He endeavoured to establish his government by force, but was overpowered by faction; and at last, despairing of success, he secretly sent his children to Euboea, to Elephenor, the son of Chalkodous; and he himself, after solemnly uttering curses on the Athenians at Gargettus, where now is the place called Araterion, or the place of curses, set sail for Skyros, where he was, he imagined, on friendly terms with the inhabitants, and possessed a paternal estate in the island.  At that time Lykomedes was king of Skyros; so he proceeded to demand from him his lands, in order to live there, though some say that he asked him to assist him against the Athenians.  Lykomedes, either in fear of the great reputation of Theseus, or else to gain the favour of Mnestheus, led him up to the highest mountain top in the country, on the pretext of showing him his estate from thence, and pushed him over a precipice.  Some say that he stumbled and fell of himself, as he was walking after supper, according to his custom.  As soon as he was dead, no one thought any more of him, but Mnestheus reigned over the Athenians, while Theseus’s children were brought up as private citizens by Elephenor, and followed him to Ilium.  When Mnestheus died at Ilium, they returned home and resumed their rightful sovereignty.  In subsequent times, among many other things which led the Athenians to honour Theseus as a hero or demi-god, most remarkable was his appearance at the battle of Marathon, where his spirit was seen by many, clad in armour, leading the charge against the barbarians.

XXXVI.  After the Persian war, in the archonship of Phaedo, the Athenians were told by the Delphian Oracle to take home the bones of Theseus and keep them with the greatest care and honour.  There was great difficulty in obtaining them and in discovering his tomb, on account of the wild and savage habits of the natives of the island.  However, Kimon took the island, as is written in my history of his Life, and making it a point of honour to discover his tomb, he chanced to behold an eagle pecking with its beak and scratching with its talons at a small rising ground.  Here he dug, imagining that the spot had been pointed out by a miracle.  There was found the coffin of a man of great stature, and lying beside it a brazen lance-head and a sword.  These relics were brought to Athens by Kimon, on board of his trireme, and the delighted Athenians received them with splendid processions and sacrifices, just as if the hero himself were come to the city.  He is buried in the midst of the city, near where the Gymnasium now stands, and his tomb is a place of sanctuary for slaves, and all that are poor and oppressed, because Theseus, during his life, was the champion and avenger of the poor, and always kindly hearkened to their prayers.  Their greatest sacrifice in his honour takes place on the eighth of the month of Pyanepsion, upon which day he and the youths came back from Crete.  But besides this they hold a service in his honour on the eighth