When they were come near the coast of Attica, so great was the joy for
the happy success of their voyage, that neither Theseus himself nor the
pilot remembered to hang out the sail which should have been the token
of their safety to Aegeus, who, in despair at the sight, threw himself
headlong from a rock, and perished in the sea. But Theseus, being
arrived at the port of Phalerum, paid there the sacrifices which he had
vowed to the gods at his setting out to sea, and sent a herald to the
city to carry the news of his safe return. At his entrance, the herald
found the people for the most part full of grief for the loss of their
king, others, as may well be believed, as full of joy for the tidings
that he brought, and eager to welcome him and crown him with garlands
for his good news, which he indeed accepted of, but hung them upon his
herald's staff; and thus returning to the seaside before Theseus
had finished his libation to the gods, he stayed apart for fear of
disturbing the holy rites, but, as soon as the libation was ended, went
up and related the king's death, upon the hearing of which, with great
lamentations and a confused tumult of grief, they ran with all haste to
the city. And from hence, they say, it comes that at this day, in the
feast of Oschoporia, the herald is not crowned, but his staff, and all
who are present at the libation cry out "eleleu, iou, iou," the first of
which confused sounds is commonly used by men in haste, or at a triumph,
the other is proper to people in consternation or disorder of mind.
Theseus, after the funeral of his father, paid his vows to Apollo the
seventh day of Pyanepsion; for on that day the youth that returned with
him safe from Crete made their entry into the city. They say, also, that
the custom of boiling pulse at this feast is derived from hence; because
the young men that escaped put all that was left of their provision
together, and, boiling it in one common pot, feasted themselves with
it, and ate it all up together. Hence, also, they carry in procession
an olive branch bound about with wool (such as they then made use of in
their supplications), which they call Eiresione, crowned with all sorts
of fruits, to signify that scarcity and barrenness was ceased, singing
in their procession this song:
Eiresione brings figs, and Eiresione brings loaves;
Bring us honey in pints, and oil to rub on our bodies,
And a strong flagon of wine, for all to go mellow to bed on.
The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned had thirty
oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of
Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed,
putting in new and stronger timber in their place, insomuch that this
ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical
question as to things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained
the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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