He
also might have sailed peacefully over the sea to Athens, and had no
trouble with those brigands, whereas Romulus could not be free from
trouble while Amulius lived. And it is a great argument in favour of
Theseus that he attacked those wicked men for the sake of others, having
himself suffered no wrong at their hands; whereas the twins were
unconcerned at Amulius's tyranny so long as it did not affect
themselves. And although it may have been a great exploit to receive a
wound in fighting the Sabines, and to slay Acron, and to kill many
enemies in battle, yet we may compare with these, on Theseus's behalf,
his battle with the Centaurs and his campaign against the Amazons. As
for the courage which Theseus showed in the matter of the Cretan
tribute, when he voluntarily sailed to Crete with the youths and
maidens, whether the penalty was to be given to the Minotaur to eat, or
be sacrificed at the tomb of Androgeus, or even to be cast into
dishonoured slavery under an insolent enemy, which is the least
miserable fate mentioned by any writer, what a strength of mind, what
public spirit and love of fame it shows! In this instance it seems to me
that philosophers have truly defined love as a "service designed by the
gods for the care and preservation of the young." For the love of
Ariadne seems to have been specially intended by Heaven to save Theseus;
nor need we blame her for her passion, but rather wonder that all men
and women did not share it.
Pages:
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131