules

Kerkuon the cruel king, the terror of all mortals, who killed
his own daughter Alope 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 with 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 right it, and here is
my royal sceptre.'

And he shook his club of bronze, while the nymphs and
shepherds clung round 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 past swiftly along the Isthmus, for his heart burned
to meet that cruel Sinis; and in a pine-wood at last he 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, 'Holla, thou valiant pine-

bender, hast thou two fir-trees left for me?'
And Sinis 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 Sinis' club broke right
across, as the bronze came down upon it. Then Theseus heaved

up another mighty stroke, and smote Sinis 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

Sinis between them for all his struggling and his prayers;
and let them go, and ended Sinis, 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 Sciron,
and the narrow path between the mountain and the sea.

And there he saw Sciron 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 every one must stop who came