Thebes
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This article concerns the ancient city of Thebes and its surroundings. For the modern city of Luxor, click here.
Thebes
Origin of the Name
Achilles' reply to Agamemnon's attempt to purchase his services, Iliad, Book 9, lines 379-387:
οὐδ' εἴ μοι δεκάκις τε καὶ εἰκοσάκις τόσα δοίη
Not if he gave me ten times as much, and twenty times over
ὅσσά τέ οἱ νῦν ἔστι, καὶ εἴ ποθεν ἄλλα γένοιτο,
as he possesses now, not if more should come to him from elsewhere,
οὐδ' ὅσ' ἐς Ὀρχομενὸν ποτινίσεται, οὐδ' ὅσα Θήβας
or gave all that is brought in to Orchomenos, all that is brought in
Αἰγυπτίας, ὅθι πλεῖστα δόμοις ἐν κτήματα κεῖται,
to Thebes of Egypt, where the greatest possessions lie up in the houses,
αἵ θ' ἑκατόμπυλοί εἰσι, διηκόσιοι δ' ἀν' ἑκάστας
Thebes of the hundred gates, where through each of the gates two hundred
ἀνέρες ἐξοιχνεῦσι σὺν ἵπποισιν καὶ ὄχεσφιν:
fighting men come forth to war with horses and chariots;
οὐδ' εἴ μοι τόσα δοίη ὅσα ψάμαθός τε κόνις τε,
not if he gave me gifts as many as the sand or the dust is,
οὐδέ κεν ὧς ἔτι θυμὸν ἐμὸν πείσει' Ἀγαμέμνων
not even so would Agamemnon have his way with my spirit
πρίν γ' ἀπὸ πᾶσαν ἐμοὶ δόμεναι θυμαλγέα λώβην.
until he had made good to me all this heartrending insolence.
Bibliography
- Nims, Charles F. [1955], "Places about Thebes", JNES 14.2 (1955), pp.110-123.
- Strudwick, Nigel C. and Strudwick, Helen [1999], Thebes in Egypt: A Guide to the Tombs and Temples of Ancient Luxor, London: British Museum Press, 1999. ISBN 0801436931 (cloth) ISBN 0801486165 (paper)
