Chapter I

The Minotaur

In the old city of Trcezene, at the foot of
a lofty mountain, there lived, a very long time
ago, a little boy named Theseus. His grand-
father, King Pittheus, was the sovereign of that
country, and was reckoned a very wise man;
so that Theseus, being brought up in the royal
palace, and being naturally a bright lad, could
hardly fail of profiting by the old king's instruc-
tions. His mother's name was Aethra. As for
his father, the boy had never seen him. But,
from his earliest remembrance, Aethra used to
go with little Theseus into a wood, and sit down
upon a moss-grown rock, which was deeply
sunken into the earth. Here she often talked
with her son about his father, and said that he
was called Aegeus, and that he was a great king,
and ruled over Attica, and dwelt at Athens,

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