Chapter 10 Tales of Theseus - 10

When Theseus returned from Hades' hell, he was a serious old man.He was relieved to hear that Helen had been rescued by her brother, because he was ashamed of what he had done.Although he returned to power, there was chaos in the country. Menastheus was the leader of the rebellion and was supported by the nobles.The nobles called themselves Pallas tribe in memory of Theseus' uncle Pallas and his sons.Those who hated him in the past have nothing to fear from him now.The common people, encouraged by Menastheus, were unwilling to obey the king's orders. At first, Theseus attempted to suppress it by force, but due to implicit or explicit opposition, his efforts failed.So the unfortunate king decided to abandon the uncontrollable city altogether.In advance, he had sent his sons Akamas and Demophon to Eubia, and asked them to go to King Elefnoa.He solemnly proclaimed his curse on the Athenians at Galgetos, a small town in Attica, and the place where he cursed the people was still marked long afterward.He dusted himself off, and sailed for Scroos.He regarded the inhabitants of this island as his special friends, for the king there kept the great fortune which Theseus' father had bequeathed him.

The king who ruled Scylus at that time was Lycomedes.Theseus asked him to return his father's inheritance so that he could live there.However, fate led him to a dead end.Perhaps Lycomedes was afraid of the hero's reputation, perhaps he had a secret agreement with Menastheus, in short, he planned to get rid of Theseus, the uninvited guest. He took Theseus to the cliff edge of a peak on the island, and lied to let Theseus see his father's former property.Taking Theseus off guard, he suddenly pushed him from behind, pushing him off the cliff, and Theseus fell headlong into the sea.

In Athens, Theseus was forgotten by the ungrateful Athenians shortly after his death.When Menastheus came to power, he seemed to have legitimately inherited the throne of his ancestors.The sons of Theseus were treated as ordinary soldiers and went to Troy with the hero Elephnoa. They didn't hold the scepter again until the death of Menastheus.Hundreds of years later, the Athenians fought the Persians at Marathon.The soul of Theseus, the great hero, emerged from the ground again, and he led the people to defeat the invading Persians.Therefore, the oracle of Delphi asked the Athenians to retrieve the remains of Theseus and bury him solemnly.But where should people go to find his remains?And, even if his tomb were found on Scroos, how could they recover the remains from the hands of the savages?

At this time a well-known man came out of Greece, Simon the son of Myrtaeates.He conquered the island of Scroos in a new crusade.Just as he was searching for the grave of the national hero vigorously, he saw an eagle hovering over a hillside.Suddenly the eagle rushed down like an arrow, digging open the soil of a grave with its claws.Simon saw this phenomenon as divine providence.He ordered people to dig there, and in the depths of the soil, they found a large coffin, with an iron spear and a sword buried beside the coffin.Neither Simon nor his followers doubted that this was the tomb of Theseus.They carried the sacred remains on three oars and brought them back to Athens.The Athenians lined up to receive the remains of Theseus, as if Theseus had returned home alive.Hundreds of years after the death of Theseus, the posterity owed infinite gratitude and respect to the hero who gave them liberty and created the Athenian constitution, while his impertinent contemporaries turned against him. It was a debt owed to him.