stance of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, who became
enamoured of him, he slew the Minotaur and escaped from the Labyrinth.
He then sailed away with Ariadne, whom he deserted in the island of Dia
or Naxos, an event which frequently forms the subject of ancient works
of art. The sails of the ship Theseus left Athens in were black, but he
promised his father, if he returned in safety, to hoist white sails.
This, however, he neglected to do, and AEgeus, seeing the ship draw near
with black sails, supposed that his son had perished, and threw himself
from a rock.

Theseus now ascended the throne of Athens. But his adventures were by no
means concluded. He marched into the country of the Amazons, who dwelt
on the Thermodon, according to some accounts, in the company of
Hercules, and carried away their queen, Antiope. The Amazons in revenge
invaded Attica, and were with difficulty defeated by the Athenians. This
battle was one of the favorite subjects of the ancient artists, and is
commemorated in several works of art that are still extant. Theseus also
took part in the Argonautic expedition and the Calydonian hunt. He
assisted his friend Pirithous and the Lapithae in their contest with the
Centaurs, and also accompanied the former in his descent to the lower
world to carry off Proserpine, the wife of Pluto. When Theseus was fifty
years old, according to tradition, he carried off Helen, the daughter of
Leda, who was then only nine years of age. But his territory was invaded
in consequence by Castor and Pollux, the brothers of Leda; his own
people rose against him, and at last, finding his affairs desperate, he
withdrew to the island of Scyros, and there perished, either by a fall
from the cliffs or through the treachery of Lycomedes, the king of the
island. For a long time his memory was forgotten by the Athenians, but
he was subsequently honored by them as the greatest of their heroes. At
the battle of Marathon they thought they saw him armed and bearing down
upon the barbarians, and after the conclusion of the Persian war his
bones were discovered at Scyros by Cimon, who conveyed them to Athens
where they were received with great pomp and deposited in a temple built
to his honor. A festival also was instituted, which was celebrated on
the eighth day of every month, but more especially on the eighth of
Pyanipsion.

The above is a brief account of the legends prevailing respecting
Theseus. But he is, moreover, represented by