engthening the city walls, laying in a great stock
of provisions, and securing the help of seven brave allies, Eteocles
closed the gates of Thebes, and calmly awaited the arrival of the enemy.

Meanwhile the seven chiefs were marching from Argos to Thebes. They came
at last to the forest of Ne'me-a, where Hercules, the chief hero of
Argos, had once slain a terrible lion. This monster had long lived in
the forest, filling the hearts of all the people with dread; and when
Hercules came out of the forest, wearing the skin of the lion, they had
greatly rejoiced.

[Illustration: Hercules and the Nemean Lion.]

In honor of Hercules' victory over the Ne'me-an lion, the seven chiefs
stopped in this spot to celebrate games, which they said should be held
in that neighborhood every three years. This festival was ever after
celebrated thus; and when the people gathered together there to see the
racing and boxing, they loved to recall the memory of the brave lion
slayer, and of the seven kings who had first celebrated the Nemean
games.

When Polynices and his allies came at last to Thebes, they found all the
gates closed; and although they fought bravely, and tried hard to enter
the city, they were kept at bay for seven long years. At the end of that
time the people inside the city, and those without, were equally tired
of this long siege: so it was finally agreed that the two armies should
meet on a neighboring plain and fight it out.

The armies were led by the two brothers, who now hated each other so
bitterly, that, instead of waiting for the signal for battle, they
rushed upon each other, and both fell before any one could interfere.

This terrible end of their quarrel filled the hearts of both armies with
fear, and they agreed to make a truce in order to bury their chiefs. As
it was customary at that time to burn the bodies of the dead, both
corpses were laid upon the funeral pyre side by side. When the wood was
all burned, the ashes were put into separate urns, for the Greeks used
to tell their children that these brothers hated each other so much that
even their ashes would not mingle.

This story of OEdipus and his family is only a myth, but it is a very
celebrated one. The Greeks wrote stories, poems, and plays about it, and
it is on that account that it should be known by every one who wishes to
study the history of Greece.

XII. THE TAKING OF THEBES.

The terrible death of the two brothers Eteocles and