Page:Stories from Old English Poetry-1899.djvu/23



FTER Theseus, duke of Athens, had married Hypolita, the fair and brave queen of the Amazons, all Greece dwelt for a time in peace and happiness. Hypolita herself shone in peace no less than in war, and was a noble ornament in the palace of the duke.

But Theseus was not a warrior to remain long idle. Very shortly after he had safely bestowed on his queen the half of his royal throne, chivalry called him to Thebes to avenge the wrongs some fair women had suffered at the hands of the Theban king. And after devastating that city, and slaying King Creon in honorable battle, the duke came back to Greece, again a conqueror.

Then the merry-making that was seen in Athens cannot now be told; nor how the queen Hypolita proudly greeted her victorious lord&mdash;nor how the ladies of the court vied to do him honor. All this you must fancy while you hear of sadder things.

In Thebes had lived two noble kinsmen,