View source for Thebe Hypoplakia

{{Short description|Ancient city in Mysia or Aiolis, mentioned by Homer}}
[[File:Ancient edremit gulf.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Location of Thebe in the [[Edremit gulf]].]]

'''Thebe Hypoplakia''' ({{Langx|grc|Ὑποπλακίη Θήβη|Hypoplakíē Thḗbē}}), also '''Cilician Thebe''' ({{Langx|grc|Κιλικιακή Θήβη|Kiliakḗ Thḗbē}}) and '''Placian Thebe''' ({{Langx|grc|Πλακία Θήβη|Plakía Thḗbē}}), was a city in ancient [[Anatolia]]. Alternative names include ''Placia'', ''Hypoplacia'' and ''Hypoplacian Thebe(s)'', referring to the city's position at the foot of Mount Placus. Near the local village "Tepeoba".

==Geography==
[[Strabo]] places it at 60 [[stadion (unit)|stadia]] from [[Adramyttium]].<ref name=Strabo>{{Cite Strabo|13.1.61}}</ref> [[Pomponius Mela]] says it was between Adramyttium and [[Cisthene (Mysia)|Cisthene]].<ref>{{cite Mela|1.91}}</ref> [[Josef Stauber]] places it in [[Paşa Dağ]], {{convert|2|km}} northeast of [[Edremit, Balıkesir]],<ref>Stauber (2004), pp. 46-47.</ref> however in another previous publication he places it in [[Küçuk Çal Tepe]].<ref>{{cite journal|author= Joseph Stauber|title=Lokalisierung Homeriseher Ortsnamen In Der Bucht Von Edremit Mit Neuer Lokalisierung Von Thebe Und Lyrnessos|language=de|journal= XIV Araştırma Sonuçları Toplantısı II| url=http://www.kulturvarliklari.gov.tr/sempozyum_pdf/arastirmalar/14_arastirma_2.pdf |pages= 102–105|location=Ankara|year= 1996|isbn= 975-17-1725-6|access-date=May 20, 2019}}</ref> The editors of the ''[[Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World]]'' settle on a site {{convert|1|mile}} north-northeast of Edremit.<ref>{{Cite Barrington|56}}</ref><ref>{{Cite DARE|27373}}</ref>

Strabo places Thebes and [[Lyrnessus]] "in what was later called the Theban plain." He highlights the fertility and richness of this plain, as do [[Herodotus]],<ref name=Herodotus>{{Cite Herodotus|7.42}}</ref> [[Xenophon]],<ref>[[Xenophon]], ''[[Anabasis (Xenophon)|Anabasis]]'' 7.8; {{Cite Hellenica|4.9}}</ref> [[Polybius]],<ref>{{Cite Polybius|15.1, 31.10}}</ref> and [[Livy]].<ref>{{cite Livy|38.19}}</ref> Historians such as Walter Leaf have speculated on its location, but have not managed to identify the plain nor the city.<ref>Walter Leaf, pp. 306-310.</ref> Strabo, without specifying the time, reports that, due to their fertility, the Theban plain was disputed by the [[Mysians]] and [[Lydians]], and later the Greeks who colonized it coming from [[Aeolis]] and from the island of [[Lesbos]]. He adds that in his times, the second century, the plain was occupied by the people of Adramyttium.<ref name=Strabo/>

The [[toponymy | place name]] differs according to some Greek authors: Ὑποπλάκιος Θήβη.<ref>[[Dicaearchus]] fr.53a, In: Fritz Wehrli, ''Dikaiarchos. Die Schule des Aristoteles. Texte und Kommentar, Hft. one''. Schwabe. 2nd edition (1967) {{in lang|de}}</ref> Θήβη,<ref>{{Cite Iliad|1.366}}</ref> Θήβαι,<ref>{{cite Iliad|22.477}}</ref> Θήβα Πλακία,<ref>[[Sappho]] fr.44.1.6 </ref> and Θῆβε.<ref>{{Cite DARE|27373}}</ref>

The only mentions in the [[Archaic Greece|archaic]] and [[classical Greece|classical ages]] to Thebes as a  ''[[polis]]'' (city-state), are connected with the Homeric tradition.<ref>{{Cite Iliad|1.366, 6.414-415}}</ref><ref> [[Euripides]], ''[[Andromache (play)|Andromache]] '', 1 </ref> However, [[Quintus Curtius Rufus]] refers to Thebes as "urbs", retrospectively in the context of the fourth century&nbsp;BCE.<ref>[[Quintus Curtius Rufus]], "History of Alexander the Great" 3.4.10 </ref>

==History==
[[Herodotus]] expressly mentions Thebe in a passage from a chapter of his account of the [[Second Persian invasion of Greece]]. He refers that the [[Achaemenid army|army]] of the [[Achaemenid dynasty|Achaemenid king]] [[Xerxes I]] on its way to the invasion of [[Central Greece (geographic region)|continental Greece]], went from [[Lydia]] towards the [[Caicus]] and the region of [[Mysia]], through the territory of [[Atarneus]] to the city of [[Carene (Mysia)|Carene]], and after passing it the troops went up the coast to the north, then went northeast, along the coastal route that contoured the [[Gulf of Edremit|Sinus Adramyttius]], until reaching Adramyttium, a city located in the fertile [[plain of Thebe]].<ref name=Herodotus/>

In the 4th century&nbsp;BCE, Thebe minted coins in bronze on which the legends «ΘΗΒ» or «ΘΗΒΑ» appear.<ref name=Poleis>{{cite book|author= Mogens Herman Hansen & Thomas Heine Nielsen |title= An inventory of archaic and classical poleis|url= https://archive.org/details/inventoryarchaic00hans |url-access= limited |year= 2004|publisher= [[Oxford University Press]]|location=New York|isbn= 0-19-814099-1|chapter= Aeolis and Southwestern Mysia |page= [https://archive.org/details/inventoryarchaic00hans/page/n1066 1050]}}</ref>

==Mythology==
According to one account, the city of Thebe was founded by the hero [[Heracles]] after his sack of [[Troy]] during the reign of King [[Laomedon]] and named after his birthplace, Thebes in Boeotia. At the time of the [[Trojan War]], Hypoplacian Thebe was in the hands of a people known as the Cilicians, and ruled by King [[Eetion]]. Eetion's daughter [[Andromache]] was given in marriage to [[Hector]], son of [[Priam|King Priam of Troy]]. The [[Achaeans (tribe)|Achaeans]], led by [[Achilles]], sacked the city during the latter part of the war, killed King [[Eetion]], his wife and his sons. They also carried off several women, including [[Chryseis]], who became the [[concubine]] of [[Agamemnon]]. Chryseis's father attempts to ransom his daughter, initiating the plot of [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]''.<ref>{{Cite Iliad|1.366-369}}</ref> One of Achilles' horses, [[Pedasus]], also came from Thebe.<ref>{{Cite Iliad|16.149}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Balıkesir Province#Ancient sites|Ancient sites of Balıkesir]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' (translated by [[Richmond Lattimore]], University of Chicago Press, 1951, Phoenix Books)


{{Former settlements in Turkey}}
{{Authority control}}

{{coords|39.597431|N|27.020171|E|display=title|format=dms|source:http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/27373}}

[[Category:Populated places in ancient Mysia]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Turkey]]
[[Category:Greek mythology of Anatolia]]
[[Category:Places in the Iliad]]
[[Category:Mythology of Heracles]]