1853, George Grote, History of Greece, page #485:So in regard to the legends of Greece, — Troy, Thêbes, the Argonauts, the Boar of Kalydôn, Hêraklês, Thêseus, Œdipus, — the conviction still holds in men’s minds, that there must be something true at the bottom ; and many readers of this work may be displeased, I fear, not to see conjured up before them the Eidôlon of an authentic history, even though the vital spark of evidence be altogether wanting.¹
1893: Edward Augustus Freeman, Studies of Travel: Greece, page #36 (G. P. Putnam’s sons):If, as some say, the older dedication was really not to Thêseus but to Hêraklês, the parallel is in no way weakened, but rather strengthened.
