There was once a king of Athens whose name was AEgeus. He had no son; but
he had fifty nephews, and they were waiting for him to die, so that one
of them might be king in his stead. They were wild, worthless fellows,
and the people of Athens looked forward with dread to the day when the
city should be in their power. Yet so long as AEgeus lived they could not
do much harm, but were content to spend their time in eating and
drinking at the king's table and in quarreling among themselves.
It so happened one summer that AEgeus left his kingdom in the care of the
elders of the city and went on a voyage across the Saronic Sea to the
old and famous city of Troezen, which lay nestled at the foot of the
mountains on the opposite shore. Troezen was not fifty miles by water
from Athens, and the purple-peaked island of AEgina lay between them;
but to the people of that early time the distance seemed very great, and
it was not often that ships passed from one place to the other. And as
for going by land round the great bend of the sea, that was a thing so
fraught with danger that no man had ever dared try it.
King Pittheus of Troezen was right glad to see AEgeus, for they had been
boys together, and he welcomed him to his city and did all that he could
to make his visit a pleasant one. So, day after day, there was feasting
and merriment and music in the marble halls of old Troezen, and the two
kings spent many a happy hour in talking of the deeds of their youth and
of the mighty heroes whom both had known. And when the time came for the
ship to sail back to Athens, AEgeus was not ready to go. He said he would
stay yet a little longer in Troezen, for that the elders of the city
would manage things well at home; and so the ship returned without him.
But AEgeus tarried, not so much for the rest and enjoyment which he was
having in the home of his old friend, as for the sake of AEthra, his old
friend's daughter. For AEthra was as fair as a summer morning, and she
was the joy and pride of Troezen; and AEgeus was never so happy as when
in her presence. So it happened that some time after the ship had
sailed, there was a wedding in the halls of King Pittheus; but it was
kept a secret, for AEgeus feared that his nephews, if they heard of it,
would be very angry and would send men to Troezen to do him harm.
Month after month passed by, and still AEgeus lingered with his bride and
trusted his elders to see to the affairs of Athens. Then one morning,
when the gardens of Troezen were full of roses and the heather was green
on the hills, a babe was born to AEthra--a boy with a fair face and
strong arms and eyes as sharp and as bright as the mountain eagle's. And
now AEgeus was more loth to return home than he had been before, and he
went up on the mountain which overlooks Troezen, and prayed to Athena,
the queen of the air, to give him wisdom and show him what to do. Even
while he prayed there came a ship into the harbor, bringing a letter to
AEgeus and alarming news from Athens.
"Come home without delay"--these were words of the letter which the
elders had sent--"come home quickly, or Athens will be lost. A great
king from beyond the sea, Minos of Crete, is on the way with ships and a
host of fighting men; and he declares that he will carry sword and fire
within our walls, and will slay our young men and make our children his
slaves. Come and save us!"
"It is the call of duty," said AEgeus; and with a heavy heart he made
ready to go at once across the sea to the help of his people. But he
could not take AEthra and her babe, for fear of his lawless nephews, who
would have slain them both.
"Best of wives," he said, when the hour for parting had come, "listen to
me, for I shall never see your father's halls, nor dear old Troezen, nor
perhaps your own fair face, again. Do you remember the old plane tree
which stands on the mountain side, and the great flat stone which lies a
little way beyond it, and which no man but myself has ever been able to
lift? Under that stone, I have hidden my sword and the sandals which I
brought from Athens. There they shall lie until our child is strong
enough to lift the stone and take them for his own. Care for him, AEthra,
until that time; and then, and not till then, you may tell him of his
father, and bid him seek me in Athens."
Then AEgeus kissed his wife and the babe, and went on board the ship; the
sailors shouted; the oars were dipped into the waves; the white sail was
spread to the breeze; and AEthra from her palace window saw the vessel
speed away over the blue waters towards AEgina and the distant Attic
shore.