which day even now they send maidens as suppliants to the temple of the
Delphian Apollo. And there is a legend that the Delphian oracle told him
that Aphrodite would be his guide and fellow-traveller, and that when he
was sacrificing a she-goat to her by the seaside, it became a he-goat;
wherefore the goddess is called Epitragia.

XIX. When they reached Crete, according to most historians and poets,
Ariadne fell in love with him, and from her he received the clue of
string, and was taught how to thread the mazes of the Labyrinth. He slew
the Minotaur, and, taking with him Ariadne and the youths, sailed away.
Pherekydes also says that Theseus also knocked out the bottoms of the
Cretan ships, to prevent pursuit. But Demon says that Taurus, Minos's
general, was slain in a sea-fight in the harbour, when Theseus sailed
away. But according to Philochorus, when Minos instituted his games,
Taurus was expected to win every prize, and was grudged this honour; for
his great influence and his unpopular manners made him disliked, and
scandal said, that he was too intimate with Pasiphae. On this account,
when Theseus offered to contend with him, Minos agreed. And, as it was
the custom in Crete for women as well as men to be spectators of the
games, Ariadne was present, and was struck with the appearance of
Theseus, and his strength, as he conquered all competitors. Minos was
especially pleased, in the wrestling match, at Taurus's defeat and
shame, and, restoring the children to Theseus, remitted the tribute for
the future. Kleidemus tells the story in his own fashion and at
unnecessary length, beginning much farther back. There was, he says, a
decree passed by all the Greeks, that no ship should sail from any post
with more than five hands on board, but Jason alone, the master of the
great ship Argo, should cruise about, and keep the sea free of pirates.
Now when Daedalus fled to Athens, Minos, contrary to the decree, pursued
him in long war galleys, and being driven to Sicily by a storm, died