As he approached Attica, on his return, both he and his steersman in their delight forgot to hoist the sail which was to be a signal of their safety to AEgeus; and he in his despair flung himself down the cliffs and perished.  Theseus, as soon as he reached the harbor, performed at Phalerum the sacrifices which he had vowed to the gods if he returned safe, and sent off a herald to the city with the news of his safe return.

This man met with many who were lamenting the death of the king, and, as was natural, with others who were delighted at the news of their safety, and who congratulated him and wished to crown him with garlands.  These he received, but placed them on his herald’s staff, and when he came back to the seashore, finding that Theseus had not completed his libation, he waited outside the temple, not wishing to disturb the sacrifice.  When the libation was finished he announced the death of AEgeus, and then they all hurried up to the city with loud lamentations:  wherefore to this day, at the Oschophoria, they say that it is not the herald that is crowned, but his staff, and that at the libations the bystanders cry out, “Eleleu, Iou, Iou!” of which cries the first is used by men in haste, or raising the paean for battle, while the second is used by persons in surprise and trouble.

Theseus, after burying his father, paid his vow to Apollo, on the seventh day of the month Pyanepsion; for on this day it was that the rescued youths went up into the city.  The boiling of pulse, which is customary on this anniversary, is said to be done because the rescued youths put what remained of their pulse together into one pot, boiled it all, and merrily feasted on it together.  And on this day also the Athenians carry about the Eiresione, a bough of the olive tree garlanded with wool, just as Theseus had before carried the suppliants’ bough, and covered with first-fruits of all sorts of produce, because the barrenness of the land ceased on that day; and they sing,

    “Eiresione, bring us figs,
      And wheaten loaves, and oil,
    And wine to quaff, that we may all
      Rest merrily from toil.”

However, some say that these ceremonies are performed in memory of the Heracleidae, who were thus entertained by the Athenians; but most writers tell the tale as I have told it.

After the death of AEgeus, Theseus conceived a great and important design.  He gathered together all the inhabitants of Attica and made them citizens of one city, whereas before they had lived dispersed, so as to be hard to assemble together for the common weal, and at times even fighting with one another.

He visited all the villages and tribes, and won their consent, the poor and lower classes gladly accepting his proposals, while he gained over the more powerful by promising that the new constitution should not include a king, but that it should be a pure commonwealth, with himself merely acting as general of its army and guardian of its laws, while in other respects it would allow perfect freedom and equality to every one.  By these arguments he convinced some of them, and the rest knowing his power and courage chose rather to be persuaded than forced into compliance.