“ ‘Much to be honoured art thou, yet none doth render thee honour. Labda conceives, and a rolling rock will she bear, which shall ruin Down on the heads of the kings, and with chastisement visit Corinthos.’
This answer given to Aetion was by some means reported to the Bacchiadai, to whom the oracle which had come to Corinth before this was not intelligible, an oracle which had reference to the same thing as that of Aetion and said thus:
“ ‘An eagle conceives in the rocks and shall bear a ravening lion, Strong and fierce to devour, who the knees of many shall loosen. Ponder this well in your minds, I bid you, Corinthians, whose dwelling Lies about fair Peirene’s spring and in craggy Corinthos.’
(c) This oracle, I say, having come before to the Bacchiadai was obscure; but afterwards when they heard that which had come to Aetion, forthwith they understood the former also, that it was in accord with that of Aetion; and understanding this one also they kept quiet, desiring to destroy the offspring which should be born to Aetion. Then, so soon as his wife bore a child, they sent ten of their own number to the deme in which Aetion had his dwelling, to slay the child; and when these had come to Petra and had passed into the court of Aetion’s house, they