Thespiae
Θεσπιαί | |
 Silver Obol from Thespiae, 431-424 BCE. Obverse: Boeotian shield. Reverse: crescent, ΘΕΣ[ΠΙΕΩΝ] (of the Thespians). | |
  Location of Thespiae in Boeotia, Greece | |
| Coordinates | 38°17′36″N 23°09′04″E / 38.29333°N 23.15111°E |
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| Type | Ancient city |
| History | |
| Founded | Before c. 750 BCE |
| Periods | Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman |
| Cultures | Ancient Greek |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1882 |
| Archaeologists | Panagiotis Stamatakis |
| Condition | Ruined |
Thespiae (
During the Second Persian invasion of Greece, Thespiae's 700 hoplites remained with the Spartans in the Battle of Thermopylae, fighting the Persians and allowing the Greek forces to retreat. It was one of the few Boeotian cities to stay loyal to Greece after the battle.[2] Although Thespian hoplites are popularly depicted with dark cloaks and crescent shields, no evidence supports their historical accuracy.[3] In Ancient Greece, Thespiae rivaled Thebes and survived through the Roman Empire.[2]
History
In the
Archaic period
In the Archaic period the Thespian nobility was heavily dependent on Thebes.[6] This possibly reflected that land ownership was concentrated in the hands of a small number of nobles, and therefore there was difficulty in equipping an effective force of hoplites.[4]: 96 Thespiae therefore decided to become a close ally of Thebes.[7] The Thespians destroyed Ascra at some point between 700–650 BCE, and later settled Eutresis between 600–550 BCE. Thespiae also took control over Creusis, Siphae, Thisbe and Chorisae, probably some time in the late sixth century.[4]: 98–99
The Thessalians invaded Boeotia as far as Thespiae, more than 200 years before Leuctra (according to Plutarch), c. 571 BCE, which might have given Thespiae the impetus to join the Boeotian League.[8] But elsewhere Plutarch gives a date for the Thessalian invasion as shortly preceding the Second Persian War.[9] Herodotus suggests that Thespiae had been a member of the league as long as Thebes had been.[7] Following the Persian Wars, Thespiae provided two Boeotarchs to the league, rather than one; perhaps one for the city and one for the districts under its control.[4]: 134, 155
Persian, Peloponnesian, and Corinthian wars
By the time of the
During the Athenian invasion of Boeotia in 424 BCE, the Thespian contingent of the Boeotian army sustained heavy losses at the Battle of Delium.[1] In the next year the Thebans dismantled the walls of Thespiae on the charge that the Thespians were pro-Athenian, perhaps as a measure to prevent a democratic revolution.[12][13][4]: 161 In 414 the Thebans aided the Thespians in suppressing a democratic revolution.[14]
In the
Hellenistic period
In 335 BCE, the Thespians joined in an alliance with
In the
During the
Pausanias wrote that Thespians dedicated at Olympia a statue of Pleistaenus (Πλείσταινος), son of the Eurydamus (Εὐρυδάμος), who was the general against the Gauls.[23]
Mythology
Narcissus was a Thespian youth who, after gazing upon his reflection in a pool, fell in love with himself, leading to his demise.[24] While visiting Thespiae, Heracles killed the Lion of Cithaeron and was given a night with each of the fifty daughters of king Thespius as a reward.[25] Besides Thespius, another candidate for the origin of the name "Thespiae" is Thespia, a Naiad-nymph of the city, abducted there by Apollo. She was a daughter of the river god Asopus.[5][26]
The Muses often dwelled on the sacred spring Hippocrene located at Thespiae's Mount Helicon, which is believed to have been created by Pegasus when it stomped its hoof on the ground.[27][28]
The city is also said to have been attacked by a serpent, the Thespian Dragon, and was prompted by Zeus to sacrifice a child every year as a solution. This ended when a man named Menestheus, wearing a spiked breastplate, was swallowed by the Dragon and killed it.[29]
Ancient religion
According to
The Thespians celebrated the Erotidia (
The Thespians also worshipped the
Clement of Alexandria writes that at Thespiae there was a statue of the Cithaeronian Hera.[33]
Thespians
Citizens of Thespiae are called Thespians. The
- Demophilus of Thespiae – Commander of the Thespian force at the Battle of Thermopylae.
- Phryne – a hetaira. She is best known for her trial for impiety, where she was defended by the orator Hypereides.
- Amphion (Ancient Greek: Ἀμφίων) – An ancient writer.[34]
Archaeology
Remains of what was probably the ancient acropolis consists of an oval line of fortification, while the ground to the east and south are covered with foundations. In 1882, the remains of a communal tomb (polyandrion), including a colossal stone lion, were discovered on the road to Leuctra. The tomb contains both cremated remains, associated with an in-situ pyre, and seven inhumations. The tomb dates from the second half of the 5th century BC, and is usually identified as that of the Thespians who fell at the Battle of Delium in 424 BC.[1][35] It was excavated by the Greek archaeologist Panagiotis Stamatakis in 1882.[36]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911.
- ^ a b "Thespiae". Encyclopædia Britannica. Aug 1, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Markloulakis, Nikolaos (2007-10-27). "What the Thespian hoplites looked like?". Sparta: Journal of Ancient Spartan and Greek History. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
- ^ a b c d e Buck, R.J. (1979). A History of Boeotia.
- ^ a b Pausanias. "Description of Greece". Perseus Digital Library. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Heraclides Ponticus (FHG fr. 43)
- ^ a b Herodotus. The Histories. 5.79.
- ^ Plutarch. Cam. 19.
- ^ Plutarch. On the Malice of Herodotus. 33; Plutarch. Moralia. 866e.
- ^ Herodotus. The Histories. 7.202-205.
- ^ Herodotus. The Histories. 8.50.
- ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. 4.133.
- ^ Larsen, J.A.O. (1955). The Boeotian Confederacy and Fifth-century Oligarchic Theory. pp. 47–50.
- ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. 6.95.
- ^ Xenophon. Hellenica. 4.2.20.
- ^ Xenophon. Hellenica. 5.4.10, 5.4.15ff, 5.4.41.
- ^ Xenophon. Hellenica. 5.1.31.
- ^ Xenophon. Hellenica. 6.3.1-5.
- ^ Pausanias. Hellados Periegesis [Description of Greece]. 9.13.8.
- ^ Stylianou, P.J. (1998). A Historical Commentary on Diodorus Siculus, Book 15. p. 367.
- ^ Greek Anthology. Book 6, 6.344 – via Perseus, Tufts University.
- ^ Buckler, J.; Spawforth, A.J.S., eds. (2009). "Thespiae". The Oxford Classical Dictionary.
- ^ Pausanias. Hellados Periegesis [Description of Greece]. 6.16.1 – via Perseus, Tufts University.
- ^ "Narkissos". Theoi Project. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Smith, William. "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology". Perseus Digital Library.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Thespia". Theoi Project. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Pegasos". Theoi Project.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Mousai". Theoi Project.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Drakon Thespiakos". Theoi Project. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Paus. 9.27.1-4
- ^ Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, 13.12 - Greek
- ^ Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, 13.12 - English
- ^ Clement of Alexandria, Exhortations, 4.1
- ^ Athenaeus, Deipnosophists, 14.26
- ^ Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Anthony (1999). The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 1510.
- ^ Archaeological Museum of Thebes (2016). "The scientific work". Archived from the original on 2022-12-04. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
References
- Buck, R.J. 1979, A History of Boeotia, University of Alberta Press, Edmonton.
- Buckler, J. & Spawforth, A.J.S. 2009, The Oxford Classical Dictionary, S. Hornblower & A.J.S. Spawforth eds, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Thespiae". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 840.
- Herodotus, Histories
- Larsen, J.A.O. 1955, "The Boeotian confederacy and Fifth-century oligarchic theory", Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, vol. 86, pp. 40–50.
- Pausanias, Description of Greece
- Stylianou, P.J. (1998). A Historical Commentary on Diodorus Siculus, Book 15. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-815239-2.
- Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War
- Xenophon, Hellenica
External links
- The Cult of Eros – discusses the cult and has of pictures of Roman marble copies of the bronze Eros of Thespeia by Lysippos
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