Thebes, or Thiva in Greek, is one of the great names of mythology and one of the least visited of the great places of the ancient world. The modern town, of about twenty-two thousand people, sits on a low ridge in the plain of Boeotia, north of Athens, surrounded by cotton and wheat fields. The mountains rise on all sides, Helicon to the west, Parnassus beyond, and the Cithaeron range to the south. Almost nothing of the ancient city is visible, but its stories are told in every schoolbook.
The legends are among the darkest in Greek lore. Founded, it was said, by Cadmus, the Phoenician prince who sowed the teeth of a dragon and watched an army of warriors spring up, Thebes was the home of Oedipus, who solved the riddle of the Sphinx, killed his father and married his mother. His daughter Antigone defied the king to bury her brother, and the war of the Seven Against Thebes followed. Dionysus was said to have been born here. Greek tragedians returned to these stories again and again, and the city's name became a byword for doom.
In history, the city was equally dramatic. In the fourth century BC, under the general Epaminondas, Thebes defeated Sparta at Leuctra and briefly became the leading power in Greece. Its elite unit, the Sacred Band, made up of paired lovers, fought to the death against Philip of Macedon at Chaeronea in 338 BC, where a stone lion still marks their grave. A few years later, Alexander the Great razed Thebes after a revolt, sparing only the house of the poet Pindar. A small archaeological museum in the town displays finds from the region, including painted coffins and Mycenaean tablets.
For a rider, Thiva is a crossroads on the way to Delphi, with the road from Athens running across the plain and then climbing toward Livadeia and the slopes of Parnassus. The surface is good and the traffic moderate. Fuel is easy here, with stations along the main road at the edge of town, and a number of simple tavernas serve grilled meat, salads and local wine. Summers are very hot, so start early, and spring is the best season, when the fields are green and the poppies are out. Fill up before heading to the mountains.