re thus still under her protection, and any one
touching them would be guilty of a great crime.

When the men reached the street at the bottom of the hill where the
temple stood, the cord to which they were all clinging suddenly broke.
Megacles, the first to notice this, said that the goddess refused to
protect the rebels any longer, and gave orders to kill the unhappy men.

XXXIV. THE LAWS OF SOLON.

Shortly after the death of Cylon and the murder of his followers, a
great many troubles came upon the city of Athens. The people were
frightened, and soon the friends of Cylon began to whisper that the gods
were surely punishing the Athenians, and especially Megacles, for
breaking his promise.

This report spread throughout the city. The terrified people assembled,
and voted to exile Megacles and all his family, the Alc-mae-on'i-dae. Such
was the fury of the Athenians against the archon whose crime had brought
misfortunes upon them, that they even dug up the bones of his ancestors,
and had them carried beyond the boundary of Attica.

The city had been defiled by the crime which Megacles had committed, and
the people felt that they would never be prosperous again until Athens
had been purified; but the great question was to find a man holy enough
to perform the ceremony.

After much talking, they decided to send for Ep-i-men'i-des, and to ask
him to purify the city. This man, when a mere lad, once went into a cave
near his native town, and there laid himself down to sleep. Instead of
taking an ordinary nap, however, he slept fifty-eight years, without
awakening or undergoing any change. When he came out of the cave, where
he fancied he had spent only a few hours, he was surprised to find
everything new and strange to him.

His relatives had all died, no one knew him, and it was only after some
time had passed that he found out that he had slept fifty-eight years at
a stretch. This man was a poet of note, and, as he had enjoyed so long a
sleep, the people thought that he was a favorite of the gods.

When the Athenians asked him to purify the town, he came to do so; but
when the ceremonies were ended, he refused to accept any of the rich
gifts which the people offered him as reward. Instead, he humbly begged
them to give him a twig of the sacred olive tree which they said Athene
herself had planted on the Acropolis.

Their troubles having now ceased, the Athenians began to think of making
another and less se