40 HISTORICAL TALES.

came king he made Athens supreme over Attica,
putting an end to the separate powers of the tribes
which had before prevailed. He is also said to
have abolished the monarchy, and replaced it by a
government of the people, whom he divided into the
three classes of nobles, husbandmen, and artisans.
He died at length in the island of Scyrus, where he
fell or was thrown from the cliffs. Ages later, after
the Persian war, the Delphic oracle bade the Athe-
nians to bring back the bones of Theseus from Scy-
rus, and bury them splendidly in Attic soil. Cimon,
the son of Miltiades, found—or pretended to find—
the hero’s tomb, and returned with the famous bones.
They were buried in the heart of Athens, and over
them was erected the monument called the Theseium,
which became afterwards a place of sanctuary for
slaves escaping from cruel treatment and for all
persons in peril. Theseus, who had been the cham-
pion of the oppressed during life, thus became their
refuge after death.