18
In the first place TheseusFor Isocrates’ view of Theseus see Isoc. 12.126 ff., with his references to this discussion of the hero. For Theseus see Eur. Hipp. 887 ff. and Plut. Thes. Theseus, reputed son of Aegeus and of Aethra, daughter of Pittheus, king of Troezen in Argolis, was honored as the founder of the political institutions of Athens. Cf. p. 79 and note., reputedly the son of Aegeus, but in reality the progeny of Poseidon, seeing Helen not as yet in the full bloom of her beauty, but already surpassing other maidens, was so captivated by her loveliness that he, accustomed as he was to subdue others, and although the possessor of a fatherland most great and a kingdom most secure, thought life was not worth living amid the blessings he already had unless he could enjoy intimacy with her.
19
And when he was unable to obtain her from her guardians—for they were awaiting her maturity and the fulfilment of the oracle which the Pythian priestess had given—scorning the royal power of TyndareusFather of Helen., disdaining the might of Castor and PolluxBrothers of Helen., and belittling all the hazards in Lacedaemon, he seized her by force and established her at Aphidna in Attica.
20
So grateful was Theseus to Peirithos, his partner in the abduction, that when Peirithos wished to woo Persephon, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and summoned him to the descent into Hades to obtain her, when Theseus found that he could not by his warnings dissuade his friend, although the danger was manifest he nevertheless accompanied him, for he was of opinion that he owed this debtFor the figure of speech in ἔρανος see Isoc. 11.1 and Plat. Sym. 177c. of gratitude—to decline no task enjoined by Peirithos in return for his help in his own perilous enterprise.
