Cilician Thebe

Cilician Thebe, also known as Thebe Hypoplakia (Greek: Υποπλακίη Θήβη Hypoplakíē Thḗbē) was a city in Greek mythology. It was located in or near the Troad, in a region termed Cilicia^[1] and received the epithet Cilician to distinguish it from the Boeotian city of Thebes and the Egyptian Thebes. Alternative names include Placia, Hypoplacia and Hypoplacian Thebe(s), referring to the city's position at the foot of Mount Placus.

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 King Priam of Troy.

The Achaians, led by Achilleus, 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.

Notes

1. This Cilicia was distinct from the more famous Cilicia in southern Asia Minor.

References

• Homer, Iliad (translated by Richmond Lattimore, University of Chicago Press, 1951, Phoenix Books)