Chapter 7 Descendants of Hercules - 7

The descendants of Hercules finally conquered the Peloponnese through unremitting efforts and campaigns.They set up three altars to the ancestor Zeus and held sacrifices.Then they drew lots to divide up the cities on the peninsula.The first lottery was for Argos, the second lottery was for Lacitimon, and the third lottery was for Methonia.The method of drawing lots is as follows: each person casts a lot in an earthen jar filled with water, and writes his or her name on the lot.Eurysthenes and Polocles, the twins of Temenos and Aristotlemus, threw stones with their names on them into the jars.The cunning Cresphontes wanted to get Mesonia, so he picked a piece of soil and threw it into the water, and the soil immediately dissolved.

After throwing the stones, they decide whoever throws the stone first will win Argos.The result was a stone with the name of Temenos written on it.The next Dracitimonus was drawn, and it turned out to be the stone with the names of the twins of Aristotlemus; at this point they felt that it was unnecessary to pick a third stone.Therefore, Cresphontes got Mesonia as he wished. After dividing up the territory, they each went to the altar to offer sacrifices to the gods.Suddenly, they saw a strange sign, and each found an animal on the altar where he sacrificed: those who were allotted to Argos found a toad; The people of Methonia found a fox.They asked the local divination person with doubts, and the answer was: "The person who sees the toad had better stay at home, because the toad is easily injured and cannot be protected when going out; the person who sees the poisonous snake coiled on the altar is the biggest." Invaders, don't be afraid to cross your borders; those who see a fox can neither attack nor defend, and the weapons they use to defend their country are tricks."

Later, these three animals became the symbols on the shields of Argos, Sparta and Mesonia.Of course, the descendants of Hercules did not forget the one-eyed Oxelus.They gave him the kingdom of Elis in return for his aid.At present, only the mountains of Arcadia on the Peloponnese Peninsula have not been occupied by the descendants of Hercules.Of the three kingdoms established on the peninsula, only Sparta lasted longer.In Argos, Temenos betrothed his beloved daughter, Hirna, to Da Efontes, a great-grandson of Hercules.He obeyed Da Efontes, and people suspected that he wanted to pass the throne to this pair of loving daughters and sons-in-law.His sons were very dissatisfied, united against their father, and killed him.Although the Argos still regarded the eldest son of the king as king, they valued freedom and equality more, so they tried their best to limit the power of the king, so that the king and his descendants only retained the name of a king and could not grasp the actual power.