back and went to meet him. But as soon as they had viewed one another,
each so admired the gracefulness and beauty, and was seized with such a
respect for the courage, of the other, that they forgot all thoughts of
fighting; and Pirithous, first stretching out his hand to Theseus, bade
him be judge in this case himself, and promised to submit willingly to
any penalty he should impose. But Theseus not only forgave him all, but
entreated him to be his friend and brother in arms; and they ratified
their friendship by oaths. After this Pirithous married Deidamia, and
invited Theseus to the wedding, entreating him to come and see his
country, and make acquaintance with the Lapithae; he had at the same
time invited the Centaurs to the feast, who growing hot with wine and
beginning to be insolent and wild, and offering violence to the women,
the Lapithae took immediate revenge upon them, slaying many of them upon
the place, and afterwards, having overcome them in battle, drove the
whole race of them out of their country, Theseus all along taking their
part and fighting on their side. But Herodorus gives a different
relation of these things: that Theseus came not to the assistance of the
Lapithae till the war was already begun; and that it was in this journey
that he had the first sight of Hercules, having made it his business to
find him out at Trachis, where he had chosen to rest himself after all
his wanderings and his labors; and that this interview was honorably
performed on each part, with extreme respect, good-will, and admiration
of each other. Yet it is more credible, as others write, that there
were, before, frequent interviews between them, and that it was by the
means of Theseus that Hercules was initiated at Eleusis, and purified
before initiation, upon account of several rash actions
of his former life.

Theseus was now fifty years old, as Hellanicus states, when he carried
off Helen, who was yet too young to be married. Some writers, to take