to stand trial and be judged by a jury of three hundred
citizens selected from the best families. Myron of Phlya prosecuted, and
the archons were found guilty, and forced to leave the country. The
bodies of such of them as had died were dug up, and cast out beyond the
borders of Attica.

During these disorders the Athenians were again attacked by the
Megarians, and lost Nisaea, and were again driven out of Salamis. The
city was also a prey to superstitious terrors, and apparitions were
seen, so that the prophets, after inspecting their victims, said that
the city was polluted and under a curse, and that it required
purification. Upon this they sent for Epimenides the Phaestian, of
Crete, who is reckoned among the seven wise men of Greece, by some of
those who do not admit Periander into their number. He was thought to
enjoy the favour of Heaven, and was skilled in all the lore of the
sacred mysteries, and in the sources of divine inspiration; wherefore he
was commonly reported to be the child of the nymph Balte, and to be one
of the old Curetes of Crete revived. He came to Athens and was a friend
to Solon, assisting him greatly in his legislation. He remodelled their
religious rites, and made their mourning more moderate, introducing
certain sacrifices shortly after the funeral, and abolishing the harsh
and barbarous treatment which women were for the most part subject to
before in times of mourning. Above all, by purifications and atoning
sacrifices, and the erection of new temples, he so sanctified and
hallowed the city as to make the minds of the people obedient to the
laws, and easily guided into unity and concord. It is said that he saw
Munychia, and viewed it carefully for some time in silence. Then he said
to the bystanders, "How blind is man to the future. The Athenians would
eat this place up with their teeth if they knew what misfortunes it will
bring upon them?" A prophetic saying of the same kind is attributed to
Thales. He bade his friends bury him in a low and neglected quarter of
Miletus, telling them that one day it would be the market-place of the
city. Epimenides was greatly honoured by the Athenians, and was offered
large sums of money by them, and great privileges, but he refused them
all, and only asked for a branch of the sacred olive-tree, which he
received and went his way.

XIII. When the troubles about Kylon were over, and the accursed men cast
out of the country, the Athenians relapsed into