That near-annihilation caused Thebes to be 'forgotten' in the most literal sense for 20 years it simply ceased to exist. After sending 400 troops to help Leonidas I at the Battle of Thermopylae, Thebes would decide to side with King Xerxes I of Persia against the coalition of Sparta and Athens. Acclaimed historian Paul Cartledge brings ancient Thebes vividly to life in this fascinating account of what was once the most powerful city in Ancient Greece. The two great templesLuxor Temple and Karnakand the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens are among the greatest achievements of ancient Egypt. From the very start Thebes would help small villages surrounding Athens remain independent by supplying resources. Oedipus and the sphinx. One of ancient Greeces most revered musicians was born in Thebes. "Luxor". Scientists have been baffled by this 2,000-year-old 'computer' since it was discovered 120 years ago. Cadmus is supposed to have brought the Cadmean lettersthe alphabetto Greece. Pindar, the most famous Greek poet of the day, also resided at Thebes. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Right from its inception, we see the lively narrative of myth at work in the history of Thebes. Thebes even boasted two homegrown yet Panhellenic gods: Dionysus, god of theater and wine, and the hero-turned-god, Heracles. Ancient Greek mythology tells us that Thebes was founded by a warrior prince from the Near East, in a region that is located in modern-day Lebanon. Fred Edlin Thebes was well-known in Greek mythology and literature. However, the reality is that Thebes time in the limelight was short lived. The ancient story has intense dramatic appeal; through Seneca the theme was transmitted to a long succession of playwrights, including Pierre Corneille, John Dryden, and Voltaire. Finally by c.2050 BC, Intef III's son Mentuhotep II (meaning "Montu is satisfied"), took the Herakleopolitans by force and reunited Egypt once again under one ruler, thereby starting the period now known as the Middle Kingdom. I have a go at trying to answer that tough question in the book. Well it all comes down to these 3 reasons. In the following years, Thebes was subdued, and the city turned into rubble. It was the setting for the legends of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus, Heracles, and others in Greek mythology Thebes, Greece. Its territory included most of the present-day country of Boeotia, as well as parts of central Greece. Continue with Recommended Cookies. One of the main things that ancient Thebes was known for was fighting against the Greeks during the Greco-Persian wars. Athens, Sparta and various other Greek city-states abandoned the rebellion and left Thebes to defend Greek freedom on their own. Ancient History Encyclopedia. After slaying a dragon, he sowed the land with its teeth, from which sprang the first Thebans; like the Athenians, the Thebans considered themselves autochthonous. At the watershed Battle of Leuctra in 371 B.C., Epaminondas made a radical shift, placing his strongest fighters (his special force, the Sacred Band) on the left flank, to face the prime Spartan fighters. [27], With the 19th Dynasty the seat of government moved to the Delta. The myth goes as follows: Europa who was Cadmus' sister was captured and raped by the Greek god-king, Zeus. The good relationship of the Thebans with the central power in the North ended when the native Egyptian pharaohs were finally replaced by Greeks, led by Alexander the Great. And yet even in defeat Thebes was inspiring. Indeed, over the last two millennia Thebes has passed from memory but its mark on history is remarkable. Athens, perhaps the greatest city of antiquity, seemingly dominates the world of high culture in the Ancient Greek Age. Thebes Information Homer, the Greek poet, wrote of Thebes' prosperity in The Iliad. It was close to Nubia and the Eastern Desert, with its valuable mineral resources and trade routes. During the Graeco-Persian Wars, Thebes sided with the Persians, in part due to the city's conflict with Athens . After this, colossal enlargements of the temple became the norm throughout the New Kingdom. If you imagine yourself in ancient Greece, it is probably in one of the two principal cities (or city-states), democratic, fractious, philosophy-loving Athens, or oligarchic, disciplined, anti-tyrannical Sparta. The city, located 31 miles north of Athens, is situated on a plain bordered by the Cithaeron Mountains and Lake Yliki and is still populated today. This was the start of the brief lived Theban hegemony where Thebes was the leader of the Greek city states. So significant was his poetry that Pindar was commissioned to compose a poem to be read at the ancient Olympic Games. Stallings is a poet and translator. History records that Thebes was founded around 1500 B.C. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed a Mycenaean settlement and clay . After his death three years later his nephew (or cousin) Tantamani seized Thebes, invaded Lower Egypt and laid siege to Memphis, but abandoned his attempts to conquer the country in 663 BC and retreated southwards. It is famous for being the birthplace of the Greek hero Hercules and for playing an important role in the legends of Oedipus and Dionysus. Ahmose I drove the Hyksos out of Egypt and the Levant and reclaimed the lands formerly ruled by them. In 667 BC, attacked by the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal's army, Taharqa abandoned Lower Egypt and fled to Thebes. When he discovered the fact that he was not only a patricide but also monstrously incestuous, he blinded himself; and when his mother-wife learned the truth, she committed suicide. The Greek poet Homer extolled the wealth of Thebes in the Iliad, Book 9 (c.8th Century BC): " in Egyptian Thebes the heaps of precious ingots gleam, the hundred-gated Thebes. It had a special attraction in the 20th century, motivating among other artists Russian-born composer Igor Stravinskys secular oratorio Oedipus Rex, French writer Andr Gides Oedipe, and French novelist Jean Cocteaus La Machine infernale. Ancient Thebes was located in Greece Thebai (the ancient spelling of Thebes) is not in Egypt but somewhere in the middle of mainland Greece, about 90 km NW of Athens by road. [20], Starting in the later part of the 12th Dynasty, a group of Canaanite people began settling in the eastern Nile Delta. This would cause the heavily fortified left flank to sweep into the Spartan army and swiftly crush it. "The Black Pharaohs". As a response to this Thebes would build up one of the most heavily fortified defensive cities in Greece. Fred's interests include but are not limited to: teaching, writing, publishing, storytelling, and journalism. A Roman legion was headquartered in Luxor temple at the time of Roman campaigns in Nubia. as a royal cemetery called Touboulin. Thebes was a city-state in ancient Greece that once held its own alongside Athens and Sparta. [n 1]. Manage Settings It played an important role in Greek mythology as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others. There was indeed a Thebes in Egypt, which was actually the capital of New Kingdom (late second millennium BCE) Egypt. Later, when the truth became known, Jocasta committed suicide, and Oedipus (according to another version), after blinding himself, went into exile, accompanied by Antigone and Ismene, leaving his brother-in-law Creon as regent. By 1800 BC, the population of Memphis was down to about 30,000, making Thebes the largest city in Egypt at the time. There you have it; an entire article centered around the 3 things that the ancient Greek city of Thebes is best known for. However, even though they won, the cost of the battle proved too much and in 382 BC Thebes would be occupied by Spartan forces. The origin of Athens dates back to the Neolithic Period, but the construction of the Acropolis did not happen until the Bronze Age. However, at one point in time this was the most powerful city in ancient Greece. Sparta attempted to remove Thebes from the Delphic amphictyony. Thebes and Athens would remain fierce rivals for the whole of classical Greece. . He described Thebes as the most powerful city in Europe back then. Soon the city was surrounded by massive stone walls and equipped with a suitably magical number of gates: seven. The biography of the Theban leader Epaminondas (418 B.C.-362 B.C.) Continuing on his way, Oedipus found Thebes plagued by the Sphinx, who put a riddle to all passersby and destroyed those who could not answer. Epaminondas would order his troops to gather on his left flank. Without further ado, here are the 3 things that the ancient Greek city of Thebes is known for. Home Poetry What is Thebes, Greece known for? Thebes has been central to the myths of the Greek gods from the time of its . This was a loose confederation of Greek states that followed the same religion. From 403-394 BC Thebes would defeat Sparta at several battles. Thebes was the largest city in this confederacy and was heavily fortified. The films feature scenes taking place in ancient Egypt in its prime, which affect the story in the modern setting some 3000 years later. Home Travel Greece Thebes Dhmotikh Enothta Ohbaiwn, Thessaly - Central Greece, Greece Thebes was an ancient Mycenaean and Greek city eventually destroyed by Alexander the Great. Encyclopdia Britannica. Alexander the Great himself adopted military tactics from Epaminondas. [1], The Egyptian name for Thebes was ws.t, "City of the ws", the sceptre of the pharaohs, a long staff with an animal's head and a forked base. . Here at The History Ace I strive to publish the best history articles on the internet. .' Retrieved 2016-02-06, from, Wilkinson, T. (2013). Today its history is eclipsed by the famous histories of Athens and Sparta. Oedipus appears in the folk traditions of Albania, Finland, Cyprus, and Greece. Why is Homer called the "Father of European Poetry"? His reign saw a significant amount of building work undertaken throughout Egypt, especially at the city of Thebes, which he made the capital of his kingdom. Thus, the strongest fighters of each army first faced the second strongest fighters of the opposing side. But, being Greek, he then at once qualifies that with a 'but . [13] Historian Ian Morris has estimated that by 1500 BC, Thebes may have grown to be the largest city in the world, with a population of about 75,000, a position it held until about 900 BC, when it was surpassed by Nimrud (among others). They had four children: Eteocles, Polyneices, Antigone, and Ismene. Famous stories: birth of Dionysus, Oedipus, Antigone, Seven against Thebes, Epigoni, et cetera. Here, Paul Cartledge, historian and author of Thebes, shares just a few fascinating facts about the ancient city. Epaminondas, (born c. 410 bc, Thebesdied 362, Mantineia), Theban statesman and military tactician and leader who was largely responsible for breaking the military dominance of Sparta and for altering permanently the balance of power among the Greek states. It is said to be the "Land of the Living". the Kiosk in Karnak) and Nubia before the Assyrians started to wage war against Egypt. While most of the ruins are gone there are still some sites to be seen, such as the palace of Cadmus and the temple of Apollo. As the story goes, Kadmos made the trip across the eastern Mediterranean to mainland Greece, not to found a city but to rescue his sister, Europa, who'd been snatched (and in some versions, raped) by a Greek. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. An amazingly complex computer from over 2,000 years ago has kept scientists on their toes since its discovery. Britannica Quiz Where on Earth is That? Remains of two palatial buildings were also detected. (2009). Thebes fought bravely but in the end Alexander the Great annihilated the city of Thebes. But alas, he was unable to locate her (or unwilling to go against Zeus, the myth gets a bit dicey here.) The first verse of Pindars first Olympian Ode famously begins: 'Best is water . Nine things you really ought to know about the ancient city of Thebes, The Pan Macmillan Diversity Equity and Inclusion Pledge, Macmillan Code of Ethics for Business Partners. The Greek names came into wider use after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, when the country came to be ruled by the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty. When he returns to sea, Poseidon makes him immortal. Both were Peloponnesian, both anti-Spartan, the latter the capital of a new Arcadian federal state, the former an enduring symbol of liberation. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. According to myth, he carried around with him a jar of sacred soil from the site where his mother, Europa, was said to have been abducted by Zeus while out walking one day. Thebes was the main city of the fourth Upper Egyptian nome (Sceptre nome) and was the capital of Egypt for long periods during the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom eras. And yet the rich history of Thebes has been largely forgotten in favour of its rivals Athens and Sparta. He was probably a Pythagorean by leaninga disciple, in his youth, of the philosopher Lysis of Taras. Ancient sources mock Epaminondas for affecting a philosophers dress, owning a single rough and dirty cloak. Famously, the Theban so-called Sacred Band, an elite infantry force first prominent in the 370s, consisted of 150 adult male homosexual couples. The Greek word muthos means simply a(ny) traditional tale. Pindar, while not well know in the modern twenty-first century was a massively influential poet from Thebes that heavily influenced Alexander the Great. When we picture the Athens of Plato or Aristotle, it is easy to forget it was a defeated city, already sliding into its decline. Why did the Roman people love chariot racing? 750 BC) Thebes was in fact an important city in the Mycenean Bronze Age though maybe it was smaller than Athens, Sparta, and Corinth. Thebes, the largest city of the ancient region of Boeotia, was the leader of the Boeotian confederacy, an alliance that was founded in 379 BC after a rebellion freed the cities of Boeotia from Spartan dominance. But the many bells and whistles added to the myth heaped horror upon horror. Were they faster or slower then normal chariots? The founding father of Messene and Megalopolis came from Thebes. By around 750 BC, the Kushites (Nubians) were growing their influence over Thebes and Upper Egypt. Well here is everything! Who was the Greek poet who wrote about Thebes? Years later, Triptolemos' grandson Kadmus arrives in Thebes with some seeds that will grow into trees bearing an endless supply of food. From the founding of Thebes and origins of the Oedipus myth, to the stories of Crates of Thebes and Pindar the poet, this is history that should be remembered. "[16][17], More than sixty annual festivals were celebrated in Thebes. Indeed, this is doubly true for the city-state of Thebes. Fred's favorite thing about his job is that every day brings something new to explore, learn about, or share with others. Greek myths have a timeless, ubiquitous, resonant charm capable of being told and re-told, and appealing to people of all ages. Classical Thebes spent much of its subsequent history trying to expunge the taint of treachery from its reputation. First, Thebes never produced a local historian to rival Thucydides of Athens, and Thebes suffered from being not only Athens near-neighbour but also, for long periods, its active enemy. It was used as an overland trade route going to the Red Sea coast. If at the end you enjoyed this article then consider subscribing to the free newsletter and sharing around the internet. This is probably not the same place as here. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. 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