An Athenian and a Theban were on the road together, and passed the time in conversation, as is the way of travellers. After discussing a variety of subjects they began to talk about heroes, a topic that tends to be more fertile than edifying. Each of them was lavish in his praises of the heroes of his own city, until eventually the Theban asserted that Hercules was the greatest hero who had ever lived on earth, and now occupied a foremost place among the gods; while the Athenian insisted that Theseus was far superior, for his fortune had been in every way supremely blessed, whereas Hercules had at one time been forced to act as a servant. And he gained his point, for he was a very glib fellow, like all Athenians; so that the Theban, who was no match for him in talking, cried at last in some disgust, “All right, have your way; I only hope that, when our heroes are angry with us, Athens may suffer from the anger of Hercules, and Thebes only from that of Theseus.”
一个雅典人和一个底比斯人一起行路，和其他的旅行者一样，他们在路上聊天来打发时间。在谈论了很多话题之后，他们谈到了英雄，这个话题虽然没有太多教育意义，却有许多值得说的。他们都大力夸耀各自城邦的英雄，到最后，底比斯人坚持说赫拉克勒斯是世上最伟大的英雄，现在跻身于众神的前列。而雅典人则坚称忒修斯更加伟大，因为他的命运在多方面都受到了眷顾，而赫拉克勒斯却曾经被迫为奴。他证明了自己的观点，因为他像所有的雅典人一样牙尖嘴利，底比斯人在说话方面根本不是他的对手，最后厌恶地说：“好吧，随便你，我只希望，我们的英雄发怒，让雅典人尝尝赫拉克勒斯的厉害，而底比斯人则只受忒修斯的苦。”