THEBES (settlement in Boeotia)
Excavated Mycenaean and later settlement on acropolis hill of ancient Thebes, Boeotia
- Kind of place
- Settlement
- Region
- Boeotia
- Patron
- Apollo
- Landmarks
- Shrine of Amphiaraus Herodotus 8.134.1; Temple of Ismenian Apollo Herodotus 1.52.1; House of Oedipus Euripides, The Phoenician Maidens 1485-1529; Gates of Thebes Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 1-38; Walls of Thebes Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 1-38; Ogygian rampart Statius, Thebaid 12.661-688 ΒΆ1; Wooden images of Aphrodite Pausanias 9.16.3
- Where
- 38.32° N, 23.32° E
Cadmus constructed the settlement that bears his name. Pausanias 9.5.2 The settlement later served as the citadel for the lower city of Thebes. Pausanias 9.5.2 Amphion and Zethus named the combined area Thebes due to their kinship with Thebe. Pausanias 9.5.6
Described in the sources
The village of Glissas is situated near Cadmeia. Strabo 9.2.31 Cadmeia is located within the territory of Thebes. Strabo 9.2.31 The city of Thebes was also referred to by the name Cadmeia. Strabo 9.2.32 The lower city was added to the Cadmeia by Amphion and Zethus. Pausanias 9.5.6 The Cadmeia is the location where soldiers fell during a battle. Plutarch, Theseus 29.4 The place is still known by the name Cadmeia in the present day. Pausanias 9.5.2 The inhabitants of the citadel refer to it as Thebes rather than Cadmeia. Pausanias 9.7.6 The bodies of the fallen leaders were left unburied at the foot of the Cadmeia. Diodorus 4.65 The Athenians performed funeral rites for those who died at the foot of the Cadmeia. Diodorus 4.65
Stories and history
The Cadmeia was not rebuilt following the incursion of the Epigoni. Strabo 9.2.32 The Lacedaemonians seized the Cadmeia during a conflict with Thebes. Pausanias 9.1.4