, those glorious gods, the first offspring of the ancient race of Thebes. Dionysus, son of Zeus, was born of Semele by the thunderbolt in Thebes; Heracles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene. These have always been helpers of men and gentle guardians of peace; and furthermore, Alexander, they are your ancestors, whom you should imitate and to whom you should do good. As the son of a god, do not allow Thebes, the nurse of Dionysus and Heracles, to be destroyed; do not tear down the citadel founded by the ox.47 If you do, you will be a disgrace to the Macedonians. Do you not know, Alexander, that Thebes, not Pella, is your home? The whole land of Thebes beseeches you in my words, bringing before you your ancestors – Lyaeus the reveller in dance and ecstasy, Heracles the just in deed and helper of men. Now imitate your ancestors, good men for the most part, and turn your wrath to benefaction. Hold pity more ready to hand than punishment.
‘Do not make a desert of the gods who bore you,
Do not destroy the city of your ancestors.
Do not in your ignorance destroy your own country.
Do you see these walls, built by the shepherd Zethus
And the lyre-player Amphion,
The sons of Zeus, secretly borne by the nymph,
The daughter of Nycteus,48 when in an ecstasy of dance,
Cadmus built these foundations
And these wealthy homes. He took to wife
Harmonia, the daughter of foam-born Aphrodite
After she mated with the Thracian adulterer.
Do not unthinkingly make your country a desert.
Do not burn down the walls of Thebes.
This is the house of Labdacus. Here the unhappy mother
Of Oedipus bore the murderer of his father.
Here was the shrine of Heracles, formerly
The house of Amphitryon: here Zeus slept,
Joining three nights into one.49
Do you see those burnt-out houses
Still dripping with the wrath of heaven?
There Zeus once blasted with his thunderbolt
Semele, whom he desired; and in the midst of the flames
She gave birth to Eraphiotes, who is called Lenaeus.50
Here Heracles went mad; in his frenzy
He killed his wife, Megara, with his arrows.
This altar which you see is that of Hera;
Here Heracles devoured his flesh with a robe
Soaked in poison from the hands of Philoctetes.
This is the house of Tiresias, the mouthpiece of Apollo.
Here dwelt the thrice-old prophet,
Whom Athena once turned into a woman.
Here Athamas in his madness killed with his arrows
The boy Learchus who had been turned into a deer.
Here Ino in her madness leapt into the ocean depths
With her new-born son Melicertes.
From here blind Oedipus was driven out
On Creon’s orders, his daughter Ismene his only staff.
This river which flows down from Cithaeron
Is the Ismenus, and its water is Bacchus’.
Do you see that fir-tree whose branches reach to heaven?
On that tree Pentheus, who spied on the women’s dancing,
Was torn apart, wretched man, by his own mother.51
Do you see that spring bubbling with blood-coloured water,
From which the lowing of an ox echoes around?
This is the blood of Dirce who was dragged to death.
Do you see that furthest mountain ridge,
Which stands out prominently above the road?
There used to crouch the monstrous Sphinx,
Issuing her orders to the people of the city,
Until Oedipus solved her riddle and destroyed her.
This is the spring and sacred well of the gods,
From which emerge the silvery nymphs.
Artemis came once to its waters
And washed her limbs; and here the unholy Actaeon
Saw what was not permitted, the bath of Leto’s daughter.
He was changed into a deer, and his body was devoured
By his own dogs, because he saw her bathing.
Then there was a great war against Thebes,
When the dazzling general Polynices led the people of Argos
Against the seven fortress-gates of Thebes.
Here Capaneus was set ablaze as far as his lips.
This gate is called the Electran Gate.
<‘By the Proetid Gate, which was open, the earth swallowed up the invulnerable Amphiaraus. At the third gate, the Ogygian, Hippomedon was pent and killed by the son of Hipposthenes. Before the Neistan Gate Parthenopaeus went into the earth, the destroyer of thousands. Tydeus the Calydonian stood at the Homoloian Gate. Here Adrastus fled and died.>
‘They buried the dead leader of the Argives.
Have pity, the holy Cadmeia52 begs it of you.
This is the city of Lyaeus, this Thebes
Which you are ordering to be razed to its foundations.
Do you see the precinct of Heracles, your ancestor
And ancestor of your father Philip, now engulfed in flames?
Do you wish, in your ignorance, to burn down your own temple?
Why do you insult your own parents,
Son of Heracles and Dionysus?’
With this supplication Ismenias cast himself at the feet of King Alexander.
The Macedonian cast his eye on him
And ground his teeth together
And, fuming with rage, uttered the following words:
‘Vilest offspring of the sons of Cadmus,
Vilest of beasts, hateful to the gods,
Vulgar branch of a barbarian stem,
You, the last relic of Ismene’s sorrow –
Do you think you can deceive Alexander by telling
These clever fabrications of mythology?
Now I am going to destroy the whole city by fire
And turn it to ashes;
Now I am going to uproot all of you with your precious ancestors.
If you knew the history of my descent,
My origins, and who were my forefathers,
Should you not have proclaimed this to the people of Thebes?
“Alexander is our kinsman,” you should have said,
“Let us not revolt against a fellow-citizen,
Let us make him our general and enter into alliance with him.
We are citizens and brethren of Alexander,
It will bring glory to our ancient race
If the Macedonians embrace the Thebans.”
But since your power was too slight to defend you,
And your temerity has been shamed in battle,
Your change of heart and your entreaties are senseless;
You cannot turn away the doom that has come on you
Because you lost your fight with Alexander.
But as your end is now near, both for you and for the Thebans,
And I am going to raze and burn the city,
I order you, Ismenias, the best of the pipers,
To stand beside the houses as they burn
And accompany the destruction of your city
With the shrilling of your instrument’s double reed.’
So he ordered the soldiers to tear down
The seven-gated walls and the citadel of Thebes.
Cithaeron danced again for the Thebans,
The waters of Ismenus itself ran red with blood.
The walls and citadel of Thebes were razed.
The whole land was horror-struck at the slaughter,
And fearful groans echoed from the houses
As they fell down among wild laments.
Meanwhile, Ismenias, within the ruins,
Had tuned his double reed, as the Macedonian had commanded him.
When all the walls of Thebes were fallen –
The palace of Lycus and the house of Labdacus –
Alexander, out of respect for his education,
Preser
ved the house of Pindar alone,
In which as a boy he had shared the gifts of the Muses,53
Pursuing his studies with the aged lyrist.
He slaughtered many men in their homes,
He left only a few of them alive,
He wiped out the name of their race.
He ordered that Thebes should no longer be known by that name,
That the city should become no city,
That the name of those men should become no name.
Thus the end of Thebes was determined by its beginning.
When it was first built, the lyre of Amphion accompanied the construction of its walls; and the pipe of Ismenias accompanied their destruction. That which was built to the sound of music was also demolished to the sound of music.
Nearly all the Thebans were destroyed along with their city. To the few who were left, Alexander announced that if they should ever approach the city of Thebes, they would be dead men. Then he marched on to other cities.
47. The surviving Thebans went to Delphi to consult the oracle, as to whether they should ever get their city back. Apollo’s response was as follows:
‘Hermes, Alcides54 and the boxer Polydeuces,55
Three athletes, will rebuild the city of Thebes.’
When the Thebans had received this oracle, they began to wait for its fulfilment.
Meanwhile Alexander had arrived at Corinth and found the Isthmian Games in progress. The Corinthians asked him to conduct the Games; he agreed and took his seat. As the competitors marched in, and the winners were crowned by Alexander – he also gave gifts to the best performers – one of the athletes, a very remarkable man called Clitomachus, who was a Theban, entered for three events: the wrestling, the pankration and the boxing. His performance on the wrestling-ground was so skilful and versatile that his defeat of his opponents won especial praise from Alexander. When he came to receive the garland for victory in wrestling, Alexander said to him, ‘If you win the other two events for which you have entered, I will crown you three times with garlands, and will give you whatever you ask.’ Clitomachus did win the boxing and the pankration, as well as the wrestling, and he came to receive his three garlands from Alexander. The herald asked him, ‘What is your name and what is your city, so that I may proclaim it?’
‘Clitomachus is my name,’ was the reply, ‘and I have no city.’
Then the king said, ‘Brave man, you are a fine athlete, and have won in the same arena three victories, in wrestling, the pankration and boxing, and have received from me three crowns of wild olive; how can it be that you have no city?’
‘I had one before Alexander became king,’ replied Clitomachus, ‘but when Alexander became king he destroyed my city.’
Then Alexander realized what he meant and what he was going to ask for, and said, ‘Let Thebes be rebuilt to the honour of the three gods, Hermes, Heracles and Polydeuces: thus you shall receive this as a gift from me and not as your request.’
And so the oracle of Apollo was fulfilled:
‘Hermes, Alcides and the boxer Polydeuces,
Three athletes, will rebuild the city of Thebes.’ A-text]
BOOK II
1. [From Corinth Alexander advanced to Plataea, an Athenian city, where Kore is worshipped. He entered the sanctuary of the goddess and found there a priestess weaving a robe for the goddess. The priestess said, ‘You have come at a good moment, great king: you will be famous and glorious throughout the city.’ Alexander rewarded her with gold.
Some days later, Stasagoras, the general of the Plataeans, entered the goddess’s sanctuary, and the priestess said to him, ‘Stasagoras, you are to fall from power.’ He was very angry.
‘Unworthy prophetess,’ he said, ‘when Alexander came here you offered him honours, but you tell me that I am to fall from power.’
‘Do not be angry about that,’ she said. ‘The gods reveal everything to men through signs, and especially to the great. When Alexander came here, I happened to be weaving a purple thread into the robe of the goddess; and that is why I prophesied as I did. But when you came in, the robe was finished and was being taken down from the loom: this makes it plain that you too are to be hauled down.’
Then Stasagoras had the woman removed from the priesthood, saying, ‘The omen referred to yourself.’ But when Alexander heard about it he at once removed Stasagoras from his generalship, and restored the priestess to her former position.
Stasagoras went away to the Athenians (who had appointed him to his generalship) without Alexander’s knowledge, and, with many tears, told them about his demotion. They were very angry and rebelled against Alexander; but when he learnt of it, he sent them a letter, as follows:
‘King Alexander to the Athenians. After the death of my father I inherited his kingdom and brought order to the western cities and many regions by my instructions. Although they were ready to come and fight alongside me, I advised them to stay where they were. My kinsmen the Macedonians enthusiastically acclaimed me as sovereign. By their bravery I subdued the regions of Europe; I destroyed the Thebans who had behaved evilly towards me, and tore down their city to its foundations. Now that I have crossed into Asia,56 I require the Athenians to welcome me. I have written to you first – not a long letter, or one of many words, as is the custom of your undisciplined scribes – but brief and to the point: it is not for the conquered but for the conquerors to give orders and instructions. I mean that you must obey Alexander. Therefore, either make yourselves the stronger or yield to those who are stronger, and pay me tribute of 1,000 talents a year.’
2. When the Athenians had read this letter, they replied:
‘The city of Athens and the ten best orators say to Alexander: While your father was alive we suffered greatly, and we rejoiced when he died. Philip is thrice evil in our memory. Our opinion of you, most audacious son of Philip, is exactly the same. You are asking the Athenians for a tribute of 1,000 talents a year: this means you have come to us in the spirit of one who wants war. If that is your plan, come on; we are ready for you.’
Alexander’s reply to the Athenians was as follows:
‘I have already sent on to you my man Leo, who will cut out your tongues and bring them to me, and take away your foolish orators
They replied, ‘We will not.’
Some days later they held an assembly to discuss what to do. In the course of the debate the orator Aeschines stood up and said:
‘Men of Athens, why are we so slow to debate? If you choose to send us to Alexander, we will go eagerly. Alexander is not Philip. Philip was brought up in the arrogant lust for war, but Alexander was brought up on the teaching of Aristotle and stretched out his hand for discipline. He will be docile when he sees his teachers, and will blush at the sight of those who instructed him in the art of kingship. Then he will relent and make his attitude to us one of gentleness.’
While Aeschines was still speaking, Demades, a fine orator, stood up and cut him short.
‘How long, Aeschines, will you continue to offer us these effeminate and cowardly arguments, urging us not to stand up to Alexander in war? What god has driven you out of your wits, that you speak like this? You urged the Athenians at such length to fight against the Persians; and now will you inspire the Athenians to cowardice, and make them tremble at a tyrant who is no more than a hot-headed youth, who has assumed the audacity of his father? We chased out the Persians, we defeated the Lacedaemonians and conquered the Corinthians, we put the Megarians to flight and overcame the Phocians, we sacked the Zacynthians. And are we afraid to fight Alexander? But Aeschines says: “He will remember that we were his teachers and will be ashamed when he sees us.” What a joke. He has insulted all of us and removed Stasagoras from his command, whom we appointed; he has impose
d my enemy Cithoon as chief general in his stead, although the city belongs to us. He has already staked his claim to Plataea; yet you say he will be ashamed when he sees our faces? More likely he will strip us naked and beat us. Let us, therefore, go to war with Alexander and place no trust in him, young as he is. Youth is untrustworthy: it can fight bravely, but not reason soundly. You say he sacked the Tyrians; that is because they were weak. You say he destroyed the Thebans who were not so weak; but they were tired from many wars. And you say he took the Peloponnesians prisoner; it was not he, but plague and famine that destroyed them. Xerxes bridged the sea with ships and sowed the whole land with armies, his arrows darkened the air and he filled Persia with captives; yet we drove him back and burnt his ships, because we had Cynegirus, Antiphon and Mnesochares fighting on our side. Yet now are we afraid to make war on Alexander, a headstrong child, and on his satraps and bodyguards who are still more witless than he? So you want to send us, the ten orators, whom he has asked for? Consider whether that is sensible. I proclaim to you, men of Athens, that many a time ten dogs, barking bravely, have saved the flocks of sheep which were running in their cowardice towards the wolves.’
3. After Demades had made his speech, the Athenians called Demosthenes to the podium to give them his advice about their common cause. He stood up and said:
‘Gentlemen, citizens – I will not say Athenians; if I were a foreigner, I would have called you Athenians,
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