)--The invasion of Attica by Castor and Pol-
lux, for the recovery of their sister Helen, and an in-
?
lux, for the recovery of their sister Helen, and an in-
?
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
"
Hearing this, the Phocians marched to Thermopylae
with 1000 men, and the Locrians of Opus with all the
force they could muster. On his arrival in Bceotia
Leonidas was joined by 700 Thespians, who were
zealous in the cause; but the disposition of Thebes
was strongly suspected; her leading men were known
to be friendly to the Persians; and Leonidas probably
believed that he should be counteracting their in-
trigues if he engaged the Thebans to take part in the
contest. He therefore called upon them for assist-
ance, and they sent 400 men with him; but, in the
opinion of Herodotus, this was a forced compliance,
which, if they had dared, they would willingly have
refused. With this army Leonidas marched to defend
Thermopylae against two millions of men. It was a
prevailing belief in later ages--one, perhaps, that be-
came current immediately after the death of Leonidas
--that when he sat out on his expedition he distinctly
foresaw its fatal issue. And Herodotus gives some
colour to the opinion by recording that he selected
his Spartan followers from among those who had sons
to leave behind them. Dut Plutarch imagined that,
before his departure, he and his little band solemnized
their own obsequies by funeral games in the presence
of their parents, and that it was on this occasion he
spoke of them as a small number to fight, but enough
to die. One fact destroys this fiction. Before his
arrival at Thermopylae he did not know of the path
over the mountain by which he might bo attacked in
the rear: the only danger he had before his eyes was
one which could not have shaken the courage of any
brave warrior, that of making t stand for a few days
against incessant attacks, but from small bodies, in a
narrow space, where h* would be favoured by the
ground. The whole pass shut in between the east-
ern promontory of GSta, called Callidromus, which
towers above it in rugged precipices, and the shore
of the Malian Gulf, is four or five miles in length; it
? ? is narrowest at either end, where the mountain is
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? THERMOPYLAE.
fcowover, stood their ground as before, or, if ever t) ay
^ave way and turned their backs, it was only to face
suddenly about and deal tenfold destruction on their
pursuers. Thrice during these fruitless assaults the
king was seen to start up from his throne in a trans-
port of fear or rage. The combat lasted the whole
day: the slaughter of the barbarians was great; on
the side of the Greeks, a few Spartan lives were lost;
as to the rest, nothing is said. The next day the
attack was renewed with no better success: the bands
of the several cities that made up the Grecian army,
except the Phocians, who were employed as we have
seen, relieved each other at the post of honour; all
stood equally firm, and repelled the charge not less
vigorously than before. The confidence of Xerxes
was now changed to despondence and perplexity. --
The secret of the Anopcea could not long remain con-
cealed after it had become valuable. Many tongues,
perhaps, would have revealed it: two Greeks, a Ca-
rystian, and Corydallus of Anticyra, shared the re-
proach of this foul treachery; but, by the general opin-
ion, confirmed by the solemn sentence of the Am-
phictyonic council, which set a price upon his head,
Ephialtes, a Malian, was branded with the infamy of
having guided the barbarians round tho fatal path.
Xerxes, overjoyed at the discovery, ordered Hydarnes,
'. lie commander of the Ten Thousand, with his troops,
10 follow the traitor. They set out at nightfall: as
day was beginning to break, they gained the brow of
Callidromus, where the Phocians were posted: the
night was still, and the universal silence was first
broken by the trampling of the invaders on the leaves
with which the face of the woody mountain was
thickly strewed. The Phocians started from their
couches and ran to their arms. The Persians, who
had not expected to find an enemy on their way,
were equally surprised at the sight of an armed band,
and feared lest they might be Spartans; but when
Ephialtes had informed them of the truth, they pre-
pared to force a passage. Their arrows showered
jpon the Phocians, who, believing themselves the sole
object of attack, retreated to the highest peak of the
. 'idge, to sell their lives as dearly as they could. The
Persians, without turning aside to pursue them, kept
on their way, and descended towards Alpcnus. Mean-
while, deserters had brought intelligence of the ene-
my's motions lo the Grecian camp during the night,
and their report was confirmed at daybreak by the
sentinels who had been stationed on the heights, and
now came down with tho news that the barbarians
were crossing the ridge. Little time was left for de-
liberation: opinions were divided as to the course that
prudence prescribed or honour permitted. Leonidas
did not restrain, perhaps encouraged, those of the al-
lies who wished lo save themselves from the impend-
ing fate; but for himself and his Spartans he declared
his resolution of maintaining the post which Sparta
had assigned them to the last. All withdrew except
the Thespians and the Thebans. The Thespians re-
mained from choice, bent on sharing his glory and his
death. We should willingly believe the same of the
Thebans, if the event did not seem to prove that their
stay was the effect of compulsion. Herodotus says
that Leonidas, though he dismissed the rest because
their spirit shrank from danger, detained the Thebans
as hostages, because he knew them to be disaffected
to the cause of freedom; yet, as he was himself cer-
tain of perishing, it is equally difficult to understand
? ? why and how he put this violence on them; and Plu-
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? THERMOPYLAE.
THE
persevering stand in the post intrusted to them, not
ao an act of high and heroic devotion, but of simple
and indispensable duty. Their spirit spoke in the lines
inscribed upon the:r monument; which bade the passing
traveller tell their countrymen that they had fallen in
obedience to their laws. How their action was view-
ed at Sparta may be collected from a story which can-
not he separated from the recollection of this memora-
ble day. When the band of Leonidas was nearly en-
tlosed, two Spartans, Eurytus and Aristodemus, were
staying at Alpenus, having been forced to quit their
post by a disorder which nearly deprived them of sight.
When they heard the tidings, the one called for hia
arms, and made his helot guide him to the place of
combat, where he was left, and fell. But the other's
heart failed him, and he sue:1 his life. When he re-
turned to Sparta he was shunned like a pestilence: no
man would share the fire of his hearth with him, or
speak to him; and he was branded with the name of
"the trembler Aristodemus" (d rptaac 'Apiarodrifioc).
According to another account, both these Spartans bad
been despatched from the camp as messengers, and
there being sufficient time for both to return, Eurytus
did so, but Aristodemus lingered on the way. --The
Persians are said to have lost at Thermopylae 20,000
men: among them were several of royal blood. To
console himself for this loss, and to reap the utmost
advantage from his victory, Xerxes sent over to the
? fleet, which, having heard of the departure of the
Greeks, was now stationed on the northern coast of
Eubnea, and by public notice invited all who were
curious to see the chastisement he had indicted on
the men who had dared to defy his power. That he
had previously buried the greater part of his own
dead seems natural enough; and such an artifice, so
slightly differing from the universal practice of both
ancient and modern belligerents, scarcely deserved
Ihe name of a stratagem. He is said also to have
mutilated the body of Leonidas; and, as this was one
of the foremost which he found on a field that had
csst him so dear, we are not at liberty to reject the
tradition, because such ferocity was not consistent
with the respect usually paid by the Persians to a gal-
lant enemy. To cut off the head and right arm of
slain rebels was a Persian usage. (Plut. , Vil. Artax. ,
c. 13. --Strab. , 733. --Herod. . 7, 206, seqo--Thirl-
tealVs Hist, of Gr. , vol. 2, p. 282, seqq. )--According
to modern travellers, the warm springs at Thermopylae
are about half way between Bodonilza and Zeiloun.
They issue principally from two mouths at the foot of
the limestone precipices of (Eta. The temperature,
in the month of December, was found to be 111? of
Fahrenheit. Dr. Holland found it to be 103? or 104?
at the mouth of the fissures. The water is very transpa-
rent, but deposites a calcareous concretion (carbonate
of lime), which adheres to reeds and sticks, like the
waters of the Anio at Tivoli, and the sulphureous lake
between that place and Rome. A large extent of sur-
face is covered with this deposite. It is impregnated
with carbonic acid, lime, muriate of soda, and sulphur.
The ground about the springs yields a hollow sound
like that within the crater of the Solfaterra near Na-
ples. In some places Dr. Clarke observed cracks and
fissures filled with stagnant water, through which a
gaseous fluid was rising in large bubbles to the sur-
face, its foetid smell bespeaking it to be sulphureted
hydrogen. The springs are very copious, and imme-
? ? diately form several rapid Btreains running into the
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? THE
THESEUS
tte. i thi temples; hut, in revenge lor the excesses
commuted by the . Etolians at Dium and Dodona, de-
lated the statues, which amounted to more than two
thousand, set fire to the porcheB, and finally razed the
Buildings themselves to tne ground. They found also
in Thcrinus a quantity of arms, of which they selected
the most costly to carry away, but the greater part they
destroyed, to the number of 15,000 complete suits of
armour. In like manner, whatever was not worthy of
removal, was consumed in heaps before the camp. All
these facts attest the size and opulence of the place;
ot which, however, so little is known, that, with the
exception of Strabo and Polybius, its name occurs in
no ancient author. Philip subsequently made another
attack upon the town, and destroyed all that had been
spared before. (Polyb. , de virt. el ml, c. 11. )--Un-
der the Roman sway, when the national assemblies of
the . Etolians had ceased to be held, Thermus became
speedily forgotten in history. (Manner! , Geogr. , vol.
8, p. Ill--Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 2, p. 87. )
Thkrs. tniif. r, a son of Polynices and Argia. He was
one of the Epigoni, and, after the capture of Thebes,
received the city from the hands of his victorious fel-
low-chieftains. (Pausan. , 9, 8. --Heync, ad Apollod. ,
:i, 7, 4. ) At a subsequent period, when already ad-
vanced in years, he accompanied the Greeks to the
Trojan war, but was slain on the shores of Mysia by
Telcphus. (Diet. Orel. , 2, Z. --Hcyne,ad Virg. , Mn. ,
2, 261-- Find. , 01. , 2, 76. -- Schol. ad Ptnd. , I. e. )
Theesites, one of the Greeks in the army before
Troy. Homer describes him as equally deformed in
person and in mind. Such was his propensity to in-
dulge in contumelious language, that he could not ab-
stain from directing it against not only the chiefs of
the army, but even Agamemnon himself. He ulti-
mately fell by the hand of Achilles, while he was ridi-
culing the sorrow of that hero for the slain Penthesilea.
{Horn. , II. , 2, 212, teqq )
Tiik-riii. e, a patronymic given to the Athenians
from Theseus, one of their kings. (Virg. , G. , 2,383 )
Theseus (two syllables), king of Athens, and son
jl -Egeus by . Ethra, the daughter of Pittheus, mon-
arch of Trezcnc, was one of the most celebrated he-
roes of antiquity. He was reared in the palace of his
grandfather; and, when grown to the proper age, his
mother led him to the rock under which his father had
deposited his sword and sandals, and he removed it
with ease and took them out. He was now to pro-
ceed to Athens, and present himself to . Egeus. As,
however, the roads were infested by robbers, his grand-
father Pittheus pressed him earnestly to take the
shorter and safer way over the Saronic Gulf; but the
youth, feeling in himself the spirit and the soul of a
hero, resolved to signalize himself like Hercules, with
whose fame all Greece now rang, by destroying the
evil-doers and the monsters that oppressed and ravaged
the country; and he determined on the more perilous
and adventurous journey by land. On his way to
Athens he met with many adventures, and destroyed
Periphates, Sinis, Sciron, Procrustes, and also the
monstrous sow Phaea, which ravaged the country in
the neighbourhood of Crommyon. Having overcome
all the perils of the road, Theseus at length reached
Athens, where new dangers awaited him. He found
his father's court all in confusion. The Pallantidae, or
sons and grandsons of Pallas, the brother of -Egeus,
had long seen with jealousy the sceptre in the hands
? ? of an old man, and now meditated wresting it from his
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? THESEUS.
THE
we read, he found no difficulty; but the powerful men
were only induced to comply with hi* proposals by his
promise that all should be admitted to an equal share
of the government, and that he would resign all his
royal prerogatives except those of commanding in war
and of watching over the laws. To the nobles, there-
fore, he reserved all the offices of slate, with the privi-
lege of ordering the affairs of religion, and of inter-
preting the laws both human and divine. The result
if itose and other regulations was the increase of the
'. it; and of the population in general. Thucydides
dxca on this as the epoch when the lower city was
added to the ancient one, which had covered, as we
have remarked, little more than the rock that afterward
became the citadel. And hence there may seem to
have been some foundation for Plutarch's statement,
that Theseus called the city Athens, if this name prop-
erly tigrii. ij. i he whole enclosure of the Old and New
Town. -- As a farther means of uniting the people,
Theseus established numerous festivals, particularly
the Panathenrea, solemnized with great splendour ev-
ery fifth year, in commemoration of this union of the
inhabitants of Attica. Theseus firmly established the
boundaries of the Attic territory, in which he inclu-
ded Mcgaris, ana set up a pillar on the Isthmus of
Corinth to mark the limits of Attica and the Pelopon-
nesus. These civic cares did not prevent Theseus
from taking part in military enterprises: he accompa-
nied Hercules in his expedition against the Amazons,
who then dwelt on the banks of the Thermodon; and
he distinguished himself so much in the conflict, that
Hercules, after the victory, bestowed on him, as the
reward of his valour, the hand of the vanquished queen.
(Vid. Antiopc. ) When the Amazons afterward, in
revenge, invaded the Attic territory, they met with a
signal defeat from the Athenian prince. (Vid. Ama-
zor. es. ) Theseus was also a sharer in the dangers of
the Calydonian hunt; he was one of the adventurous
bar. j who sailed in the Argo to Colchis; and he aided
Lis friend Pirithoiis and the Lapithaa in their conflict
with the Centaurs. The friendship between him and
Pirithoiis was of a most intimate nature, yet it had ori-
ginated in the midst of arms. (Vid. Pirithoiis. ) Like
faithful comrades, they aided each other in every pro-
ject. Each was ambitious in love, and would possess
a daughter of the geds. Theseus, in whoso favour
the lot had fa. len, carried off, with the assistance of
his friend, the ce,abrated Helen, daughter of I. eda,
then a child of but nine years, though already of sur-
passing loveliness, and placed her under the care of his
mother /rjthra, at Aphidnee, whence she was subse-
quently rescued by her brothers Castor and Pollux,
lie then prepared to aid his friend in a bolder and more
perilous attempt, the abduction of Proserpina from the
palace of Pluto; an attempt which resulted in the im-
prisonment of both by tho monarch of Hades. From
this confinement Theseus was released by Hercules;
but Pirithoiis remained ever a captive. (Vid. Piri-
thoiis. ) After the death of Antiopc, who had borne
him a son named Hippolytus, Theseus married Phae-
dra, the daughter of Minos, and sister of Ariadne.
Hippolytus lost his life in consequence of a false charge
preferred against him by his stepmother; Phcedra end-
ed her days by her own hand; and Theseus, when too
late, learned the innocence of his son. (Vid Hip-
polytus.
)--The invasion of Attica by Castor and Pol-
lux, for the recovery of their sister Helen, and an in-
? ? surrection of the Pallantida:, brought on Theseus tho
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? ? 1 AE
THE
Tut spTa or TnKsr>/E, a town i Boeo ia, for. y
? adia from Ascra, according to Strauc, and near the
foot of Helicon, looking towards the south and the
Crisraan Gulf. Ita antiquity ia atteated by Homer,
who names it in the catalogue of Boeotian towns. (//. ,
S, 498. ) The Thespians are worthy of a place in his-
tory for their brave and generous conduct during the
Persian war. Wheri the rest of Bceotia basely sub-
mitted to Xerxes, they alone refused to tender earth
and water to his deputies. The troops also under Le-
onidas, whom they sent to aid the Spartans at Ther-
mopylae, chose rather to die at their posts than desert
. heir commander and his heroic followers. (Herod. ,
7,132 el 222. ) Their city was, in consequence, burn-
ed by the Persians after it had been evacuated by the
inhabitants, who retired to the Peloponnesus. (He-
rod , 8, 00. ) A small body of these, however, fought
at Matna under Pausanias. (Herod. , 9, 31. ) The
Thespians distinguished them. <<<<lves also in the battle
ofDelium against the Athenians, being nearly all slain
at their post. (Thueyd. , 4, 96. ) The Thebans after-
ward basely took advantage of this heavy toss to pull
down tho walls of their city and bring it jnder sub-
jection, on pretext of their having favoured the Athe-
nians. (Thueyd. , 4, 133. ) They subsequently made
an attempt to recover their independence; but, failing
n this enterprise, many of them sought refuge at Ath-
ens. (Thueyd. , 6, 95. ) Thespiae was occupied by
the Lacedaemonians at the same time that they seized
upon the citadel of Thebes. (Xen. , Hist. Gr. , 5, 4,
42. )--The celebrated courtesan Phryne was born at
Thespiae. It is mentioned, that on her having received,
as a present from Praxiteles, a beautiful statue of Cu-
pid, she caused it to be erected in her native city,
which added greatly to its prosperity, from the influx
of strangers who came to view this masterpiece of
art. (Slrabo, 410. --Alhen. , 13, 59. ) Pausanias af-
firms, that this celebrated statue was sent to Rome by
Caligula, but was afterward restored to Thespiae by
Claudius. Nero sgain removed it to Rome, where it
was destroyed by fire. (Pausan. , 9, 26. ) Pliny, how-
ever, asserts that it still existed in his day in the
schools of Octnvia. (Plin. , 36, 5. )--It is now pretty
well ascertained, by the researches of recent travellers,
that the ruins of Thcspia? arc occupied by the modern
Eremo Castro. Sir W. Gell remarks, that "the plan
of the city is distinctly visible. It seems a regular
hexagon, and the mound occasioned by the fall of the
wall is perfect. " (Itin. , p. 119. -- Cramer's Ancient
(ircece, vol. 2, p. 208, seqq. )
Thespiad^, the offspring of Hercules by the fifty
daughters of Thespius. On attaining to manhood,
some of them were sent, by their father's directions, to
Thebes in Bceotia, but the greatcs part as a colony to
Sardinia. (Apollod. , 2, 7, 6. --Heyne ad Apollod. , I.
e. --Dtod. Sic. , 4. 29. --Pausan. 10, 17. )
TtiEsfiADEs, I. the fifty daughters of Thespius,
mothers of the Theapiadaa by Hercules. (Apollod. , 2,
4, 10. )--II. An appellation given to the Muses from
Thespia? , near which was Helicon, one of the mount-
ain* sacred to them. (Vid. Muiae. )
Tmtspis, an early Greek dramatic poet, generally
regarded as the inventor of tragedy. Ho was born at
Icaria, a Diacrian demus or borough, at the begin-
ning of the sixth century B. C. His birthplace de-
rived its name, according to tradition, from the father
of Erigone (Steph. Byz. , s. v. 'lnopia. --Hygin. ,fab. ,
? ? 130), and had always been a sent of the religion of
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? THESSALIA.
r HESS ALIA.
lor pasturing and the cultivation of corn; ita toasts,
especially the Sinus Pagassaus, afforded the best har-
bours for shipping; nature seemed hardly to have left
a wish unratified. It was in Thessaly that the tribe
? if the Hellenes, according to tradition, first appli-
ed themselves to agriculture; and thence its several
branches spread over the more southern landa. ( Vid.
Hellas. ) Almost all the names of its towns recall
some association connected with the primitive history
and heroic age of the nation. --Early traditions, pre-
served by the Greek poets and other writers, ascribe
to Thessaly the more ancient names of Pyrrha, ? mo-
nia, and . Col is. (Khian , ap. Schol. in ApoU. Hkod ,
3, 1089. --Steph. Byz. , t. v. Alpovia -- Herod. , 7,
176. ) Passing over the two former appellations, which
belong rather to the age of mythology, the latter may
afford us matter for historical reflections, as referring
to that remote period when the plains of Thessaly
were occupied by the . Cohan Pelasgi, to whom Greece
was probably indebted for the first dawnings of civili-
zation, and the earliest cultivation of her language.
{Strabo, 230. ) This people originally came, as He-
rodotus informs us, from Thesprotia {Herod. , 7, 176.
--Strab. , 444); but how long they remsined in pos-
session of the country, and at what precise period it
assumed the name of Theasaly, cannot, perhaps, now
be determined. In the poems of Homer it never oc-
ci. rs, although the several principalities and kingdoms
of which it is composed are there distinctly enumera-
ted and described, together with the different chiefs to
whom they were subject: thus Hellas and Phthia are
assigned to Achilles; the Melian and Pagasean terri-
tories to Pro'. esilaus and Eumtlus; Magnesia to Plii-
locletes an>'. Eurypylus; Estimotis and Pelasgia to
Medun ami the sons of . Csculapius, with other petty
leaders. It is from Homer, therefore, that we derive
the earliest information relative to the history of this
fairest portion of Greece. This state of things, how-
ever, was not of long continuance; and a new consti-
tution, dating probably from the period of the Trojan
expedition, seems to have been adopted by the common
consent of the Thessalian states. They agreed to
unite themselves into one confederate body, under the
direction of one supreme magistrate or chief, distin-
guished by the title of Tagus (Tayoc), and elected by
the consent of the whole republic. The details of this
federal system are little known; but Strabo assure* us
that the Thessalian confederacy was the most consider-
able, as well as the earliest, society of the kind establish-
ed in<Jreece. (Srrai,429. ) How far its constitution
was connected with the celebrated Amphictyonic coun-
cil, it seems impossible to determine, since we are so
little acquainted with the origin and history of that an-
cient assembly. There can be little doubt, however,
thst this singular coalition, which embraced matters of
a political as well as a religious nature, first rose
among the states of Thessaly, as we find that the ma-
jority of the nation who had votes in the council were
either actually Thessalians, or connected in some way
with that part of Greece. This mode of government,
however, seems to have succeeded as little in Thessaly
as in the other Hellenic republics where it was adopt-
vd; and that province, which, from its local advanta-
ges ought to have ranked among the most powerful
and leading states of Greece, we find, if wo except a pe-
riod of brilliant but momentary splendour, to have been
one of the most weak and insignificant. We learn from
? ? Heiodotus, that when Xerxes meditated the invasion of
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? THE
THE
wly. succeeded in defeating, and finally expelling these
oppressors of their country; and, by the important
services thus rendered to the Thessalians, secured
their lasting attachment to his interests, and finally ob-
tained the presidency of the Amphictyonic council.
(Polyb. , Etc. , 9, 28. ) ? Under his skilful management,
the troops of Thessaly became a most important addi-
tion to the resources he already possessed; and to this
powerful re-enforcement may probably be attributed
the success which attended bis campaign against the
Bcsotians and Athenians. On the death of Philip, the
states of Thessaly, in order to testify their veneration
for his memory, issued a decree, by which they con-
firmed to his son Alexander the supreme station which
he had held in their councils; and also signified their
intention of supporting his claims to the title of com-
mander-in-chief of the whole Grecian confederacy.
The long absence of that enterprising prince, while
engaged in distant conquests, subsequently afforded
his enemies an opportunity of detaching the Thessa-
lians from his interests; and the I. amiac war, which
was chiefly sustained by that people against his gener-
als Antipater and Craterus, had nearly proved fatal to
the Macedonian influence, not only in Thessaly, but
over the whole continent of Greece. By the conduct
and ability of Antipater, however, the contest was
brought to a successful issue, and Thessaly was pre-
served to the Macedonian crown (Polyb. , 4, 76) un-
til the reign of Philip, son of Demetrius, from whom
it was wrested by the Romans after the victory of
Cynoscephala. All Thessaly was then declared free
by a decree of the senate and people (Lin. . 33,32), but
from that time it may be fairly considered as having
passed under the dominion of Home, though its pos-
session was still disputed by Antiocbus (Lie, 36, 9,
seqq ), and again by Perseus, the son of Philip. Thes-
saly was already a Koman province, when the fate of
the empire of the world was decided in the plains of
Pharsalia--With the exception, perhaps, of Boeotis,
this seems to have been the most fertile and productive
fart of Greece, in wine, oil, and corn, but more espe-
cia. ly the latter, of which it exported a considerable
quantity to foreign countries. (Xt it , Hist. Gr. , 6, 1,
4--Theopkr. , Hist. Plant. , 8, 7, el 10. ) Hence, as
might be expected, the Thessalians were the wealthi-
est people of Greece; nor were they exempt from
those vices which riches and luxury generally bring in
their train. (Alhen. , 12, 5, p. 624. --Theopomp. , ap
twnd. , 6, 17, p. 260. --Plat. , Crit. , p. 50. )--Like the
Lacedaemonians, they employed slaves, who were
named Penestso; these probably were a remnant of
the first tribes that inhabited the country, and that had
been reduced to a state of servitude by thi ir invaders.
The Penesta? formed no inconsiderable pari <f the pop-
ulation, and not (infrequently endeavoured to free
themselves from the state of oppression under which
they groaned. (Xen, Hist. Gr. , 6. I, 4. --Aristot. ,
it Repub. , 2, 9. --Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 1, p.
Hearing this, the Phocians marched to Thermopylae
with 1000 men, and the Locrians of Opus with all the
force they could muster. On his arrival in Bceotia
Leonidas was joined by 700 Thespians, who were
zealous in the cause; but the disposition of Thebes
was strongly suspected; her leading men were known
to be friendly to the Persians; and Leonidas probably
believed that he should be counteracting their in-
trigues if he engaged the Thebans to take part in the
contest. He therefore called upon them for assist-
ance, and they sent 400 men with him; but, in the
opinion of Herodotus, this was a forced compliance,
which, if they had dared, they would willingly have
refused. With this army Leonidas marched to defend
Thermopylae against two millions of men. It was a
prevailing belief in later ages--one, perhaps, that be-
came current immediately after the death of Leonidas
--that when he sat out on his expedition he distinctly
foresaw its fatal issue. And Herodotus gives some
colour to the opinion by recording that he selected
his Spartan followers from among those who had sons
to leave behind them. Dut Plutarch imagined that,
before his departure, he and his little band solemnized
their own obsequies by funeral games in the presence
of their parents, and that it was on this occasion he
spoke of them as a small number to fight, but enough
to die. One fact destroys this fiction. Before his
arrival at Thermopylae he did not know of the path
over the mountain by which he might bo attacked in
the rear: the only danger he had before his eyes was
one which could not have shaken the courage of any
brave warrior, that of making t stand for a few days
against incessant attacks, but from small bodies, in a
narrow space, where h* would be favoured by the
ground. The whole pass shut in between the east-
ern promontory of GSta, called Callidromus, which
towers above it in rugged precipices, and the shore
of the Malian Gulf, is four or five miles in length; it
? ? is narrowest at either end, where the mountain is
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? THERMOPYLAE.
fcowover, stood their ground as before, or, if ever t) ay
^ave way and turned their backs, it was only to face
suddenly about and deal tenfold destruction on their
pursuers. Thrice during these fruitless assaults the
king was seen to start up from his throne in a trans-
port of fear or rage. The combat lasted the whole
day: the slaughter of the barbarians was great; on
the side of the Greeks, a few Spartan lives were lost;
as to the rest, nothing is said. The next day the
attack was renewed with no better success: the bands
of the several cities that made up the Grecian army,
except the Phocians, who were employed as we have
seen, relieved each other at the post of honour; all
stood equally firm, and repelled the charge not less
vigorously than before. The confidence of Xerxes
was now changed to despondence and perplexity. --
The secret of the Anopcea could not long remain con-
cealed after it had become valuable. Many tongues,
perhaps, would have revealed it: two Greeks, a Ca-
rystian, and Corydallus of Anticyra, shared the re-
proach of this foul treachery; but, by the general opin-
ion, confirmed by the solemn sentence of the Am-
phictyonic council, which set a price upon his head,
Ephialtes, a Malian, was branded with the infamy of
having guided the barbarians round tho fatal path.
Xerxes, overjoyed at the discovery, ordered Hydarnes,
'. lie commander of the Ten Thousand, with his troops,
10 follow the traitor. They set out at nightfall: as
day was beginning to break, they gained the brow of
Callidromus, where the Phocians were posted: the
night was still, and the universal silence was first
broken by the trampling of the invaders on the leaves
with which the face of the woody mountain was
thickly strewed. The Phocians started from their
couches and ran to their arms. The Persians, who
had not expected to find an enemy on their way,
were equally surprised at the sight of an armed band,
and feared lest they might be Spartans; but when
Ephialtes had informed them of the truth, they pre-
pared to force a passage. Their arrows showered
jpon the Phocians, who, believing themselves the sole
object of attack, retreated to the highest peak of the
. 'idge, to sell their lives as dearly as they could. The
Persians, without turning aside to pursue them, kept
on their way, and descended towards Alpcnus. Mean-
while, deserters had brought intelligence of the ene-
my's motions lo the Grecian camp during the night,
and their report was confirmed at daybreak by the
sentinels who had been stationed on the heights, and
now came down with tho news that the barbarians
were crossing the ridge. Little time was left for de-
liberation: opinions were divided as to the course that
prudence prescribed or honour permitted. Leonidas
did not restrain, perhaps encouraged, those of the al-
lies who wished lo save themselves from the impend-
ing fate; but for himself and his Spartans he declared
his resolution of maintaining the post which Sparta
had assigned them to the last. All withdrew except
the Thespians and the Thebans. The Thespians re-
mained from choice, bent on sharing his glory and his
death. We should willingly believe the same of the
Thebans, if the event did not seem to prove that their
stay was the effect of compulsion. Herodotus says
that Leonidas, though he dismissed the rest because
their spirit shrank from danger, detained the Thebans
as hostages, because he knew them to be disaffected
to the cause of freedom; yet, as he was himself cer-
tain of perishing, it is equally difficult to understand
? ? why and how he put this violence on them; and Plu-
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? THERMOPYLAE.
THE
persevering stand in the post intrusted to them, not
ao an act of high and heroic devotion, but of simple
and indispensable duty. Their spirit spoke in the lines
inscribed upon the:r monument; which bade the passing
traveller tell their countrymen that they had fallen in
obedience to their laws. How their action was view-
ed at Sparta may be collected from a story which can-
not he separated from the recollection of this memora-
ble day. When the band of Leonidas was nearly en-
tlosed, two Spartans, Eurytus and Aristodemus, were
staying at Alpenus, having been forced to quit their
post by a disorder which nearly deprived them of sight.
When they heard the tidings, the one called for hia
arms, and made his helot guide him to the place of
combat, where he was left, and fell. But the other's
heart failed him, and he sue:1 his life. When he re-
turned to Sparta he was shunned like a pestilence: no
man would share the fire of his hearth with him, or
speak to him; and he was branded with the name of
"the trembler Aristodemus" (d rptaac 'Apiarodrifioc).
According to another account, both these Spartans bad
been despatched from the camp as messengers, and
there being sufficient time for both to return, Eurytus
did so, but Aristodemus lingered on the way. --The
Persians are said to have lost at Thermopylae 20,000
men: among them were several of royal blood. To
console himself for this loss, and to reap the utmost
advantage from his victory, Xerxes sent over to the
? fleet, which, having heard of the departure of the
Greeks, was now stationed on the northern coast of
Eubnea, and by public notice invited all who were
curious to see the chastisement he had indicted on
the men who had dared to defy his power. That he
had previously buried the greater part of his own
dead seems natural enough; and such an artifice, so
slightly differing from the universal practice of both
ancient and modern belligerents, scarcely deserved
Ihe name of a stratagem. He is said also to have
mutilated the body of Leonidas; and, as this was one
of the foremost which he found on a field that had
csst him so dear, we are not at liberty to reject the
tradition, because such ferocity was not consistent
with the respect usually paid by the Persians to a gal-
lant enemy. To cut off the head and right arm of
slain rebels was a Persian usage. (Plut. , Vil. Artax. ,
c. 13. --Strab. , 733. --Herod. . 7, 206, seqo--Thirl-
tealVs Hist, of Gr. , vol. 2, p. 282, seqq. )--According
to modern travellers, the warm springs at Thermopylae
are about half way between Bodonilza and Zeiloun.
They issue principally from two mouths at the foot of
the limestone precipices of (Eta. The temperature,
in the month of December, was found to be 111? of
Fahrenheit. Dr. Holland found it to be 103? or 104?
at the mouth of the fissures. The water is very transpa-
rent, but deposites a calcareous concretion (carbonate
of lime), which adheres to reeds and sticks, like the
waters of the Anio at Tivoli, and the sulphureous lake
between that place and Rome. A large extent of sur-
face is covered with this deposite. It is impregnated
with carbonic acid, lime, muriate of soda, and sulphur.
The ground about the springs yields a hollow sound
like that within the crater of the Solfaterra near Na-
ples. In some places Dr. Clarke observed cracks and
fissures filled with stagnant water, through which a
gaseous fluid was rising in large bubbles to the sur-
face, its foetid smell bespeaking it to be sulphureted
hydrogen. The springs are very copious, and imme-
? ? diately form several rapid Btreains running into the
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? THE
THESEUS
tte. i thi temples; hut, in revenge lor the excesses
commuted by the . Etolians at Dium and Dodona, de-
lated the statues, which amounted to more than two
thousand, set fire to the porcheB, and finally razed the
Buildings themselves to tne ground. They found also
in Thcrinus a quantity of arms, of which they selected
the most costly to carry away, but the greater part they
destroyed, to the number of 15,000 complete suits of
armour. In like manner, whatever was not worthy of
removal, was consumed in heaps before the camp. All
these facts attest the size and opulence of the place;
ot which, however, so little is known, that, with the
exception of Strabo and Polybius, its name occurs in
no ancient author. Philip subsequently made another
attack upon the town, and destroyed all that had been
spared before. (Polyb. , de virt. el ml, c. 11. )--Un-
der the Roman sway, when the national assemblies of
the . Etolians had ceased to be held, Thermus became
speedily forgotten in history. (Manner! , Geogr. , vol.
8, p. Ill--Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 2, p. 87. )
Thkrs. tniif. r, a son of Polynices and Argia. He was
one of the Epigoni, and, after the capture of Thebes,
received the city from the hands of his victorious fel-
low-chieftains. (Pausan. , 9, 8. --Heync, ad Apollod. ,
:i, 7, 4. ) At a subsequent period, when already ad-
vanced in years, he accompanied the Greeks to the
Trojan war, but was slain on the shores of Mysia by
Telcphus. (Diet. Orel. , 2, Z. --Hcyne,ad Virg. , Mn. ,
2, 261-- Find. , 01. , 2, 76. -- Schol. ad Ptnd. , I. e. )
Theesites, one of the Greeks in the army before
Troy. Homer describes him as equally deformed in
person and in mind. Such was his propensity to in-
dulge in contumelious language, that he could not ab-
stain from directing it against not only the chiefs of
the army, but even Agamemnon himself. He ulti-
mately fell by the hand of Achilles, while he was ridi-
culing the sorrow of that hero for the slain Penthesilea.
{Horn. , II. , 2, 212, teqq )
Tiik-riii. e, a patronymic given to the Athenians
from Theseus, one of their kings. (Virg. , G. , 2,383 )
Theseus (two syllables), king of Athens, and son
jl -Egeus by . Ethra, the daughter of Pittheus, mon-
arch of Trezcnc, was one of the most celebrated he-
roes of antiquity. He was reared in the palace of his
grandfather; and, when grown to the proper age, his
mother led him to the rock under which his father had
deposited his sword and sandals, and he removed it
with ease and took them out. He was now to pro-
ceed to Athens, and present himself to . Egeus. As,
however, the roads were infested by robbers, his grand-
father Pittheus pressed him earnestly to take the
shorter and safer way over the Saronic Gulf; but the
youth, feeling in himself the spirit and the soul of a
hero, resolved to signalize himself like Hercules, with
whose fame all Greece now rang, by destroying the
evil-doers and the monsters that oppressed and ravaged
the country; and he determined on the more perilous
and adventurous journey by land. On his way to
Athens he met with many adventures, and destroyed
Periphates, Sinis, Sciron, Procrustes, and also the
monstrous sow Phaea, which ravaged the country in
the neighbourhood of Crommyon. Having overcome
all the perils of the road, Theseus at length reached
Athens, where new dangers awaited him. He found
his father's court all in confusion. The Pallantidae, or
sons and grandsons of Pallas, the brother of -Egeus,
had long seen with jealousy the sceptre in the hands
? ? of an old man, and now meditated wresting it from his
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? THESEUS.
THE
we read, he found no difficulty; but the powerful men
were only induced to comply with hi* proposals by his
promise that all should be admitted to an equal share
of the government, and that he would resign all his
royal prerogatives except those of commanding in war
and of watching over the laws. To the nobles, there-
fore, he reserved all the offices of slate, with the privi-
lege of ordering the affairs of religion, and of inter-
preting the laws both human and divine. The result
if itose and other regulations was the increase of the
'. it; and of the population in general. Thucydides
dxca on this as the epoch when the lower city was
added to the ancient one, which had covered, as we
have remarked, little more than the rock that afterward
became the citadel. And hence there may seem to
have been some foundation for Plutarch's statement,
that Theseus called the city Athens, if this name prop-
erly tigrii. ij. i he whole enclosure of the Old and New
Town. -- As a farther means of uniting the people,
Theseus established numerous festivals, particularly
the Panathenrea, solemnized with great splendour ev-
ery fifth year, in commemoration of this union of the
inhabitants of Attica. Theseus firmly established the
boundaries of the Attic territory, in which he inclu-
ded Mcgaris, ana set up a pillar on the Isthmus of
Corinth to mark the limits of Attica and the Pelopon-
nesus. These civic cares did not prevent Theseus
from taking part in military enterprises: he accompa-
nied Hercules in his expedition against the Amazons,
who then dwelt on the banks of the Thermodon; and
he distinguished himself so much in the conflict, that
Hercules, after the victory, bestowed on him, as the
reward of his valour, the hand of the vanquished queen.
(Vid. Antiopc. ) When the Amazons afterward, in
revenge, invaded the Attic territory, they met with a
signal defeat from the Athenian prince. (Vid. Ama-
zor. es. ) Theseus was also a sharer in the dangers of
the Calydonian hunt; he was one of the adventurous
bar. j who sailed in the Argo to Colchis; and he aided
Lis friend Pirithoiis and the Lapithaa in their conflict
with the Centaurs. The friendship between him and
Pirithoiis was of a most intimate nature, yet it had ori-
ginated in the midst of arms. (Vid. Pirithoiis. ) Like
faithful comrades, they aided each other in every pro-
ject. Each was ambitious in love, and would possess
a daughter of the geds. Theseus, in whoso favour
the lot had fa. len, carried off, with the assistance of
his friend, the ce,abrated Helen, daughter of I. eda,
then a child of but nine years, though already of sur-
passing loveliness, and placed her under the care of his
mother /rjthra, at Aphidnee, whence she was subse-
quently rescued by her brothers Castor and Pollux,
lie then prepared to aid his friend in a bolder and more
perilous attempt, the abduction of Proserpina from the
palace of Pluto; an attempt which resulted in the im-
prisonment of both by tho monarch of Hades. From
this confinement Theseus was released by Hercules;
but Pirithoiis remained ever a captive. (Vid. Piri-
thoiis. ) After the death of Antiopc, who had borne
him a son named Hippolytus, Theseus married Phae-
dra, the daughter of Minos, and sister of Ariadne.
Hippolytus lost his life in consequence of a false charge
preferred against him by his stepmother; Phcedra end-
ed her days by her own hand; and Theseus, when too
late, learned the innocence of his son. (Vid Hip-
polytus.
)--The invasion of Attica by Castor and Pol-
lux, for the recovery of their sister Helen, and an in-
? ? surrection of the Pallantida:, brought on Theseus tho
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? ? 1 AE
THE
Tut spTa or TnKsr>/E, a town i Boeo ia, for. y
? adia from Ascra, according to Strauc, and near the
foot of Helicon, looking towards the south and the
Crisraan Gulf. Ita antiquity ia atteated by Homer,
who names it in the catalogue of Boeotian towns. (//. ,
S, 498. ) The Thespians are worthy of a place in his-
tory for their brave and generous conduct during the
Persian war. Wheri the rest of Bceotia basely sub-
mitted to Xerxes, they alone refused to tender earth
and water to his deputies. The troops also under Le-
onidas, whom they sent to aid the Spartans at Ther-
mopylae, chose rather to die at their posts than desert
. heir commander and his heroic followers. (Herod. ,
7,132 el 222. ) Their city was, in consequence, burn-
ed by the Persians after it had been evacuated by the
inhabitants, who retired to the Peloponnesus. (He-
rod , 8, 00. ) A small body of these, however, fought
at Matna under Pausanias. (Herod. , 9, 31. ) The
Thespians distinguished them. <<<<lves also in the battle
ofDelium against the Athenians, being nearly all slain
at their post. (Thueyd. , 4, 96. ) The Thebans after-
ward basely took advantage of this heavy toss to pull
down tho walls of their city and bring it jnder sub-
jection, on pretext of their having favoured the Athe-
nians. (Thueyd. , 4, 133. ) They subsequently made
an attempt to recover their independence; but, failing
n this enterprise, many of them sought refuge at Ath-
ens. (Thueyd. , 6, 95. ) Thespiae was occupied by
the Lacedaemonians at the same time that they seized
upon the citadel of Thebes. (Xen. , Hist. Gr. , 5, 4,
42. )--The celebrated courtesan Phryne was born at
Thespiae. It is mentioned, that on her having received,
as a present from Praxiteles, a beautiful statue of Cu-
pid, she caused it to be erected in her native city,
which added greatly to its prosperity, from the influx
of strangers who came to view this masterpiece of
art. (Slrabo, 410. --Alhen. , 13, 59. ) Pausanias af-
firms, that this celebrated statue was sent to Rome by
Caligula, but was afterward restored to Thespiae by
Claudius. Nero sgain removed it to Rome, where it
was destroyed by fire. (Pausan. , 9, 26. ) Pliny, how-
ever, asserts that it still existed in his day in the
schools of Octnvia. (Plin. , 36, 5. )--It is now pretty
well ascertained, by the researches of recent travellers,
that the ruins of Thcspia? arc occupied by the modern
Eremo Castro. Sir W. Gell remarks, that "the plan
of the city is distinctly visible. It seems a regular
hexagon, and the mound occasioned by the fall of the
wall is perfect. " (Itin. , p. 119. -- Cramer's Ancient
(ircece, vol. 2, p. 208, seqq. )
Thespiad^, the offspring of Hercules by the fifty
daughters of Thespius. On attaining to manhood,
some of them were sent, by their father's directions, to
Thebes in Bceotia, but the greatcs part as a colony to
Sardinia. (Apollod. , 2, 7, 6. --Heyne ad Apollod. , I.
e. --Dtod. Sic. , 4. 29. --Pausan. 10, 17. )
TtiEsfiADEs, I. the fifty daughters of Thespius,
mothers of the Theapiadaa by Hercules. (Apollod. , 2,
4, 10. )--II. An appellation given to the Muses from
Thespia? , near which was Helicon, one of the mount-
ain* sacred to them. (Vid. Muiae. )
Tmtspis, an early Greek dramatic poet, generally
regarded as the inventor of tragedy. Ho was born at
Icaria, a Diacrian demus or borough, at the begin-
ning of the sixth century B. C. His birthplace de-
rived its name, according to tradition, from the father
of Erigone (Steph. Byz. , s. v. 'lnopia. --Hygin. ,fab. ,
? ? 130), and had always been a sent of the religion of
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? THESSALIA.
r HESS ALIA.
lor pasturing and the cultivation of corn; ita toasts,
especially the Sinus Pagassaus, afforded the best har-
bours for shipping; nature seemed hardly to have left
a wish unratified. It was in Thessaly that the tribe
? if the Hellenes, according to tradition, first appli-
ed themselves to agriculture; and thence its several
branches spread over the more southern landa. ( Vid.
Hellas. ) Almost all the names of its towns recall
some association connected with the primitive history
and heroic age of the nation. --Early traditions, pre-
served by the Greek poets and other writers, ascribe
to Thessaly the more ancient names of Pyrrha, ? mo-
nia, and . Col is. (Khian , ap. Schol. in ApoU. Hkod ,
3, 1089. --Steph. Byz. , t. v. Alpovia -- Herod. , 7,
176. ) Passing over the two former appellations, which
belong rather to the age of mythology, the latter may
afford us matter for historical reflections, as referring
to that remote period when the plains of Thessaly
were occupied by the . Cohan Pelasgi, to whom Greece
was probably indebted for the first dawnings of civili-
zation, and the earliest cultivation of her language.
{Strabo, 230. ) This people originally came, as He-
rodotus informs us, from Thesprotia {Herod. , 7, 176.
--Strab. , 444); but how long they remsined in pos-
session of the country, and at what precise period it
assumed the name of Theasaly, cannot, perhaps, now
be determined. In the poems of Homer it never oc-
ci. rs, although the several principalities and kingdoms
of which it is composed are there distinctly enumera-
ted and described, together with the different chiefs to
whom they were subject: thus Hellas and Phthia are
assigned to Achilles; the Melian and Pagasean terri-
tories to Pro'. esilaus and Eumtlus; Magnesia to Plii-
locletes an>'. Eurypylus; Estimotis and Pelasgia to
Medun ami the sons of . Csculapius, with other petty
leaders. It is from Homer, therefore, that we derive
the earliest information relative to the history of this
fairest portion of Greece. This state of things, how-
ever, was not of long continuance; and a new consti-
tution, dating probably from the period of the Trojan
expedition, seems to have been adopted by the common
consent of the Thessalian states. They agreed to
unite themselves into one confederate body, under the
direction of one supreme magistrate or chief, distin-
guished by the title of Tagus (Tayoc), and elected by
the consent of the whole republic. The details of this
federal system are little known; but Strabo assure* us
that the Thessalian confederacy was the most consider-
able, as well as the earliest, society of the kind establish-
ed in<Jreece. (Srrai,429. ) How far its constitution
was connected with the celebrated Amphictyonic coun-
cil, it seems impossible to determine, since we are so
little acquainted with the origin and history of that an-
cient assembly. There can be little doubt, however,
thst this singular coalition, which embraced matters of
a political as well as a religious nature, first rose
among the states of Thessaly, as we find that the ma-
jority of the nation who had votes in the council were
either actually Thessalians, or connected in some way
with that part of Greece. This mode of government,
however, seems to have succeeded as little in Thessaly
as in the other Hellenic republics where it was adopt-
vd; and that province, which, from its local advanta-
ges ought to have ranked among the most powerful
and leading states of Greece, we find, if wo except a pe-
riod of brilliant but momentary splendour, to have been
one of the most weak and insignificant. We learn from
? ? Heiodotus, that when Xerxes meditated the invasion of
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? THE
THE
wly. succeeded in defeating, and finally expelling these
oppressors of their country; and, by the important
services thus rendered to the Thessalians, secured
their lasting attachment to his interests, and finally ob-
tained the presidency of the Amphictyonic council.
(Polyb. , Etc. , 9, 28. ) ? Under his skilful management,
the troops of Thessaly became a most important addi-
tion to the resources he already possessed; and to this
powerful re-enforcement may probably be attributed
the success which attended bis campaign against the
Bcsotians and Athenians. On the death of Philip, the
states of Thessaly, in order to testify their veneration
for his memory, issued a decree, by which they con-
firmed to his son Alexander the supreme station which
he had held in their councils; and also signified their
intention of supporting his claims to the title of com-
mander-in-chief of the whole Grecian confederacy.
The long absence of that enterprising prince, while
engaged in distant conquests, subsequently afforded
his enemies an opportunity of detaching the Thessa-
lians from his interests; and the I. amiac war, which
was chiefly sustained by that people against his gener-
als Antipater and Craterus, had nearly proved fatal to
the Macedonian influence, not only in Thessaly, but
over the whole continent of Greece. By the conduct
and ability of Antipater, however, the contest was
brought to a successful issue, and Thessaly was pre-
served to the Macedonian crown (Polyb. , 4, 76) un-
til the reign of Philip, son of Demetrius, from whom
it was wrested by the Romans after the victory of
Cynoscephala. All Thessaly was then declared free
by a decree of the senate and people (Lin. . 33,32), but
from that time it may be fairly considered as having
passed under the dominion of Home, though its pos-
session was still disputed by Antiocbus (Lie, 36, 9,
seqq ), and again by Perseus, the son of Philip. Thes-
saly was already a Koman province, when the fate of
the empire of the world was decided in the plains of
Pharsalia--With the exception, perhaps, of Boeotis,
this seems to have been the most fertile and productive
fart of Greece, in wine, oil, and corn, but more espe-
cia. ly the latter, of which it exported a considerable
quantity to foreign countries. (Xt it , Hist. Gr. , 6, 1,
4--Theopkr. , Hist. Plant. , 8, 7, el 10. ) Hence, as
might be expected, the Thessalians were the wealthi-
est people of Greece; nor were they exempt from
those vices which riches and luxury generally bring in
their train. (Alhen. , 12, 5, p. 624. --Theopomp. , ap
twnd. , 6, 17, p. 260. --Plat. , Crit. , p. 50. )--Like the
Lacedaemonians, they employed slaves, who were
named Penestso; these probably were a remnant of
the first tribes that inhabited the country, and that had
been reduced to a state of servitude by thi ir invaders.
The Penesta? formed no inconsiderable pari <f the pop-
ulation, and not (infrequently endeavoured to free
themselves from the state of oppression under which
they groaned. (Xen, Hist. Gr. , 6. I, 4. --Aristot. ,
it Repub. , 2, 9. --Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 1, p.
