Herodotus opens his account of the Greeks with a story of the capture of women. The Phœnicians, the great maritime people of that time, had sent ships loaded with merchandise to Argos. When nearly all was disposed of there came down to the beach several women among whom was Io, child of Ianchus the king. As the women were standing by the stern of the ship attending to their purchases, the foreign sailors rushed upon them and attempted to carry them off. The most of them made their escape, but a number were taken away and Io amongst them.[169] [169] Rawlinson, book i., 1. Doubtless beneath this myth is concealed a religious doctrine which had an historical basis. The original version of the legend was that Io who was carried to Egypt by a god became the mother of a race of hero-kings; but when the true significance of the early physiological, religious myth was forgotten, this one of Io, too, after having become mutilated and distorted to suit a more degenerate time, was accepted in a purely literal sense and made to do duty as actual history. Following this narrative in the history of Herodotus is the story of Europa who was carried away by the Greeks. In the next generation was enacted the seizure of Helen by Paris, son of Priam, a deed which, whether committed for revenge or lust, is supposed to have constituted the sole cause of the Trojan War—a struggle which continued for nine years. Helen had previously, and while but a child, according to Plutarch, been carried off by Theseus, founder of Athens, and borne away to Egypt. Indeed it would seem from the accounts of this hero that his exploits were instigated for the most part by a desire to possess himself of women. Even later in the history of the Greeks we find that Pausanius, King of Sparta, upon the defeat of the barbarians, received as his share of the booty, ten specimens of the following articles: “women, horses, talents, and camels.” The familiar story of the seizure of the Sabine women by the Romans is regarded as a probable myth or as a doubtful fact; yet, when we remember that not far distant in the past, capture constituted the only form of marriage, the acts of violence committed on women are invested with a fresh interest, for by them we are enabled to trace the identity of the processes of development between historic nations and the tribes occupying a lower position in the scale of advancement. Although Homer traces genealogies through fathers, the fact will doubtless be observed that two generations generally suffice to carry men back to an unknown or divine progenitor. Indeed many of the Greeks of Homer’s time sprang directly from gods. Tlepolemus was of the stock of Hercules. Priam and his sons were descendants of Zeus, and many of the noblest Greeks derived their origin from Mars. Helen also was the descendant of Zeus. A tradition from Varro in reference to the decline of woman’s power in Athens is as follows: