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Such then was the origin of the feud which existed between the
Eginetans and the Athenians. Hence, when the Thebans made their
application for succour, the Eginetans, calling to mind the matter of
images, gladly lent their aid to the Boeotians. They ravaged all the
sea-coast of Attica; and the Athenians were about to attack them in
return, when they were stopped by the oracle of Delphi, which bade
them wait till thirty years had passed from the time that the Eginetans
did the wrong, and in the thirty-first year, having first set apart a
precinct for Aeacus, then to begin the war. "So should they succeed
to their wish," the oracle said; "but if they went to war at once,
though they would still conquer the island in the end, yet they must go
through much suffering and much exertion before taking it." On
receiving this warning the Athenians set apart a precinct for Aeacus
- the same which still remains dedicated to him in their market-place
- but they could not hear with any patience of waiting thirty years,
after they had suffered such grievous wrong at the hands of the Eginetans.
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