A dark-prowed ship was cleaving the Cretan sea, bearing Theseus, steadfast in the battle din, with seven goodly youths and seven maidens of Athens; for northern breezes fell on the far-gleaming sail, by grace of glorious Athena with warlike aegis.
And the heart of Minos was stung by the baneful gifts of the Cyprian goddess with lovely diadem; he could no longer restrain his hand from a maiden, but touched her fair cheeks. Then Eriboea cried aloud
to Pandion’s grandson with breastplate of bronze; Theseus saw, and wildly rolled his dark eyes beneath his brows, and cruel pain pricked his heart as he spake :—
‘O son of peerless Zeus, the spirit in thy breast no longer obeys righteous control ; withhold, hero, thy presumptuous force.
‘Whatever the resistless doom given by the gods has decreed for us, and the scale of Justice inclines to ordain, that appointed fate we will fulfil when it comes. But do thou forbear thy grievous purpose. If the noble daughter of Phoenix, the maiden of gracious fame, taken to the bed of Zeus beneath the brow of Ida, bare thee, peerless among men;
yet I, too, was borne by the daughter of wealthy Pittheus, in wedlock with the sea-god Poseidon, and the violet-crowned Nereids gave her a golden veil.
‘Therefore, O war-lord of Cnosus, I bid thee restrain thy wantonness, fraught with woe; for I should not care to look on the fair light of divine Eos, after thou hadst done violence to one of this youthful company: before that, we will come to a trial of strength, and Destiny shall decide the sequel.’
Thus far the hero valiant with the spear: but the seafarers were amazed at the youth’s lofty boldness ; and he whose bride was daughter of the Sun-god felt anger at his heart; he wove a new device in his mind, and said:—
‘O Zeus, my sire of great might, hear me! If the white-armed daughter of Phoenix indeed bare me to thee, now send forth from heaven a swift flash of streaming fire, a sign for all to know. And thou, if Troezenian Aethra was thy mother by earth-shaking Poseidon,—cast thyself boldly down to the abode of thy sire, and bring from the deep this ring of gold that glitters on my hand.—But thou shalt see whether my prayer is heard
by the son of Cronus, the all-ruling lord of thunder.’
Mighty Zeus heard the unmeasured prayer, and ordained a surpassing honour for Minos, willing to make it seen of all men, for the sake of his well-loved son. He sent the lightning. But the steadfast warrior, when he saw that welcome portent, stretched his hands towards the glorious ether, and said :—
‘Theseus, there thou beholdest the clear sign given by Zeus. And now do thou spring into the deep-sounding sea; and the son of Cronus, king Poseidon, thy sire, will assure thee supreme renown throughout the well-wooded earth.’
So spake he: and the spirit of Theseus recoiled not;
he took his place on the well-built stern, and sprang thence, and the domain of the deep received him in kindness.
The son of Zeus felt a secret awe in his heart, and gave command to keep the cunningly-wrought ship before the wind; but Fate was preparing a different issue. So the bark sped fast on its journey, and the northern breeze, blowing astern, urged it forward. But all the Athenian youths and maidens shuddered when the hero sprang into the deep; and tears fell from their bright young eyes, in prospect of their grievous doom.
Meanwhile dolphins, dwellers in the sea, were swiftly bearing mighty Theseus to the abode of his sire, lord of steeds; and he came unto the hall of the gods. There beheld he the glorious daughters of blest Nereus, and was awe-struck; for a splendour as of fire shone from their radiant forms; fillets inwoven with gold encircled their hair; and they were delighting their hearts by dancing with lissom feet.
And in that beautiful abode he saw his father’s well-loved wife, the stately, ox-eyed Amphitrite ;
who clad him in gleaming purple, and set on his thick hair a choice wreath, dark with roses, given to her of yore at her marriage by wily Aphrodite.
Nothing that the gods may ordain is past belief to men of a sound mind. Theseus appeared by the ship with slender stern. Ah, in what thoughts did he check the war-lord of Cnosus, when he came unwetted from the sea, a wonder to all, his form resplendent with the gifts of the gods! The bright-throned Nereids cried aloud with new-born gladness;
the deep resounded ; while the youths and maidens hard by raised a paean with their lovely voices.
God of Delos, may the choruses of the Ceans be pleasing to thy soul; and mayest thou give us blessings for our portion, wafted by thy power divine!
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