Uploaded June 2022 | Updated September 2026, 12 hours ago
Thebes, Boiotia, and the Battle of Plataia. Perspectives from the Kadmeia
Hans Beck (University of Münster, University of Montreal)
Recent research on Archaic Thebes showcases the engagement of the city in the Asopos Valley and the direction of Plataia. Indeed, new epigraphic discoveries document the lively entanglement with the communities to the south and east of Thebes, towards the Saronic region and the Euboian Gulf respectively. In the decades prior to the arrival of Persian army, then, this region was shaped by the interactions between many settlements. The Thebans were clearly the most powerful stakeholder in these exchanges and they pursued their own agenda of aggrandizement. In my talk, I will place the Battle of Plataia in the context of the corresponding local and regional rivalries, violent and non-violent. I will argue, in a nutshell, that experiences in the second half of the 6th century were critical to how communities positioned themselves in the Persian War – and on a battlefield that was located in the very center of their former quarrels. In the aftermath of Plataia, their local motivations were of course buried under all-pervasive discourses of freedom of the Hellenes and allegations of betrayal of their cause.
Thebes, Boiotia, and the Battle of Plataia. Perspectives from the Kadmeia
Hans Beck (University of Münster, University of Montreal)
Recent research on Archaic Thebes showcases the engagement of the city in the Asopos Valley and the direction of Plataia. Indeed, new epigraphic discoveries document the lively entanglement with the communities to the south and east of Thebes, towards the Saronic region and the Euboian Gulf respectively. In the decades prior to the arrival of Persian army, then, this region was shaped by the interactions between many settlements. The Thebans were clearly the most powerful stakeholder in these exchanges and they pursued their own agenda of aggrandizement. In my talk, I will place the Battle of Plataia in the context of the corresponding local and regional rivalries, violent and non-violent. I will argue, in a nutshell, that experiences in the second half of the 6th century were critical to how communities positioned themselves in the Persian War – and on a battlefield that was located in the very center of their former quarrels. In the aftermath of Plataia, their local motivations were of course buried under all-pervasive discourses of freedom of the Hellenes and allegations of betrayal of their cause.
![Myrtle leaves [with English subtitles] | Agathi Dimitrouka](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hBxe9dUcvGA/mqdefault.jpg "Myrtle leaves [with English subtitles] | Agathi Dimitrouka
Myrtle Leaves presents Agathi Dimitroukas poems in Modern Greek with English subtitles. Four poems are inspired by Greek myths, three are based on Erotic Epigrams of the Greek Anthology, and one on Sappho’s poem, from Agathis two books, all in verse to be sung; two unpublished poems take inspiration from ancient Greek statues. Translations into English are by Agathi Dimitrouka and Natasha Bershadsky.")
