Hello everyone I’m Meghan Sullivan and welcome to my History N’ Games book review for Thebes: The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece by Professor Paul Cartledge. I chose this book for two reasons. One, the subject matter sounded super interesting and I really respect the work of Professor Cartledge, and the second reason is that I'm not that familiar with Thebes, despite the legendary city’s impressive ability to cast a long shadow over Ancient Greek history. At just 274 pages the story of Thebes’ rise and fall is neither a long read nor a super dense read. But is it a good read? Well, that’s harder to say. LIke Thebes’s history, this book has dazzling highlights but gets pretty murky and uneven in places. So while I liked it, it’s hard to enthusiastically recommend this book.
But let’s start with the good news. Thebes: The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece is spangled with all sorts of interesting and enlightening information. I really enjoyed learning how some of Thebes' misty, fabled past is actually based in reality: For example, the Thebans lofty belief that they were once a major player during the epoch of heroes is backed up by archeological evidence that shows Thebes was in fact the site of an impressive palace complex during the Bronze Age. And Thebes renown continues to be historically attested to with smaller but no less astounding finds: Thebes famous “shining shield” a gift from the ultra-rich Croesus and mentioned by the historian Herodotus was all but confirmed to have existed by a recent Theban excavation that unearthed a column drum with cuts for displaying a shield. Likewise, I was riveted by later tales of the wily Epaminondas, a 4th century BCE general whose clever battle tactics almost single-handedly brought Thebes’ rival- the mighty city-state of Sparta, to its knees.
There are also fun random bits of information that I enjoyed soaking up, like how an attic neighbor was a euphemism for a bad neighbor--and a Cadmean victory was the Ancient Greek equivalent of a Pyrrhic victory. Some people might find that kind of detail distracting--particularly since it’s not really crucial to the narrative, but I like it.
With that said, I couldn’t help but notice that Paul Cartledge was very careful to skirt around one of the spicier topics surrounding ancient Thebes, and that is the possible relationship between Greek Thebes and Egyptian Thebes. Now most authors and historians agree that there’s more evidence to support a Phonecian origin story over an Egyptian origin story (the Thebans themselves credit a Phonecian named Cadmus with the founding of their city), but there are striking similarities between the two Thebes that begs for attention: like how both cities supposedly had multiple gates, how Greek Thebes became synonymous with the Sphinx, a VERY Egyptian motif, how a Theban tomb was found with a fresco depicting Egyptian papyrus flowers, and how Egypt itself may have a listing for the city-state of Thebes as far back as 1350 BCE. Yet Professor Cartledge conspicuously refrains from commenting on a possible link between the two cities, even though he’s the one who brought these things up.
That’s not the only missed opportunity, here. Much of Thebes’ fame comes from the tragic tale of the riddle-solving, involuntarily incestuous Oeidpus and his two warring sons, who precipitated the civil war known as the Seven Against Thebes. Professor Cartledge does a good job of rehashing these tales, via their best known sources--the 8th century poet Homer and the 5th century Athenian playwrights Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles--but doesn’t bother to tie these popular tales back to any historical evidence (barley available though it is), or even to acknowledge that perhaps -via Thebes near-eastern connections with Phoenicia--which is around modern day Lebanon, the stories were transmitted from earlier Mesopotamian tales of a similar nature, like the Akkadian tale of Erra and his Seven “champions without peer.” It’s a strange and frustrating oversight, especially given that the author mentions the fascinating discovery of a cache of Bablyonian cylinder seals in a Bronze Age palace in Thebes, and even dedicates the final chapter of his book to the lasting impact of Thebes’ widespread mythology. If it’s so important, then why not explore the historical or at least cultural origins of these tall tales?
Luckily, the author does a better job filling in the gap between the rise and fall of Bronze Age Thebes around the mid 12th century BCE and the rise and fall of classical Thebes around the mid 4th century BCE. It’s an impressive feat, as Thebes seemingly spent hundreds of years more or less sitting on the sidelines while greater super powers-- mainly Sparta and Athens took center stage. At least, that is what Thebes erstwhile enemies--particularly the Athenians --who are more or less our main source for the ARchaic and Classical periods of Greece--would have you believe. Professor Cartridge leads Thebes back into the spotlight by highlighting its continuing contributions to Greek politics and culture during this shadowy time period. For example he talks at length about Thebes’ Boeotian League and how it heavily influenced regional politics, the impact of the 5th century poet Pindar, who had a soft spot for Thebes even though it wasn’t his place of origin, and Boeotia’s continuing importance as a religious center. Professor Cartledge is also careful to point out Thebes' role in the Peloponnesian Wars, and how the fallout from those wars later led to the rise of Thebes as a powerful military state, one that could challenge Sparta for martial supremacy. It’s unfortunate that the chapters covering the major wars of 5th and 4th century BCE Greece feel a bit rushed and scattered, but considering these subjects warrant entire books in and of themselves it's understandable that the author forgoes detailed explanations in favor of keeping the narrative moving. Or rather tripping along, and here might actually be my biggest gripe with Thebes: The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece. The poor editing.
Maybe it’s because he divides the chapters up into subject matter and not chronology, but tHere are several instances where Professor Cartledge unnecessarily repeats himself, like how he keeps reminding his audience that the Greeks referred to the Persians as both Persians and Medes, two separate Iranian tribes that existed during the Persian Empire (yeah we know, you told us that already). Long, rambling sentences are also a problem in this book. Here’s an example: “To summarize, the alliance was technically a summachia, that is, a fully offensive and defensive alliance under the terms of which each ally swore a religious oath to have the same friends and enemies as the Spartans, and to follow the Spartans whithersoever they might lead them, on condition that any joint League initiative had both to be proposed by Sparta (who could not be committed to an initiative it opposed) and to be ratified by a majority vote of allied delegates at a conference that only Sparta could convene.” That’s a lot of information to throw at the reader in one sentence, especially if they’re not already familiar with Sparta’s famed Peloponnesian League. That’s not the only word salad I came across. Here’s another “Coupled with Pindar’s work for--and unstinted praise of tyrants, especially those of Sicily, where the egalitarian protocols of the polis had not seemingly sunk such deep roots as in Old Greece, his philo-aristocratic persona makes him (Pindar) look quite the anti-democratic ideologue.” What? Where is your editor, Professor Cartledge? That sentence barely makes sense.
And yet for all my nitpicks I still enjoyed Thebes: The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece. This isn’t the best work I’ve seen out of Paul Cartledge (I would much rather recommend his fabulous books on Sparta instead) but at least he’s willing to shine a spotlight on a mysterious and often overlooked city-state and I did learn new and fascinating things about Thebes. So with that I’d say go ahead and at least borrow this book from the library or snap it up during a book sale. It’s not Pindar-worthy poetry, but it’s still a fairly worthy ode to his beloved homeland.