EP 60: Thebes, The City That Gods & Heroes Forsook

EP 60: Thebes, The City That Gods & Heroes Forsook 

Of all the Greek city-states,Thebes was the one most soaked in blood and ancient curses. There, the hero Heracles had killed his wife and children. There, the god Dionysus punished the city’s king. There too the infamous Oedipus played out his grim fate. These events defined the city’s past. 

Then in 335 BC, Alexander the Great surrounded Thebes and brought it to its final end.

If you love this podcast, you'll also enjoy Garner's audible novels about the gods, The Winnowing and Homo Divinitas, available on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

Transcript

PODCAST #60: Thebes, The City That Gods & Heroes Forsook

IN THE 5TH CENTURY BC, THE CITY OF THEBES —  AT THAT TIME, ONE OF THE GREATEST IN GREECE — WAS CONSIDERED THE REFUGE OF GODS & THE BIRTHPLACE OF HEROES.

YET, IN THE YEAR 335, AT THE MOST VULNERABLE MOMENT IN ITS LONG HISTORY, THE DEITIES & THE MIGHTY HEROES UTTERLY ABANDONED IT.

OVERCONFIDENCE IS SOMETIMES CALLED HUBRIS, A GREEK WORD. PRIDE, AS WE WILL SEE, BLINDED THE CITY'S LEADERS AS THEY STUMBLED DOWN THE PATH TOWARDCOMPLETE RUINATION ... 

BY "RUINATION" I MEAN THAT IN DECEMBER OF 335, THE HALLOWED CITY — ONE WHOSE HISTORY WAS KNOWN TO EVERY GREEK — WAS RAZED TO THE GROUND BY ALEXANDER THE GREAT.

ITS SURVIVING CITIZENS, OVER THIRTY THOUSAND MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN, WERE SOLD INTO SLAVERY ... 

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WELCOME TO EPISODE 60 OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. WE HAVE LISTENERS FROM OVER 188 COUNTRIES ... SO WELCOME TO EVERYONE, WHEREVER YOU ARE.

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THE GREAT CITY OF THEBES WAS THE SACRED BIRTHPLACE OF THE MIGHTY HERO HERACLES, & THE WINE-GOD DIONYSUS.

YET, FORESHADOWING THE CITY'S LIKELY END, ALL OF ITS MOST FAMOUS EVENTS STANK OF DEATH & CRIME, BETRAYAL & TREACHERY. 

FOR INSTANCE, HERACLES WAS BORN THERE & MARRIED THE KING'S DAUGHTER, THE LOVELY MEGARA.

BUT IN TIME HERACLES KILLED MEGARA & THEIR CHILDREN IN A FIT OF MADNESS. THE LUNACY WAS BROUGHT ON BY HERA, THE CONSTANTLY VENGEFUL WIFE OF ZEUS. 

SHE RESENTED THE HOURS THAT ZEUS SPENT DOTING OVER HIS SON. SO IN A MOMENT OF JEALOUSY, SHE BLINDED HERACLES TO HIS OWN FAMILY.

SEEING THEM AS HIS ENEMIES, HE THREW HIS CHILDREN INTO A FIRE. CONTINUING IN HIS MADNESS, HE THREW HIS WIFE MEGARA INTO THE FIRE AS WELL.

BUT THAT WAS HARDLY THE ONLY EVENT THAT HUNG OVER THE CITY LIKE A CURSE.

THEBES WAS ALSO THE BLOODY CITY WHERE OEDIPUS PLAYED OUT HIS GRIEVOUS LIFE. THERE HE FAMOUSLY SOLVED THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX.

BUT AFTER THAT ACHIEVEMENT, OEDIPUS WENT ON TO UNKNOWINGLY KILL HIS FATHER, THE KING OF THEBES, & MARRY THE QUEEN, WHO HE DISCOVERED ONLY LATER TO BE HIS MOTHER. 

UPON HIS REVELATION & IN HIS HORROR, HIS WIFE — THAT IS, HIS MOTHER — TOOK HER OWN LIFE. HE BLINDED HIMSELF & FLED THE CITY. 

THEIR DAUGHTER — THE STRONG-WILLED ANTIGONE — WAS, FOLLOWING THESE EVENTS, ESSENTIALLY ORPHANED. 

SHE WAS IMMORTALIZED YEARS LATER BY THE PLAYWRIGHT SOPHOCLES. 

LEFT BEHIND, ANTIGONE ENDURED THE WRATH OF THE COMMON CITIZENS OF THEBES WHO HAD WITNESSED THE HORRORS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY.

THE INNOCENT ANTIGONE WAS ABANDONED TO DEAL WITH THE CHAOS. IN ONE STORY, HER DEATH QUICKLY FOLLOWED.

IN ANOTHER VERSION, SHE ACCOMPANIED OEDIPUS AS HE WANDERED AS A BLIND MAN THROUGHOUT GREECE ... THE GRIM STORIES WENT ON.

THE CITY'S BLEAK HISTORY INCLUDED THE TALE OF KING PENTHEUS. IN A PREVIOUS EPISODE WE DISCUSSED HOW PENTHEUS HAD TRIED TO BAN THE GOD DIONYSUS. 

THAT WAS A MISTAKE.

YOU'LL PERHAPS RECALL THAT THE WOMEN OF THEBES HAD BECOME BACCHIC CELEBRANTS OF DIONYSUS, SPURNING THEIR HUSBANDS TO NIGHTLY DANCE WITH THE WINE-GOD IN THE WOODS AROUND THEBES.

THERE THEY WOULD SPEND EVENINGS DRINKING, SINGING & PRAISING THE MYSTERIES OF WINE & ECSTASY.

KING PENTHEUS, VOWING TO ELIMINATE THIS FOREIGN BLIGHT — THAT IS, ELIMINATE THE STRANGE GOD, DIONYSUS — BANNED THE DANCING & WORSHIP.

BUT DIONYSUS HIMSELF ENTERED THEBES, DISGUISING HIMSELF AS A SO-CALLED STRANGER, TRICKING PENTHEUS INTO SPYING ON THE WOMEN AS THEY DANCED.

THERE, ON A DARK NIGHT IN THE DARK WOODS SURROUNDING THEBES, KING PENTHEUS MET HIS FATE. 

LIKE HIS BELOVED CITY, HE TOO WAS DESTROYED. BUT THAT EVENT TOOK PLACE LONG BEFORE THEBES ITSELF WAS RAZED TO THE GROUND.

…

BEFORE I GO ON, I WANT TO GIVE  A SHOUT OUT TO THE HISTORIANS PAUL CARTLEDGE & VICTOR DAVIS HANSON. 

PAUL CARTLEDGE IS THE AUTHOR OF THE 2020 BOOK, "THEBES, THE FORGOTTEN CITY OF ANCIENT GREECE." VICTOR DAVIS HANSON JUST PUBLISHED "THE END OF EVERYTHING." 

CARTLEDGE  PROVIDES A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT THE CITY, FROM ITS PRE-HISTORY THROUGH ITS DESTRUCTION. 

HANSON TAKES A DIFFERENT APPROACH. INSTEAD, HIS BOOK BEGINS WITH THE REBELLION OF THEBES AGAINST ITS MACEDONIAN OVERLORDS, & THE SUBSEQUENT PUNISHMENT OF THE CITY BY ALEXANDER.

FOR THIS EPISODE I HAVE RELIED PARTICULARLY ON HANSON'S ANALYSIS OF EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE CITY'S DEMISE.

Despite ITS GRAND HISTORY —  THE EARLY SAGA OF GODS & HEROES — ALEXANDER, did not care A WHIT FOR THEBE'S FABLED DAYS OF OLD.  

IN REALITY, MANY FACTORS PLAYED INTO THE CITY'S destruction. IT COULD HAVE AVERTED ITS ANNIHILATION, BUT ITS PRIDE got in the way.

WHAT HAPPENED? FIRST, THE CITY'S LEADERS OVERESTIMATED THE FORCE OF ITS ARMY, UNDERESTIMATED THE YOUNG ALEXANDER, RELIED TOO MUCH ON HELP FROM ALLIES, & BELIEVED THAT ITS LEGENDARY WALLS WERE INVINCIBLE.

THOSE MISTAKES, COMBINED WITH A FATAL RELIANCE ON ITS FABLED HISTORY & ITS PATRON GOD, ULTIMATELY, AS WE WILL SEE, DOOMED THE ANCIENT CITY.

AND WHEN ALEXANDER STRUCK, HE MIGHT AS WELL HAVE DROPPED A NUCLEAR BOMB INTO ITS CENTER.

…

IN 335 BC, GREECE WAS LARGELY UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE MACEDONIANS, A warrior-DRIVEN, SEMI-GREEK people BASED ALONG GREECE'S NORTHERN BORDER.

OVER TWO DECADES ALEXANDER'S FATHER, PHILLIP THE SECOND, HAD WELDED TOGETHER FIFTEEN HUNDRED ONCE-INDEPENDENT CITY-STATES INTO A SINGLE NATION. 

BY "WELDED TOGETHER" I MEAN THAT PHILLIP'S ARMY OCCUPIED THEM IN FORCE. THE FORCE THEY USED HAD OFTEN BEEN BRUTAL.

UPON HIS ASSASSINATION, HIS 21-YEAR OLD SON, ALEXANDER, TOOK OVER AS KING. AS THE NEW COMMANDING GENERAL OF THE MACEDONIAN ARMY, HE COULD WIELD THE POWER OF THE SUPERB MILITARY PHALANX AGAINST ANY OBJECTING CITY.

AND AS THE NEW KING, HE HAD TO PROVE HIMSELF TO ANY SOLDIERS WHO DOUBTED HIS ABILITY TO STEP INTO HIS FATHER'S SHOES.

THEBES’ miscalculation WAS THAT SOME OF ITS LEADERS TALKED THEMSELVES INTO REBELLING AGAINST THE MACEDONIAN OCCUPATION OF THEIR CITY. 

THEY DISMISSED ALEXANDER AS A MERE DILETTANTE.

AS VICTOR HANSON DAVIS WRITES, "ONE RECURRENT THEME OF THE WARTIME EXTINCTION OF CIVILIZATIONS IS PRECISELY THE FREQUENT NAÏVETÉ OF THE TARGETED — A GULLIBILITY INNATE TO HUMANS IN EXTREMIS, & ESPECIALLY UNCHECKED BY REALITY DURING THE PASSIONS & HYSTERIA RELEASED BY WAR."

WHAT DAVIS CONCLUDES IS THAT THE THEBANS BLINDED THEMSELVES TO THE POSSIBLE REPERCUSSIONS OF THEIR REBELLION AGAINST THE YOUNG KING.

YET LOGICALLY, ALEXANDER COULD NOT AFFORD TO ALLOW A SINGLE VASSAL CITY UNDER MACEDONIAN CONTROL TO BECOME INDEPENDENT.

SUCH AN EVENT WOULD IMPLY THAT HE, UNLIKE HIS FATHER, WAS WEAK & UNABLE TO CONTROL CITIES THAT MIGHT REBEL.

BUT SOMEHOW THE THEBANS in power BELIEVED THEMSELVES TO BE AN EXCEPTION. THEY WERE CONVINCED THAT ALEXANDER WOULD ALLOW THEIR REBELLION.

FOOLISHLY, THE THEBANS CAPTURED A MACEDONIAN GARRISON WHICH HAD BEEN STATIONED IN THE CITY'S CENTER.

THE THEBANS HAD believed RUMORS THAT ALEXANDER HAD BEEN KILLED IN A DISTANT BATTLE.

THE RUMORS PROVED FALSE, BUT IT WAS TOO LATE. THEBES HAD ALREADY OCCUPIED THE GARRISON & IMPRISONED ITS SOLDIERS.

ENCAMPED THREE DAYS AWAY, ALEXANDER LEARNED OF THE REBELLION & KNEW TOO WELL THAT THE CITY'S DEFIANCE COULD NOT BE ALLOWED. 

CRUSHING THE INSURRECTION WAS IMPERATIVE, & HE ACTED SWIFTLY.

...

AS HANSON NOTES, "WILD RUMORS HAD ALREADY SPREAD THAT SEVERAL OF THE BEST PELOPONNESIAN ARMIES OF FREE GREEKS — ESPECIALLY THE AETOLIANS, ARCADIANS AND ELEANS — WERE MARSHALING NOT FAR AWAY ... IN EXPECTATION TO JOIN THE MOUNTING INSURRECTION."

HANSON ALSO NOTES THAT SOME GREEKS BELIEVED THE RESISTANCE MIGHT INCLUDE BOTH ATHENS & SPARTA. 

WHAT WOULD BIND THE INSURRECTIONISTS TOGETHER WAS THE ASSUMPTION THAT ALEXANDER WAS TOO YOUNG & INEXPERIENCED TO HOLD TOGETHER THE MACEDONIAN ARMY OF HIS FATHER.

RUMORS THAT OTHER CITY-STATES WOULD JOIN THEBES WERE NOTHING MORE THAN THAT. THEBES WAITED IN VAIN. 

WHAT THE CITY HAD NOT ANTICIPATED WAS THAT, ONE-BY-ONE, OTHER CITIES CONCLUDED THAT THE MACEDONIAN ARMY WAS GREATER THAN EACH OF THEM INDIVIDUALLY,or in SUM.

CONSEQUENTLY,  THEY FADED AWAY, & AS ALEXANDER APPROACHED THEBES, NONE JOINED THE INCREASINGLY ISOLATED REBELS.

CONTRIBUTING TO THE AMBIVALENCE OF THE OTHER CITIES WAS THE STILL-RAW MEMORY THAT, A CENTURY & A HALF EARLIER when Persia invaded, THEBES HAD TURNED ITS BACK ON GREECE. 

THEY had JOINED WITH THE PERSIAN INVADERS. 

THE MEMORY OF THIS BETRAYAL REMAINED AN ANCIENT STAIN ON THE CITY. and WAS CONSTANTLY TRUMPETED BY ITS ENEMIES. 

SO WHEN ALEXANDER DROVE HIS MACEDONIAN ARMY INTO THE BOEOTIAN PLAINS WHERE THEBES LAY, MANY OF THE SURROUNDING CITIES QUIETLY WATCHED WITHOUT LIFTING A HAND.

IN FACT, CITIES THAT HAD BEEN MISTREATED BY THE LONG ARROGANT THEBES AIDED ALEXANDER WITH SUPPLIES, SOLDIERS & INSIDE INFORMATION.

THEBES FACED AN IMMENSE ARMY THAT WAS DETERMINED TO MAKE THE CITY'S DISOBEDIENCE AN EXAMPLE. 

...

ALEXANDER'S ARMY WAS A PROFESSIONAL FORCE THAT, IN MILITARY TERMS, OUTNUMBERED THE THEBANS BY THREE TO ONE.

FURTHERING THE IMBALANCE, THE THEBAN ARMY WAS LARGELY COMPOSED OF FARMERS, SLAVES & COMMON CITIZENS. 

THE CITY HAD NO OUTSTANDING GENERALS, NO NEW TACTICS, NO NEW EQUIPMENT, NO NEW RECRUITMENT OF SOLDIERS & — WHEN IT HAD LAST CONFRONTED AN ENEMY THREE YEARS EARLIER — THEBES HAD DECISIVELY LOST.

YET IT BLUSTERED & SWAGGERED ABOUT ITS PROWESS. IT TRUMPETED THAT THE YOUNG KING ALEXANDER WOULD REGRET CONFRONTING THE MIGHTY CITY OF THEBES.

Within hours THEBES & ITS FAMOUS SEVEN-GATED WALLS WERE ENTIRELY SURROUNDED BY THE MACEDONIANS.

…

AS THE ENEMY FORCES PREPARED THEIR SIEGE, THE THEBANS REASSURED THEMSELVES. AFTER ALL, THE CITY'S PATRON HERO WAS HERACLES, ONE OF THE GREATEST OF GREECES' HEROES. 

HE WAS SAID TO HAVE SUPER-HUMAN STRENGTH. BORN IN THEBES, HERACLES WEAPON OF CHOICE WAS A CLUB. IT WAS EMBLAZONED ON THE THEBAN SHIELDS.

ADMITTEDLY, HERACLES HAD DESERTED THE CITY AT TIMES, BUT HIS ABSENCE HAD OCCURRED ONLY RARELY. 

THE LEADERS OF THE REBELLION DECLARED THAT THAT WOULD NOT BE THE CASE IN THIS INSTANCE. 

AND THEY REMINDED THEMSELVES THAT THEY WERE ABOUT TO FACE OFF WITH MACEDONIANS. AND WHAT WERE MACEDONIANS? HARDLY THEIR EQUAL.

GREEKS CONSIDERED MACEDONIANS TO BE, AT BEST, SEMI-GREEK, WANNABE GREEKS, ILLEGITIMATE CLAIMANTS TO THE GLORY OF BEING A GREEK.

BUT ALEXANDER IGNORED THESE SLURS. AFTER ALL, HIS FATHER HAD RECRUITED ARISTOTLE HIMSELF TO BE ALEXANDER'S TEACHER. 

AND ARISTOTLE WAS FAR FROM THE ONLY GREEK TO TUTOR THE BOY. ALEXANDER CONSIDERED HIMSELF AS MUCH A GREEK AS ANY THEBAN, ATHENIAN OR THESSALONIAN.

HOW DARE THE THEBANS NOW MUTTER PUBLICLY THAT ALEXANDER  WAS A MERE BARBARIAN! 

ALEXANDER DOUBLED DOWN: THEBES WOULD SOON PAY FOR ITS REBELLION. AND ITS LIBEL.

...

THE WEATHER THAT DECEMBER WAS COOL. IT WAS, IN MANY WAYS, IDEAL FIGHTING WEATHER. 30,000 MACEDONIANS WAITED RESTLESSLY OUTSIDE THE FAMOUS WALLS OF THEBES. 

CAMPFIRES BURNED & VAST FIELDS OF MACEDONIAN TENTS WERE ERECTED IN LONG ROWS AS FAR AS THE EYE COULD SEE.

THE ENTIRE ARMY WAITED THREE DAYS WITHOUT ACTING. A PATIENT ALEXANDER HOPED, ACCORDING TO HANSON, THAT THE "SHEER SPECTACLE OF HIS FORCES WOULD ... FORCE A SUBMISSION."

HE SENT ENVOYS TO BROKER A NEGOTIATED, NOT HUMILIATING, SURRENDER. HE OFFERED MODERATE TERMS, SIMPLY DEMANDING THAT THE REBELLION'S RINGLEADERS BE TURNED OVER.

YET THE THEBANS  REFUSED. THEY REMAINED CONFIDENT IN THEIR DEFENSES. THEY KNEW TOO THAT TURNING OVER THE CITY'S MUTINEERS WOULD MEAN THEIR CERTAIN DEATH.

EVEN AT THIS JUNCTURE THEY REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS WAS THEIR LAST CHANCE TO SAVE THEMSELVES. 

Brushing off THE POSSIBILITY OF DEFEAT, EVEN AS THEY SCANNED ALEXANDER'S VAST FORCES ARRAYED AROUND THE CITY WALLS, THEY SENT ALEXANDER'S ENVOYS AWAY. 

AS AN OLD PROVERB STATES, PRIDE GOETH BEFORE THE FALL. AS ALEXANDER'S ENVOYS RACED TO his TENT WITH THE NEWS THAT NEGOTIATIONS HAD FAILED, THEBAN SOLDIERS BEGAN TO MARCH ONTO THE FIELD BENEATH THE CITY'S WALLS.

ALEXANDER REACTED QUICKLY. HE DIVIDED HIS ARMY INTO THREE PARTS. HANSON DESCRIBES THE STRATEGY AS FOLLOWS:

"ALEXANDER'S CHIEF FORCE WAS TO HIT THE MAIN THEBAN PHALAX; A SECOND WOULD STORM THE OUTER PALISADE & DRIVE THROUGH THE THEBANS BENEATH THE CITY CENTER; & A THIRD WAS HELD IN RESERVE ...

ALMOST IMMEDIATELY THE TWO ARMIES WERE DEADLOCKED." 

THE BATTLE RAGED FOR SOME HOURS, THE MACEDONIANS AT TIMES GAINING GROUND, THE THEBANS FALLING BACK THEN CHARGING FORWARD.

BUT THE MACEDONIANS WERE ABLE TO CONSTANTLY POUR IN FRESH TROOPS. THE THEBANS WERE SLOWLY GROUND DOWN, THEIR SPEAR SHAFTS SHATTERED & THEIR ORDER IN DISARRAY.

AS HANSON DESCRIBES THE SCENE, "THE DEFENDER'S FATE GREW STEADILY BLEAKER. AS THE HOURS WENT ON, THEY BECAME MORE TIRED & ISOLATED.

"DESPERATE HOPES FOR REINFORCEMENTS PERISHED ... FINALLY, THE SHEER NUMBERS OF ALEXANDER'S PHALANGITES TORE APART ALL SEMBLANCE OF ORDER AMONG THE THEBANS. 

"THE MACEDONIANS AT LAST BROKE THROUGH THE DEFENDERS & HEADED TOWARD THE CITY WALLS." THE PALISADES WERE NOW EASILY KNOCKED OVER & CROSSED. 

SUDDENLY A DETACHMENT OF MACEDONIANS SPOTTED A KEY GATE THAT ALLOWED ACCESS TO THE CITY ITSELF.

HUNDREDS OF ALEXANDER'S MEN POURED THROUGH & AS THEY DID SO, OTHER CITY GATES WERE SUDDENLY THROWN OPEN. 

WHETHER GATES OPENED THROUGH TREACHERY OR INCOMPETENCE REMAINS UNKNOWN. REGARDLESS, IT WAS THE TURNING POINT IN WHAT HAD BEEN, IN REALITY, A BRIEF ENGAGEMENT.

...

HANSON GOES ON, "THE SIEGE GAVE WAY TO OPEN FIGHTING WITHIN THE STREETS OF THE CITY & GENERAL TERROR SPREAD AMONG THE CITIZENRY."

THEBES WAS THE 4TH LARGEST CITY IN GREECE. ESTIMATES PLACE THE SIZE OF THE POPULATION AT BETWEEN 30,000 & 50,000 RESIDENTS. 

I CITE THESE NUMBERS SIMPLY TO PUT THE ENSUING CARNAGE INTO CONTEXT.

the greek historian & philosopher Plutarch MATTER-OF-FACTLY WROTE OF THE BATTLE THAT THE TRAPPED WERE SURROUNDED & KILLED WHERE THEY STOOD.

HE NOTED THAT THE CITY WAS, IN THE END, "CAPTURED, PLUNDERED & razed.”

Plutarch OBSERVED THAT, ULTIMATELY, ONLY A FEW OF THE THOUSANDS OF RESIDENTS ESCAPED EXECUTION OR SLAVERY. 

BOTH Plutarch & THE HISTORIAN ARRIAN ESTIMATE THAT THEBANS SOLD INTO SLAVERY TOTALED MORE THAN TWENTY THOUSAND. THESE WERE MOSTLY WOMEN & CHILDREN.

IN TRUTH, THEY WERE THE LUCKY ONES. SIX TO TEN THOUSAND THEBANS WHO RESISTED WERE KILLED OUTRIGHT. NONE OF THEBE'S SOLDIERS WERE SPARED.

IN COMPARISON, ALEXANDER LOST SOME 500 TROOPS. 

...

THERE'S AN INTERESTING TWIST TO THIS SAGA. AS I NOTED EARLIER, THE THEBANS, WHEN THEY WERE CALCULATING THEIR ODDS, PARTLY COUNTED ON INTERCESSION BY THE HERO HERACLES & THE WINE-GOD DIONYSUS.

WHAT THEY DID NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WAS THAT ALEXANDER HIMSELF WAS INFATUATED WITH HERACLES. ALEXANDER IMAGINED HIMSELF A HERO SIMILAR TO HERACLES.

AND THE GOD DIONYSUS WAS NEAR THE TOP OF ALEXANDER'S PERSONAL PANTHEON OF DIVINITIES. AS PAUL CARTLEDGE NOTES, "ALEXANDER WAS A REMARKABLY PIOUS MAN ...

"ONE MIGHT INDEED APPLY TO HIM THE GREEK TERM DEISIDAIMON, WHICH MEANS SUPERSTITIOUS." 

CARTLEDGE OBSERVES, "ALEXANDER WAS ALWAYS DESPERATELY KEEN TO KEEP HIS OWN GODS & HEROS FIRMLY ON HIS SIDE THROUGH PRAYERS, VOWS, ANIMAL BLOOD-SACRIFICES, THE INTERPRETATION OF OMENS & PORTENTS — IN SHORT, THE WHOLE PANOPLY & PARAPHERNALIA OF GREEK WORSHIP. 

"ALEXANDER MUST THEREFORE HAVE BELIEVED THAT THE DESTRUCTION OF THEBES HAD A POSITIVE, DIVINE SANCTION ..."

SO CARTLEDGE CONCLUDES THAT, WHILE THE CITIZENS OF THEBES COUNTED ON THEIR OLD & ANCIENT SAVIORS, ALEXANDER HIMSELF WAS MAKING MASSIVE & EXPENSIVE OFFERINGS TO THE SAME SAVIORS TO ENSURE HIS OWN VICTORY.

FURTHER, ALEXANDER WAS KNOWN TO WAIT PATIENTLY FOR FAVORABLE OMENS & DIVINE SIGNALS BEFORE GOING INTO BATTLE. WHEN HE STRUCK, HE WAS SURE THAT HIS ATTACK WAS SANCTIONED BY THE GODS.

WITNESSES TO THE DESTRUCTION WOULD LATER SAY THAT THE GODS HAD CLEARLY SHIFTED FROM PROTECTING OLD THEBES WITH ITS STENCH OF DEATH TO GUARDING THE FUTURE CONQUERER OF THE WORLD, THE MAN WHO WOULD, WITHIN A FEW YEARS, BE KNOWN AS "ALEXANDER THE GREAT."

...

IT TOOK LESS THAN A DAY FOR THEBES TO FALL. WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE KILLING ENDED? 

I'VE USED THE WORD RAZED, & ALL OUR SOURCES AFFIRM THE CONCLUSION THAT THE ONCE MIGHTY CITY WAS REDUCED TO STONES & ASH.

THE ACTUAL GREEK PHRASE DESCRIBING ITS END IS KATASKAPSAI ES EDAPHOS, WHICH IN ENGLISH MEANS "RAZED TO THE GROUND."

IN FACT, A TOTAL ANNIHILATION OF THE CITY OCCURRED. VICTOR DAVIS HANSON WRITES, "THE MACEDONIAN ARMY & ITS BOEOTIAN HENCHMEN CONSTITUTED A HIGE LABOR FORCE OF DESTRUCTION. 

"NO DOUBT THE THIRTY THOUSAND ENSLAVED THEBAN SURVIVORS WERE PRESSED INTO THE HUMILIATING WORK OF LEVELING THEIR OWN HOMES & CITY."

HANSON NOTES TOO THAT CONTEMPORARY OBSERVERS REMARKED IN AWE ABOUT THEBES COMPLETE DISAPPEARANCE. HE CONCLUDES HIS REMARKS BY SAYING,

"IN SUM, ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE SIEGE, THE CITY OF THEBES WAS AS IT HAD ALWAYS BEEN FOR THE PRIOR 350 YEARS ... WITHIN DAYS, THERE WAS NEITHER THEBANS NOR A THEBES AT ALL."

...

PERHAPS THE CITY HAD NEVER BEEN ABLE TO SHAKE THE CURSE BROUGHT ON THEBES BY OEDIPUS & HIS FAMILY.

NOR COULD IT SHAKE THE KNOWLEDGE THAT IN THEBES HERACLES IN HIS MADNESS HAD TOSSED HIS FAMILY INTO FLAMES.

ON TOP OF THAT, THE SO-CALLED PATRON GOD OF THEBES, THE FICKLE DIONYSUS, HAD HARDLY BEEN SYMPATHETIC AFTER THE CITY HAD SHOWN ITS DISDAIN FOR HIS DIVINITY.

HOW COULD THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT IT WAS DIONYSUS WHO HAD CAUSED KING PENTHEUS TO BE KILLED BY HIS OWN MOTHER? 

THEBES HAD TRIED TO TAME THE BACCHIC WOMEN, & BEEN PUNISHED BY THE WINE-GOD LONG BEFORE ALEXANDER CAME ALONG TO DELIVER THE DEATH BLOW.

SO THEBES WAS A CITY SEEPED IN BLOOD & INFAMOUS FOR ITS SCORN OF DIONYSUS. ITS HISTORY WAS DARK & ITS MOST NOTORIOUS CHARACTERS ALL ILL-FAMED.

YET ITS SELF-ESTEEM REMAINED IMMENSE. WE MUST CONCLUDE THAT IN ITS BLINDNESS, IT BET ON ITS NOTORIETY TO SAVE IT FROM FUTURE HARM.

BUT ITS PAST WAS, IN GREEK EYES, SHAMEFUL & UNWORTHY OF THE BRIGHT LIGHT GREEKS VIEWED THEMSELVES AS DESERVING.

IN THE END, THE CITY'S path led it to EXTERMINATION. THE GODS, WISE OR RASH, TURNED THEIR BACK ON THE ARROGANT THEBANS. 

THE CITY'S PRIDE assured ITS demise. 

... 

JOIN ME ... FOR ANOTHER EPISODE OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. REMEMBER THAT THE WINNOWING & MY OTHER NOVELS ARE ALL AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.

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