Thebes - Revision history

Irlandos at 10:03, May 2, 2011

2011-05-02T10:03:44Z

Irlandos at 11:50, February 18, 2008

2008-02-18T11:50:38Z

Irlandos at 13:12, September 27, 2007

2007-09-27T13:12:51Z

Irlandos: /* Notes */

2006-05-08T19:16:55Z

Notes

Irlandos: /* External links */

2006-05-08T19:16:32Z

External links

Irlandos at 07:43, October 24, 2005

2005-10-24T07:43:55Z

Irlandos at 07:43, October 24, 2005

2005-10-24T07:43:16Z

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'''Thebes''' (in [[modern Greek|modern]] [[Greek language|Greek]]: Θήβα - ''Thíva'', in [[ancient Greek|ancient]] [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Katharevousa]]: {{Polytonic|Θῆβαι}} - ''Thēbai'' or ''Thívai'') is a city in [[Greece]], situated to the north of the [[Cithaeron]] range, which divides [[Boeotia prefecture|Boeotia]] from [[Attica prefecture|Attica]], and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. In ancient times it was the largest city of the region of Boeotia and the modern city still contains the [[Cadmea]] (ancient citadel).

==History==

The record of the earliest days of Thebes was preserved among the Greeks in an abundant mass of legends which rival the myths of [[Troy]] in their wide ramification and the influence which they exerted upon the literature of the classical age. Five main cycles of story may be distinguished:
#The foundation of the citadel Cadmea by [[Cadmus]], and the growth of the [[Sparti]] or "Sown Men" (probably an aetiological myth designed to explain the origin of the Theban nobility which bore that name in historical times);
#The building of a "seven-gated" wall by [[Amphion]], and the cognate stories of [[Zethus]], [[Antiope (mother of Amphion)|Antiope]] and [[Dirce]];
#The tale of the "house of Laius," culminating in the adventures of [[Oedipus]] and the wars of the "[[Seven Against Thebes]]" and the [[Epigoni]];
#The advent of [[Dionysus]]; and
#The exploits of [[Heracles]].
It is difficult to extract any historical fact out of this maze of myths; the various groups cannot be fully co-ordinated, and a further perplexing feature is the neglect of Thebes in the [[Homer]]ic poems. On the other hand, these myths cannot be entirely discarded, as shown by the recovery in the [[1909]] excavation of the "House of Cadmus", whom legend states was born in [[Tyre]] and taught letters to the Greeks, of a collection of Mesopotamian cylinder-seals, including one referring to a Kassite king who ruled between 1381 and 1354 BC. Further archeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed cist graves dated to [[Mycenae]]an times containing weapons, ivory, and tablets written in [[Linear B]]. It seems safe to infer that it was one of the first Greek communities to be drawn together within a fortified city, that it owed its importance in prehistoric – as in later days – to its military strength. As a fortified community, it attracted attention from the invading [[Dorian]]s, and the fact of their eventual conquest of Thebes lie behind the stories of the successive legendary attacks on that city.

The central position and military security of the city naturally tended to raise it to a commanding position among the Boeotians, and from early days its inhabitants endeavoured to establish a complete supremacy over their kinsmen in the outlying towns. This centralizing policy is as much the cardinal fact of Theban history as the counteracting effort of the smaller towns to resist absorption forms the main chapter of the story of Boeotia. No details of the earlier history of Thebes have been preserved, except that it was governed by a land-holding [[aristocracy]] who safeguarded their integrity by rigid statutes about the ownership of property and its transmission.

In the late [[6th century BC]] the Thebans were brought for the first time into hostile contact with the [[Athens|Athenians]], who helped the small village of [[Plataea]] to maintain its independence against them, and in [[506 BC|506]] repelled an inroad into Attica. The aversion to Athens best serves to explain the unpatriotic attitude which Thebes displayed during the [[Greco-Persian Wars#Xerxes's Invasion|Persian invasion of Greece]] ([[480 BC|480]]–[[479 BC]]). Though a contingent of 700 was sent to [[Battle of Thermopylae|Thermopylae]] and remained there with [[Leonidas]] until just before the last stand when they surrendered to the Persians{{ref|Herodotus_VII}}, the governing aristocracy soon after joined King [[Xerxes I]] with great readiness and fought zealously on his behalf at the [[battle of Plataea]] in [[479 BC]]. The victorious Greeks subsequently punished Thebes by depriving it of the presidency of the [[Boeotian League]], and an attempt by the Spartans to expel it from the [[Delphic League|Delphic]] [[amphictyony]] was only frustrated by the intercession of Athens.

In [[457 BC|457]] Sparta, needing a counterpoise against Athens in central Greece, reversed her policy and reinstated Thebes as the dominant power in Boeotia. The great citadel of Cadmea served this purpose well by holding out as a base of resistance when the Athenians overran and occupied the rest of the country ([[457 BC|457]]–[[447 BC|447]]). In the [[Peloponnesian War]] the Thebans, embittered by the support which Athens gave to the smaller Boeotian towns, and especially to Plataea, which they vainly attempted to reduce in [[431 BC|431]], were firm allies of Sparta, which in turn helped them to besiege Plataea and allowed them to destroy the town after its capture in [[427 BC]]. In [[424 BC|424]] at the head of the Boeotian levy they inflicted a severe defeat upon an invading force of Athenians at the [[Battle of Delium]], and for the first time displayed the effects of that firm military organization which eventually raised them to predominant power in Greece.

After the downfall of Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War the Thebans, finding that Sparta intended to protect the states which they desired to annex, broke off the alliance. In [[404 BC|404]] they had urged the complete destruction of Athens, yet in [[403 BC|403]] they secretly supported the restoration of its democracy in order to find in it a counterpoise against Sparta. A few years later, influenced perhaps in part by Persian gold, they formed the nucleus of the league against Sparta. At the battles of [[Battle of Haliartus|Haliartus]] ([[395 BC|395]]) and [[Battle of Coronea|Coronea]] ([[394 BC|394]]) they again proved their rising military capacity by standing their ground against the Spartans. The result of the war was especially disastrous to Thebes, as the general settlement of [[387 BC|387]] stipulated the complete autonomy of all Greek towns and so withdrew the other Boeotians from its political control. Its power was further curtailed in [[382 BC|382]], when a Spartan force occupied the citadel by a treacherous coup-de-main. Three years later the Spartan garrison was expelled, and a democratic constitution definitely set up in place of the traditional oligarchy. In the consequent wars with Sparta the Theban army, trained and led by [[Epaminondas]] and [[Pelopidas]], proved itself the best in Greece. Some years of desultory fighting, in which Thebes established its control over all Boeotia, culminated in [[371 BC|371]] in a remarkable victory over the pick of the Spartans at [[Battle of Leuctra|Leuctra]]. The winners were hailed throughout Greece as champions of the oppressed. They carried their arms into [[Peloponnesus]] and at the head of a large coalition permanently crippled the power of Sparta. Similar expeditions were sent to [[Thessaly]] and [[Macedonia]] to regulate the affairs of those regions.

However the predominance of Thebes was short-lived; the states which she protected refused to subject themselves permanently to her control, and the renewed rivalry of Athens, which had joined with Thebes in 395 in a common fear of Sparta, but since 371 had endeavoured to maintain the balance of power against her ally, prevented the formation of a Theban empire. With the death of [[Epaminondas]] at [[Mantinea]] in [[362 BC|362]] the city sank again to the position of a secondary power. In a war with the neighbouring state of [[Phocis]] ([[356 BC|356]]–[[346 BC|346]]) it could not even maintain its predominance in central Greece, and by inviting [[Philip II of Macedon]] to crush the Phocians it extended that monarch's power within dangerous proximity to its frontiers. A revulsion of feeling was completed in 338 by the orator [[Demosthenes]], who persuaded Thebes to join Athens in a final attempt to bar Philip's advance upon Attica. The Theban contingent lost the decisive [[battle of Chaeronea]] and along with it every hope of reassuming control over Greece. Philip was content to deprive Thebes of her dominion over Boeotia; but an unsuccessful revolt in [[335 BC|335]] against his son [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] was punished by Macedon and other Greek states by the severe sacking of the city, except, according to tradition, the house of the poet [[Pindar]].

The city was refurbished in [[315 BC|315]] by [[Cassander]], but it never again played a prominent part in Greek politics. It suffered from the establishment of [[Chalcis]] as the chief fortress of central Greece, and was severely handled by the Roman conquerors [[Mummius]] and Sulla. [[Strabo]] describes it as a mere village, and in [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]'s time (mid-[[1st century]]) its citadel alone was inhabited. During the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] period it served as a place of refuge against foreign invaders, and from the [[10th century]], became a centre of the new silk trade. Though severely plundered by the Normans in [[1146]] it recovered its prosperity and was selected by the Frankish dynasty de la Roche as its capital. In [[1311]] it was sacked by the Catalan Company. Today the city of Thebes still exists on Greek soil but only as a shadow of its former self.

''Portions of the historical section were taken from the [[1911 Encyclopedia Britannica]].''

==See also==
* [[List of traditional Greek place names]]

==Bibliography==
* [[Herodotus]] "''The Histories of Herodotus''"

==Notes==
#{{note|Herodotus_VII}} Herodotus [[#Bibliography|Bibliography]] VII:205 ,222,223.

==External links==

*[http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/thebes.html Timeless Myths - House of Thebes]

[[Category:Ancient Greek cities]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:03, May 2, 2011
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	'''Thebes''' (in [[modern Greek\|modern]] [[Greek language\|Greek]]: Θήβα - ''Thíva'', in [[ancient Greek\|ancient]] [[Greek language\|Greek]] and [[Katharevousa]]: - ''Thēbai'' or ''Thívai'') is a city in [[Greece]], situated to the north of the [[Cithaeron]] range, which divides [[Boeotia prefecture\|Boeotia]] from [[Attica prefecture\|Attica]], and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. In ancient times it was the largest city of the region of Boeotia and the modern city still contains the [[~~Cadmea~~]] (ancient citadel).	+	'''Thebes''' (in [[modern Greek\|modern]] [[Greek language\|Greek]]: Θήβα - ''Thíva'', in [[ancient Greek\|ancient]] [[Greek language\|Greek]] and [[Katharevousa]]: - ''Thēbai'' or ''Thívai'') is a city in [[Greece]], situated to the north of the [[Cithaeron]] range, which divides [[Boeotia prefecture\|Boeotia]] from [[Attica prefecture\|Attica]], and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. In ancient times it was the largest city of the region of Boeotia and the modern city still contains the [[Cadmeia]] (ancient citadel).

	==History==		==History==

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 However the predominance of Thebes was short-lived; the states which she protected refused to subject themselves permanently to her control, and the renewed rivalry of Athens, which had joined with Thebes in 395 in a common fear of Sparta, but since 371 had endeavoured to maintain the balance of power against her ally, prevented the formation of a Theban empire. With the death of [[Epaminondas]] at [[Mantinea]] in [[362 BC|362]] the city sank again to the position of a secondary power. In a war with the neighbouring state of [[Phocis]] ([[356 BC|356]]&ndash;[[346 BC|346]]) it could not even maintain its predominance in central Greece, and by inviting [[Philip II of Macedon]] to crush the Phocians it extended that monarch's power within dangerous proximity to its frontiers. A revulsion of feeling was completed in 338 by the orator [[Demosthenes]], who persuaded Thebes to join Athens in a final attempt to bar Philip's advance upon Attica. The Theban contingent lost the decisive [[battle of Chaeronea]] and along with it every hope of reassuming control over Greece. Philip was content to deprive Thebes of her dominion over Boeotia; but an unsuccessful revolt in [[335 BC|335]] against his son [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] was punished by Macedon and other Greek states by the severe sacking of the city, except, according to tradition, the house of the poet [[Pindar]].
-The city was refurbished in [[315 BC|315]] by [[Cassander]], but it never again played a prominent part in Greek politics. It suffered from the establishment of [[Chalcis]] as the chief fortress of central Greece, and was severely handled by the Roman conquerors [[Mummius]] and Sulla. [[Strabo]] describes it as a mere village, and in [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]'s time (mid-[[1st century]]) its citadel alone was inhabited. During the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] period it served as a place of refuge against foreign invaders, and from the [[10th century]], became a centre of the new silk trade. Though severely plundered by the Normans in [[1146]] it recovered its prosperity and was selected by the Frankish dynasty de la Roche as its capital. In [[1311]] it was sacked by the Catalan Company. Today the city of Thebes still exists on Greek soil but only as a shadow of its former self.
+The city was refurbished in [[315 BC|315]] by [[Cassander]], but it never again played a prominent part in Greek politics. It suffered from the establishment of [[Chalcis]] as the chief fortress of central Greece, and was severely handled by the Roman conquerors [[Mummius]] and Sulla. [[Strabo]] describes it as a mere village, and in [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]'s time (mid-[[1st century]]) its citadel alone was inhabited. During the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] period it served as a place of refuge against foreign invaders, and from the [[10th century]], became a centre of the new silk trade. Though severely plundered by the Normans in [[1146]] it recovered its prosperity and was selected by the Frankish dynasty de la Roche as its capital. In [[1311]] it was sacked by the Catalan Company.
 ''Portions of the historical section were taken from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.''

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 #The advent of [[Dionysus]]; and
 #The exploits of [[Heracles]].
-It is difficult to extract any historical fact out of this maze of myths; the various groups cannot be fully co-ordinated, and a further perplexing feature is the neglect of Thebes in the [[Homer]]ic poems. On the other hand, these myths cannot be entirely discarded, as shown by the recovery in the [[1909]] excavation of the "House of Cadmus", whom legend states was born in [[Tyre]] and taught letters to the Greeks, of a collection of Mesopotamian cylinder-seals, including one referring to a Kassite king who ruled between 1381 and 1354 BC. Further archeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed cist graves dated to [[Mycenae]]an times containing weapons, ivory, and tablets written in [[Linear B]]. It seems safe to infer that it was one of the first Greek communities to be drawn together within a fortified city, that it owed its importance in prehistoric &ndash; as in later days &ndash; to its military strength. As a fortified community, it attracted attention from the invading [[Dorian]]s, and the fact of their eventual conquest of Thebes lie behind the stories of the successive legendary attacks on that city.
+It is difficult to extract any historical fact out of this maze of myths; the various groups cannot be fully co-ordinated, and a further perplexing feature is the neglect of Thebes in the [[Homer]]ic poems. On the other hand, these myths cannot be entirely discarded, as shown by the recovery in the [[1909]] excavation of the "House of Cadmus", whom legend states was born in Tyre and taught letters to the Greeks, of a collection of Mesopotamian cylinder-seals, including one referring to a Kassite king who ruled between 1381 and 1354 BC. Further archeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed cist graves dated to [[Mycenae]]an times containing weapons, ivory, and tablets written in [[Linear B]]. It seems safe to infer that it was one of the first Greek communities to be drawn together within a fortified city, that it owed its importance in prehistoric &ndash; as in later days &ndash; to its military strength. As a fortified community, it attracted attention from the invading [[Dorian]]s, and the fact of their eventual conquest of Thebes lie behind the stories of the successive legendary attacks on that city.
-The central position and military security of the city naturally tended to raise it to a commanding position among the Boeotians, and from early days its inhabitants endeavoured to establish a complete supremacy over their kinsmen in the outlying towns. This centralizing policy is as much the cardinal fact of Theban history as the counteracting effort of the smaller towns to resist absorption forms the main chapter of the story of Boeotia. No details of the earlier history of Thebes have been preserved, except that it was governed by a land-holding [[aristocracy]] who safeguarded their integrity by rigid statutes about the ownership of property and its transmission.
+The central position and military security of the city naturally tended to raise it to a commanding position among the Boeotians, and from early days its inhabitants endeavoured to establish a complete supremacy over their kinsmen in the outlying towns. This centralizing policy is as much the cardinal fact of Theban history as the counteracting effort of the smaller towns to resist absorption forms the main chapter of the story of Boeotia. No details of the earlier history of Thebes have been preserved, except that it was governed by a land-holding aristocracy who safeguarded their integrity by rigid statutes about the ownership of property and its transmission.
 In the late [[6th century BC]] the Thebans were brought for the first time into hostile contact with the [[Athens|Athenians]], who helped the small village of [[Plataea]] to maintain its independence against them, and in [[506 BC|506]] repelled an inroad into Attica. The aversion to Athens best serves to explain the unpatriotic attitude which Thebes displayed during the [[Greco-Persian Wars#Xerxes's Invasion|Persian invasion of Greece]] ([[480 BC|480]]&ndash;[[479 BC]]). Though a contingent of 700 was sent to [[Battle of Thermopylae|Thermopylae]] and remained there with [[Leonidas]] until just before the last stand when they surrendered to the Persians{{ref|Herodotus_VII}}, the governing aristocracy soon after joined King [[Xerxes I]] with great readiness and fought zealously on his behalf at the [[battle of Plataea]] in [[479 BC]]. The victorious Greeks subsequently punished Thebes by depriving it of the presidency of the [[Boeotian League]], and an attempt by the Spartans to expel it from the [[Delphic League|Delphic]] [[amphictyony]] was only frustrated by the intercession of Athens.
@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 The city was refurbished in [[315 BC|315]] by [[Cassander]], but it never again played a prominent part in Greek politics. It suffered from the establishment of [[Chalcis]] as the chief fortress of central Greece, and was severely handled by the Roman conquerors [[Mummius]] and Sulla. [[Strabo]] describes it as a mere village, and in [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]'s time (mid-[[1st century]]) its citadel alone was inhabited. During the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] period it served as a place of refuge against foreign invaders, and from the [[10th century]], became a centre of the new silk trade. Though severely plundered by the Normans in [[1146]] it recovered its prosperity and was selected by the Frankish dynasty de la Roche as its capital. In [[1311]] it was sacked by the Catalan Company. Today the city of Thebes still exists on Greek soil but only as a shadow of its former self.
-''Portions of the historical section were taken from the [[1911 Encyclopedia Britannica]].''
+''Portions of the historical section were taken from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.''
 ==Bibliography==
@@ Line 33: / Line 31: @@
 ==Notes==
-# Herodotus [[#Bibliography|Bibliography]] VII:205 ,222,223.
+# Herodotus [[Bibliography]] VII:205 ,222,223.
 ==External links==

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:16, May 8, 2006
Line 40:		Line 40:

	[[Category:Ancient Greek cities]]		[[Category:Ancient Greek cities]]
		+	[[Category:Boeotia prefecture]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:43, October 24, 2005
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	'''Thebes''' (in [[modern Greek\|modern]] [[Greek language\|Greek]]: Θήβα - ''Thíva'', in [[ancient Greek\|ancient]] [[Greek language\|Greek]] and [[Katharevousa]]: ~~{{Polytonic\|Θῆβαι}}~~ - ''Thēbai'' or ''Thívai'') is a city in [[Greece]], situated to the north of the [[Cithaeron]] range, which divides [[Boeotia prefecture\|Boeotia]] from [[Attica prefecture\|Attica]], and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. In ancient times it was the largest city of the region of Boeotia and the modern city still contains the [[Cadmea]] (ancient citadel).	+	'''Thebes''' (in [[modern Greek\|modern]] [[Greek language\|Greek]]: Θήβα - ''Thíva'', in [[ancient Greek\|ancient]] [[Greek language\|Greek]] and [[Katharevousa]]: - ''Thēbai'' or ''Thívai'') is a city in [[Greece]], situated to the north of the [[Cithaeron]] range, which divides [[Boeotia prefecture\|Boeotia]] from [[Attica prefecture\|Attica]], and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. In ancient times it was the largest city of the region of Boeotia and the modern city still contains the [[Cadmea]] (ancient citadel).

	==History==		==History==