The Thespians
"O stranger, tell the Thespians that we died here,
showing fidelity to freedom"
INTRODUCTION
The city of Thespiai was one of the most ancient cities of Boiotia . It was south of the current "Erimokastro" and south of the torrent that was called "Thespios" . The city's port in the Corinthian gulf was Kreusa (or Kreuse). The boiotic cities of Askre (the home city of Hesiod), Boiotic Polichnes, Leuctra, Kreuse and Keressos were under Thespian rule. Keressos was the akropolis and it was well fortified, because of its natural position. Thespiai, according to tradition, were named after the Nymphe Thespia, daughter of The Assopus river, or after the legendary king Thespios, who came from Erechtheus (the king of Attica) and went to Thespiai from Athens. According to one view this was the reason of the close friendship that the Thespians and the Athenaeans had. About the origin of the natives the most popular oppinion -even from the ancient times- was that the first inhabitants of the area around mount Elikon -and so the first residents of Thespiai- were the Thrakes Pieres. This view was based on the fact that mount Elikon was dedicated to the Mousai at that time, as was mount Pieros of south Macedonia, and also that in Thespiai Dionysos was worshiped, who according to Stravon was at first an ancient god from Thrace. ิhe emblem of the ancient Thespians was the crescent moon of Aphrodite
Melainis.
THE THESPIANS IN THE PAN-HELLENIC FIGHT AGAINST THE PERSIANS
The Thespians played an active role during the Persian Wars. A Thespian representative took part in the national meeting in Korinth, in 481 B.C. in the temple of Poseidon (Neptune) in the Isthmus.
In 480 B.C. in Thermopylai 700 Thespian hoplites under Demofilos of Diadromou sacrificed themselves with the 300 Spartans under
Leonidas.
After the battle of Thermopylai Xerxis burned Thespiai to the ground, but the inhabitants fled to Peloponnesos. In 479 B.C. 1,800 Thespian psiloi fought in
Plataea.
THE ULTIMATE MOMENT OF GRANDEUR
Without doubt the ultimate moment of the Thespians was the self-sacrifice of their 700 hoplites in Thermopylai. Their alacrity is mentioned in Herodotus (Book 7). There Herodotus says that the Thespians, even though they were free to go, decided not to leave the Spartans and Leonidas. The bravest of all the Thespians was Dithyrambos of
Armatidis.
THOUGHTS
Anyone objective observer of that self - sacrifice, even though there was a way out, would think: "Why did the 700 Thespians stay in
Thermopylai?".
One would think that they had no secure place to go to. After Thermopylai the way to Thespiai was open for the Persians. So, the Thespians chose to fight there, because they understood that their state was going to be destroyed in a few days -at the most- and because Thermopylai was the ideal place for defence. But, the same reasons for fight there had the inhabitants of Plataea, who decided to fortify their city. So, why did the Thespians stay, even though Leonidas let them go and Thespiai was allied to Athens for many years?
The answer is simple. As the 300 Spartans did, the 700 Thespians of Demofilos risked their lives because of their belief in the ideal of faith, in the ideal of country, in the ideal of family and the ideal of freedom and they subdued their personal will to the will of their leader. The Spartans and the Thespians chose to fight and die rather than to leave and save themselves. Thus, they managed to avoid the defamation and to keep the pan - Hellenic fight going at the cost of their lives. In the end, in a very short time, when they were expecting to win with glory and not to loose, they died ...
So, the final conclusion is that the 700 Thespians of Demofilos tried, as hard as they could, to keep their oath, like the most of the other Hellines of that time:
"I'll not shame my sacred weapons,
and I'll not abandon my fellow soldier,
regardless who he is.
I'll fight for sacred and holly believes
alone and with many.
I'll not pass on my country less,
but I'll pass my country on larger and better than it was passed on to me.
And I'll obey always to the judges
and I'll obey to the constitutions that existed before,
and to the others that the 'demos' will create without thinking.
And if someone does not obey the constitutions
or lodges them I'll not allow.
I'll defend them alone and with many.
And I'll honor the sacred paternals.
My whitnesses of these are the gods Aglauros, Enyalios,
Zeus, Auxo, Thallo, Hegemone."
EPILOG
So, the Thespians are also one of the eternal models that we must have. The thoughts of Alexandrinos K. Kavaphis make us think a lot:
"We must honor those who in their lives
specified and guarded 'Thermopylai'.
Never feeling obligated to do so ...
And we must honor them more
when there is a prediction (by many)
that Ephialtes will come in the end
and that the Medoi in the end will pass ..."
Socratis Krakras,
professor of Ancient Greek and Latin Philology,
Private School "Paideia"
E-mail: demofilos1@hotmail.com
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Connolly Peter, Greece and Rome at War, p.24, London, 1981.
Garoufalis Demetrios, The battle of Thermopylai: the grandeur of the undefeated hellenic soul, Stratiotike Istoria (Military History), issue 18, pp. 6 - 15, Athens, Hellas.
Herodotos, Book 7, 198 - 228.
History of the Hellenic Nation, B (Archaic Hellenism), pp. 315/316/320/325/327/331, Athenian Publishing House, Athens, Hellas,1970.
Liakou I. Ch., Thespiai then and now, issue 1, pp. 10 - 11,
Thespiai, Hellas.
Sekunda Nicholas Victor - McBride Angus, Elite Series, 7, The Ancient Greeks, p. 46, Sussex, 1993.
Sides Peter, Ancient Historical Battles, 1479 BC - 378 AD, p. 10, London, 1992.
Warry John, Warfare in the Classical World, p. 29, London, 1981.
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