1. Hesiod, Theogony, 454-500, 453 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)
| 453. of her fear father, and Zeus gave her fame |
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2. Thucydides, The History of The Peloponnesian War, 2.71, 3.60-3.67, 3.68.3 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 3.68.3. The city the Thebans gave for about a year to some political emigrants from Megara, and to the surviving Plataeans of their own party to inhabit, and afterwards razed it to the ground from the very foundations, and built on to the precinct of Hera an inn two hundred feet square, with rooms all round above and below, making use for this purpose of the roofs and doors of the Plataeans: of the rest of the materials in the wall, the brass and the iron, they made couches which they dedicated to Hera, for whom they also built a stone chapel of a hundred feet square. The land they confiscated and let out on a ten-years' lease to Theban occupiers. |
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3. Xenophon, Hellenica, 3.5.1, 6.5.38-6.5.39, 6.5.47-6.5.48 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 3.5.1. But now Tithraustes, who thought he had found out that Agesilaus despised the power of the King and did not in the least intend to depart from Asia, but rather had great hopes that he would overcome the King, being perplexed to know how to deal with the situation, sent Timocrates the Rhodian to Greece, giving him gold to the value of fifty talents of silver, and bade him undertake, on receipt of the surest pledges, to give this money to the leaders in the various states on condition that they 395 B.C. should make war upon the Lacedaemonians. So Timocrates went and gave his money, at Thebes to Androcleidas, Ismenias, and Galaxidorus; at Corinth to Timolaus and Polyanthes; and at Argos to Cylon and his followers. 6.5.38. Then Procles, a Phliasian, arose after Cleiteles and said: Men of Athens, it is clear to everyone, I imagine, that you are the first against whom the Thebans would march if the Lacedaemonians were got out of the way; for they think that you are the only people in Greece who would stand in the way of their becoming rulers of the Greeks. 6.5.39. If this is so, I, for my part, believe that if you undertake a campaign, you would not be giving aid to the Lacedaemonians so much as to your own selves. For to have the Thebans, who are unfriendly to you and dwell on your borders, become leaders of the Greeks, would prove much more grievous to you, I think, than when you had your antagonists far away. Furthermore, you would aid yourselves with more profit if you should do so while there are still people who would fight on your side, than if they should perish first and you should then be compelled to enter by yourselves upon a decisive struggle with the Thebans. 6.5.47. And while that other deed was also noble, when you checked the insolence of Eurystheus and preserved the sons of Heracles, The sons of Heracles, driven from Peloponnesus by Eurystheus, found protection and aid at Athens. would it not surely be an even nobler one if you saved from perishing, not merely the founders, but the whole state as well? And noblest of all deeds if, after the Lacedaemonians saved you then by a 370 B.C. vote, void of danger, you shall aid them now with arms and at the risk of your lives. 6.5.48. Again, when even we, who by word urge you to aid brave men, are proud of doing so, it would manifestly be generous of you, who are able to aid by act, if, after being many times both friends and enemies of the Lacedaemonians, you should recall, not the harm you have suffered at their hands, but rather the favours which you have, received, and should render them requital, not in behalf of yourselves alone, but also in behalf of all Greece, because in her behalf they proved themselves brave men. |
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4. Aeschines, Letters, 1.49 (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
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5. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, 11.29, 15.46.4-15.46.6, 17.11-17.14, 18.11.3-18.11.4 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 11.29. 1. When Mardonius and his army had returned to Thebes, the Greeks gathered in congress decreed to make common cause with the Athenians and advancing to Plataea in a body, to fight to a finish for liberty, and also to make a vow to the gods that, if they were victorious, the Greeks would unite in celebrating the Festival of Liberty on that day and would hold the games of the Festival in Plataea.,2. And when the Greek forces were assembled at the Isthmus, all of them agreed that they should swear an oath about the war, one that would make staunch the concord among them and would compel entrenchment nobly to endure the perils of the battle.,3. The oath ran as follows: "I will not hold life dearer than liberty, nor will I desert the leaders, whether they be living or dead, but I will bury all the allies who have perished in the battle; and if I overcome the barbarians in the war, I will not destroy any one of the cities which have participated in the struggle; nor will I rebuild any one of the sanctuaries which have been burnt or demolished, but I will let them be and leave them as a reminder to coming generations of the impiety of the barbarians.",4. After they had sworn the oath, they marched to Boeotia through the pass of Cithaeron, and when they had descended as far as the foothills near Erythrae, they pitched camp there. The command over the Athenians was held by Aristeides, and the supreme command by Pausanias, who was the guardian of the son of Leonidas. 15.46.6. Thereupon the Thebans, having razed Plataeae completely, pillaged Thespiae as well, which was at odds with them. The Plataeans with their wives and children, having fled to Athens, received equality of civic rights as a mark of favour from the Athenian people. Such was the state of affairs in Boeotia. 17.13. 1. So while the city was being taken, many and varied were the scenes of destruction within the walls. Enraged by the arrogance of the Theban proclamation, the Macedonians pressed upon them more furiously than is usual in war, and shrieking curses flung themselves on the wretched people, slaying all whom they met without sparing any.,2. The Thebans, for their part, clinging desperately to their forlorn hope of victory, counted their lives as nothing and when they met a foeman, grappled with him and drew his blows upon themselves. In the capture of the city, no Theban was seen begging the Macedonians to spare his life, nor did they in ignoble fashion fall and cling to the knees of their conquerors.,3. But neither did the agony of courage elicit pity from the foe nor did the day's length suffice for the cruelty of their vengeance. All the city was pillaged. Everywhere boys and girls were dragged into captivity as they wailed piteously the names of their mothers. In sum, households were seized with all their members, and the city's enslavement was complete.,4. of the men who remained, some, wounded and dying, grappled with the foe and were slain themselves as they destroyed their enemy; others, supported only by a shattered spear, went to meet their assailants and, in their supreme struggle, held freedom dearer than life.,5. As the slaughter mounted and every corner of the city was piled high with corpses, no one could have failed to pity the plight of the unfortunates. For even Greeks â Thespians, Plataeans and Orchomenians and some others hostile to the Thebans who had joined the king in the campaign â invaded the city along with him and now demonstrated their own hatred amid the calamities of the unfortunate victims.,6. So it was that many terrible things befell the city. Greeks were mercilessly slain by Greeks, relatives were butchered by their own relatives, and even a common dialect induced no pity. In the end, when night finally intervened, the houses had been plundered and children and women and aged persons who had fled into the temples were torn from sanctuary and subjected to outrage without limit. 17.14. 1. Over six thousand Thebans perished, more than thirty thousand were captured, and the amount of property plundered was unbelievable. The king gave burial to the Macedonian dead, more than five hundred in number, and then calling a meeting of the representatives of the Greeks put before the common council the question what should be done with the city of the Thebans.,2. When the discussion was opened, certain men who were hostile to the Thebans began to recommend that they should be visited with the direst penalties, and they pointed out that they had taken the side of the barbarians against the Greeks. For in the time of Xerxes they had actually joined forces with the Persians and campaigned against Greece, and alone of the Greeks were honoured as benefactors by the Persian kings, so that the ambassadors of the Thebans were seated on thrones set in front of the kings.,3. They related many other details of similar tenor and so aroused the feelings of the council against the Thebans that it was finally voted to raze the city, to sell the captives, to outlaw the Theban exiles from all Greece, and to allow no Greek to offer shelter to a Theban.,4. The king, in accordance with the decree of the council, destroyed the city, and so presented possible rebels among the Greeks with a terrible warning. By selling off the prisoners he realized a sum of four hundred and forty talents of silver. |
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6. Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, 1.8.8, 1.9, 1.9.10 (1st cent. CE
| 1.8.8. ἔνθα δὴ ὀργῇ οὐχ οὕτως τι οἱ Μακεδόνες, ἀλλὰ Φωκεῖς τε καὶ Πλαταιεῖς καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι δὲ Βοιωτοὶ οὐδὲ ἀμυνομένους τοὺς Θηβαίους ἔτι οὐδενὶ κόσμῳ ἔκτεινον, τοὺς μὲν ἐν ταῖς οἰκίαις ἐπεισπίπτοντες, οὓς δὲ ἐς ἀλκὴν τετραμμένους, τοὺς δὲ καὶ πρὸς ἱεροῖς ἱκετεύοντας, οὔτε γυναικῶν οὔτε παίδων φειδόμενοι. 1.9.10. καὶ τὴν Πινδάρου δὲ τοῦ ποιητοῦ οἰκίαν καὶ τοὺς ἀπογόνους τοῦ Πινδάρου λέγουσιν ὅτι διεφύλαξεν Ἀλέξανδρος αἰδοῖ τῇ Πινδάρου. ἐπὶ τούτοις Ὀρχόμενόν τε καὶ Πλαταιὰς ἀναστῆσαί τε καὶ τειχίσαι οἱ ξύμμαχοι ἔγνωσαν. | |
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7. Dio Chrysostom, Orations, 37.42 (1st cent. CE
| 37.42. Then, knowing as I do that men spare not even the gods, should I imagine you to have been concerned for the statue of a mere mortal? Furthermore, while I think I shall say nothing of the others, at any rate the Isthmian, your own Master of the Games, Mummius tore from his base and dedicated to Zeus â disgusting ignorance! â illiterate creature that he was, totally unfamiliar with the proprieties, treating the brother as a votive offering! It was he who took the Philip son of Amyntas, which he got from Thespiae, and labelled it Zeus, and also the lads from Pheneüs he labelled Nestor and Priam respectively! But the Roman mob, as might have been expected, imagined they were beholding those very heroes, and not mere Arcadians from Pheneüs. |
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8. Plutarch, Alexander The Great, 11.5 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 11.5. On the part of the Thebans, then, the struggle was carried on with a spirit and valour beyond their powers, since they were arrayed against an enemy who was many times more numerous than they; but when the Macedonian garrison also, leaving the citadel of the Cadmeia, fell upon them in the rear, most of them were surrounded, and fell in the battle itself and their city was taken, plundered, and razed to the ground. This was done, in the main, because Alexander expected that the Greeks would be terrified by so great a disaster and cower down in quiet, but apart from this, he also plumed himself on gratifying the complaints of his allies; for the Phocians and Plataeans had denounced the Thebans. |
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9. Plutarch, Sayings of The Spartans, 19.6 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 19.6. When two persons accepted him as arbiter, he took them to the sacred precinct of Athena of the Brazen House, and made them swear to abide by his decision; and when they had given their oaths, he said, My decision, then, is that you are not to leave this sacred precinct before you compose your differences. |
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10. Plutarch, Aristides, 11.5-11.6, 19.6-19.7, 20.4-20.5, 21.1-21.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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11. Plutarch, On The Sign of Socrates, None (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 575e. to refuse and be uncivil with one so sympathetic and friendly, would be enough, Ithink, to revive the ancient reproach against Boeotians of hostility to discussion, just when that reproach was dying out.... Yet consider whether the company is disposed to hear a narrative involving so much history and philosophy combined; it will not be short in the telling, as you would have me include the discussions with the rest. âYou are unacquainted, Caphisias, with these gentlemen. Iassure you that they are well worth knowing: their fathers were excellent men and good friends of your country. This is Lysitheides, nephew of Thrasybulus; |
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12. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.26.7, 4.27.10, 9.1.5-9.1.7 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 1.26.7. Having filled the lamp with oil, they wait until the same day next year, and the oil is sufficient for the lamp during the interval, although it is alight both day and night. The wick in it is of Carpasian flax, Probably asbestos. the only kind of flax which is fire-proof, and a bronze palm above the lamp reaches to the roof and draws off the smoke. The Callimachus who made the lamp, although not of the first rank of artists, was yet of unparalleled cleverness, so that he was the first to drill holes through stones, and gave himself the title of Refiner of Art, or perhaps others gave the title and he adopted it as his. 4.27.10. The Minyae, driven by the Thebans from Orchomenos after the battle of Leuctra, were restored to Boeotia by Philip the son of Amyntas, as were also the Plataeans. When Alexander had destroyed the city of the Thebans themselves, Cassander the son of Antipater rebuilt it after a few years. The exile of the Plataeans seems to have lasted the longest of those mentioned, but even this was not for more than two generations. 9.1.5. But the Thebans maintained that as the Lacedaemonians had themselves made the peace and then broken it, all alike, in their view, were freed from its terms. The Plataeans, therefore, looked upon the attitude of the Thebans with suspicion, and maintained strict watch over their city. They did not go either daily to the fields at some distance from the city, but, knowing that the Thebans were wont to conduct their assemblies with every voter present, and at the same time to prolong their discussions, they waited for their assemblies to be called, and then, even those whose farms lay farthest away, looked after their lands at their leisure. 9.1.6. But Neocles, who was at the time Boeotarch at Thebes, not being unaware of the Plataean trick, proclaimed that every Theban should attend the assembly armed, and at once proceeded to lead them, not by the direct way from Thebes across the plain, but along the road to Hysiae in the direction of Eleutherae and Attica, where not even a scout had been placed by the Plataeans, being due to reach the walls about noon. 9.1.7. The Plataeans, thinking that the Thebans were holding an assembly, were afield and cut off from their gates. With those caught within the city the Thebans came to terms, allowing them to depart before sundown, the men with one garment each, the women with two. What happened to the Plataeans on this occasion was the reverse of what happened to them formerly when they were taken by the Lacedaemonians under Archidamus. For the Lacedaemonians reduced them by preventing them from getting out of the city, building a double line of circumvallation; the Thebans on this occasion by preventing them from getting within their walls. |
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13. Aeschines, Or., 1.49
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14. Hypereides, Orations, 6.17
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