persons in peril. Theseus, who had been the
champion of the oppressed during life, thus became their refuge after
death.

_THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES._

Among the legendary tales of Greece, none of which are strictly, though
several are perhaps partly, historical, none--after that of Troy--was
more popular with the ancients than the story of the two sieges of
Thebes. This tale had probably in it an historical element, though
deeply overlaid with myth, and it was the greatest enterprise of Grecian
war, after that of Troy, during what is called the age of the Heroes.
And in it is included one of the most pathetic episodes in the story of
Greece, that of the sisterly affection and tragic fate of Antigone,
whose story gave rise to noble dramas by the tragedians AEschylus and
Sophocles, and is still a favorite with lovers of pathetic lore.

As a prelude to our story we must glance at the mythical history of
OEdipus, which, like that of his noble daughter, has been celebrated
in ancient drama. An oracle had declared that he should kill his father,
the king of Thebes. He was, in consequence, brought up in ignorance of
his parentage, yet this led to the accomplishment of the oracle, for as
a youth he, during a roadside squabble, killed his father not knowing
him. For this crime, which had been one of their own devising, the gods,
with their usual inconsistency, punished the land of Thebes; afflicting
that hapless country with a terrible monster called the Sphinx, which
had the face of a woman, the wings of a bird, and the body of a lion.
This strangely made-up creature proposed a riddle to the Thebans, whose
solution they were forced to try and give; and on every failure to give
the correct answer she seized and devoured the unhappy aspirant.
OEdipus arrived, in ignorance of the fact that he was the son of the
late king. He quickly solved the riddle of the Sphinx, whereupon that
monster committed suicide, and he was made king. He then married the
queen,--not knowing that she was his own mother.

[Illustration: OEDIPUS AND ANTIGONE.]

This celebrated riddle of the Sphinx was not a very difficult one. It
was as follows: "A being with four feet has two feet and three feet; but
its feet vary, and when it has most it is weakest."

The answer, as given by OEdipus, was "Man," who

"First as a babe four-footed creeps on his way,
Then, when full age cometh on, and the burden of years weighs full heavy,
Bending his shoul