estined to bring ruin upon
Cadmus, King of Thebes, who therefore orders the infant to be put into a
chest and thrown into a river. He is found, and taken from the water by
loving hands, and lives to fulfill his mission.[171:4]

Herodotus relates a similar story, which is as follows:

"The constitution of the _Corinthians_ was formerly of this
kind; it was an _oligarchy_, (a government in the hands of a
selected few), and those who were called _Bacchiadae_ governed
the city. About this time one Eetion, who had been married to
a maiden called Labda, and having no children by her, went to
Delphi to inquire of the oracle about having offspring. Upon
entering the temple he was immediately saluted as follows;
'Eetion, no one honors thee, though worthy of much honor.
Labda is pregnant and will bring forth a round stone; it will
fall on monarchs, and vindicate Corinth.' This oracle,
pronounced to Eetion, was by chance reported to the
_Bacchiadae_, who well knew that it prophesied the birth of a
son to Eetion who would overthrow them, and reign in their
stead; and though they comprehended, they kept it secret,
purposing to destroy the offspring that should be born to
Eetion. As soon as the woman brought forth, they sent ten
persons to the district where Eetion lived, to put the child
to death; but, the child, _by a divine providence_, was saved.
His mother hid him in a chest, and as they could not find the
child they resolved to depart, and tell those who sent them
that they had done all that they had commanded. After this,
Eetion's son grew up, and having escaped this danger, the name
of Cypselus was given him, from the chest. When Cypselus
reached man's estate, and consulted the oracle, an ambiguous
answer was given him at Delphi; relying on which he attacked
and got possession of Corinth."[171:5]

_Romulus_ and _Remus_, the founders of Rome, were exposed on the banks
of the Tiber, when infants, and left there to die, but escaped the death
intended for them.

The story of the "dangerous child" was well known in ancient Rome, and
several of their emperors, so it is said, were threatened with death at
their birth, or when mere infants. Julius Marathus, in his life of the
Emperor Augustus Caesar, says that before his birth there was a prophecy
in Rome that a king over the Roman people would soon b