Chapter 3Theseus and Pirithous made for quite a spectacle when they arrived at the gates of Athens the next afternoon. Many of the citizens came to gape at the odd parade of the two youths on horseback followed by a herd of white cattle.
They wound their way through the city before coming to the steps of the palace itself, wherein Theseus knew his father must have been told of their coming. He felt his palms grow sweaty.
“Are you all right?” Pirithous asked.
“Yes.” A half-truth. A host of guards lined up on the steps. The largest, clearly the captain, stepped forward.
“What is your business here?” he asked.
The captain was dressed as all the guards were: a bronze breastplate and skirt of leather strips, with bare arms and legs but for greaves and arm guards of matching bronze. His fac
