Theseus

And Aristotle himself also, in his Constitution of Bottiaea, [*](Not extant.) clearly does not think that these youths were put to death by Minos, but that they spent the rest of their lives as slaves in Crete. And he says that the Cretans once, in fulfillment of an ancient vow, sent an offering of their first-born to Delphi, and that some descendants of those Athenians were among the victims, and went forth with them; and that when they were unable to support themselves there, they first crossed over into Italy and dwelt in that country round about Iapygia, and from there journeyed again into Thrace and were called Bottiaeans; and that this was the reason why the maidens of Bottiaea, in performing a certain sacrifice, sing as an accompaniment To Athens let us go!

And verily it seems to be a grievous thing for a man to be at enmity with a city which has a language and a literature.

For Minos was always abused and reviled in the Attic theaters, and it did not avail him either that Hesiod[*](Plat. Minos 320d; Hes. Catalogues (Loeb edition), frag. 74.) called him most royal, or that Homer[*](Hom. Od. 19.179) styled him a confidant of Zeus, but the tragic poets prevailed, and from platform and stage showered obloquy down upon him, as a man of cruelty and violence. And yet they say that Minos was a king and lawgiver, and that Rhadamanthus was a judge under him, and a guardian of the principles of justice defined by him.

Accordingly, when the time came for the third tribute, and it was necessary for the fathers who had youthful sons to present them for the lot, fresh accusations against Aegeus arose among the people, who were full of sorrow and vexation that he who was the cause of all their trouble alone had no share in the punishment, but devolved the kingdom upon a bastard and foreign son, and suffered them to be left destitute and bereft of legitimate children.