Page:An Account of Corsica (1769).djvu/101

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OF CORSICA.
91

Sometime after this, the Minyae, a wandering tribe, who had taken refuge among the Lacedaemonians, having become obnoxious, on account of their aspiring views, were thrown into prison, and condemned to die; but Theras persuaded the Spartans to spare them, promising, that he would carry them out of the country; and accordingly, he carried them to the island of Callista, to join the new colony which he had settled there; and from him, the island was called Thera.

These Minyae, though but a wandering tribe among the Lacedaemonians, were, in reality, of illustrious descent, being the posterity of the heroick Argonauts[1].

  1. τῶν ἐκ τῆς Ἀργοῦς ἐπιβατέων παίδων παῖδες. ἐξελασθέντες ὑπὸ Πελασγῶν τῶν ἐκ Βραυρῶνος ληισαμένων τὰς Ἀθηναίων γυναῖκας, ὑπὸ τούτων ἐξελασθέντες ἐκ Λήμνου, οἴχοντο πλέοντες ἐς Λακεδαίμονα, Ίζόμενοι δὲ ἐν τῷ Τηϋγέτῳ, πῦρἀν έκαιον. Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ ἰδόντες, ἄγγελον ἔπεμπον πευσόμενοι τίνες τε καὶ ὁκόθεν εἰσί. Οἳ δὲ τῷ ἀγγέλῳ εἰρωτῶντι ἔλεγον ὡς εἴησαν μὲν Μινύαι, παῖδες δὲ εἶεν τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἀργοῖ πλεόντων ἡρώων προσσχόντας δὲ τούτους ἐς Λῆμνον, φυτεῦσαι σφέας. Οἱ δὲ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἀκηκοότες τὸν λόγον τῆς γενεῆς τῶν Μινυέων, πέμψαντες τὸ δεύτερον, εἰρώτων τί θέλοντες ἥκοιέν τε ἐς τὴν χώρην καὶ πῦρ αἴθοιεν. Οἳ δὲ ἔφασαν ὑπὸ Πελασγῶν ἐκβληθέντες ἥκειν ἐς τοὺς πατέρας: δικαιότατον γὰρ εἶναι οὕτω τοῦτο