One of the handsomest, cleverest, and bravest princes of those wonderful days was called Theseus. His father, who was a great king, was obliged to leave his little son to be brought up entirely by the queen, while he himself went away to rule over his kingdom of Athens. But, before he started, he lifted a big rock and placed his sword and sandals beneath it. Then he told the queen that, as soon as Theseus was big and strong enough to raise the stone, he must take the sword in his hand, fasten the sandals on his feet, and set off to join his royal father at the court in the city.

Well, little Theseus grew up, and one day his mother led him to the stone and asked him if he thought he could lift it. Easily the young prince raised the big rock — and there lay the sword and sandals! Delighted at her son's strength, the queen told him why they had been left there, and to whom they belonged. So Theseus fastened the sword to his side, the sandals on his feet, and set off immediately, as his father had commanded.

👉 And that's it for now! Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already: Classicsness.com. And if you want to know more about classics and even learn Latin online, check out LatinFromScratch.com.

📚 Source: Once Upon A Time: Children’s Stories From The Classics (1920?) by Blanche Winder (1866-1930).

Photograph by Rama, Wikimedia Commons, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr