For centuries before the time of Theseus the Acropolis had been the seat of a civilisation not much inferior to that of Mycenæ. Homer speaks of a “well-built house of Erectheus” to which Athena used to repair; and on the Acropolis, under what is believed to have been the earliest temple of Athena, part of the foundations of a palace, apparently similar in plan to those of Mycenæ and Tiryns, has been discovered. The fortifications, too, are very similar, and there is a long inner staircase leading to a postern in the northern wall that corresponds to those found in the ancient structures referred to. There is another prehistoric name with which tradition connects the primitive history of Athens, and on account of which it was sometimes called Cecropia. According to some, Cecrops came from Egypt; according to others he was autochthonous (as the Athenians claimed to be), and had the appearance of being half man and half serpent. [Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF THESEUS FROM THE SOUTH-WEST The mountain dominating the Temple, to the right (east), is Lycabettos; the distant mountain to the left is Pentelikon.] Amid these conflicting mythical traditions it was generally agreed that the last king of Athens was Codrus, who was said to be a descendant of Ion, the head of the Ionic branch of the Hellenic race, the latter name being derived from Hellen, the grandfather of Ion. When the Dorians invaded Attica, after taking possession of the Peloponnesus, they were informed by a Pythian oracle that if the life of Codrus were spared they would gain possession of the country. Codrus became aware of this, and in order to save his country he went out one day in disguise and provoked a quarrel with some of the enemy, who put him to death. As soon as this became known to the Dorians they abandoned the hope of conquest, and contented themselves with annexing Megara. By a strange process of reasoning the grateful subjects of the self-sacrificing king straightway abolished the monarchy, on the ground that it would be impossible to find any one worthy to sit on the throne of so noble a sovereign! The name of Codrus was not the only name in the early history of Athens that was associated with patriotic self-devotion. Long before, one of the three daughters of Cecrops, Agraulos, was said to have leapt from the Acropolis as a voluntary sacrifice, when it was declared by the oracle that there was no other means of bringing a war which had been long going on to a successful issue. Her name was given to a grotto on the north, near the spot on which she met her death; and it was there that the Athenian youth, when they reached manhood, offered sacrifice and swore to be faithful to their country even unto death.