Peloponnesus in the number of his children as well as in wealth; and of
these he gave many of his daughters in marriage to the chief men of the
country, and established many of his sons as rulers in various cities.
One of these, Pittheus, the grandfather of Theseus, founded Troezen,
which is indeed but a little state, though he had a greater reputation
than any man of his time for eloquence and wisdom. The nature of this
wisdom of his seems to have been much of the same kind as that which
made the reputation of Hesiod, in the collection of maxims known as the
'Works and Days.' One of these maxims is indeed ascribed to Pittheus:

"Let promised pay be truly paid to friends."

At any rate, this is what Aristotle the philosopher has recorded; and
also Euripides, when he speaks of Hippolytus as "child of holy
Pittheus," shows the prevailing opinion about Pittheus. Now Aegeus
desired to have children, and the Oracle at Delphi is said to have given
him the well-known response, forbidding him to have intercourse with any
woman before he reached Athens, but not appearing to explain this
clearly. Consequently, on his way home, he went to Troezen, and asked
the advice of Pittheus about the response of the God, which ran thus:

"Great chief, the wine-skin's foot must closed remain,
Till thou to Athens art returned again."

Pittheus clearly perceived what the oracle must mean, and persuaded or
cheated Aegeus into an intrigue with Aethra. Afterwards, when he
discovered that he had conversed with the daughter of Pittheus, as he
imagined that she might prove with child, he left behind him his sword
and sandals hidden under a great stone, which had a hollow inside it
exactly fitting them. This he told to Aethra alone, and charged her if a