Philip II: famous fourth-century B.C. king of Makedon who united its warring tribes and then moved south to end the freedom of the Greek city-states. His dream of leading a panhellenic army into Asia was to be completed by his son Alexander the Great.
Phokians: inhabitants of Phokis in central Greece, near and to the north of Boiotia. They were often distrusted as robbers of the temples at Delphi and fickle neighbors.
Phryne: “Toad,” the nickname given to the famous courtesan Mnesarete and model of the sculptor Praxiteles.
Plataia: a Boiotian city at the southern frontier, nestled on the slopes of Mt. Kithairon, usually an ally of Athens and so often at war with the Thebans.
Polis: the Greek city-state, of which at the time of Epaminondas there were some 1,000 to 1,500 on the Greek mainland and the islands in the Aegean and west to Sikily. The concept of a polis included both the urban center (
Pythagoras: the famous philosopher, mathematician, and mystic of the sixth century B.C. whose followers believed in one divinity, the reincarnation of souls, and a reality explicable by mathematics and music. Cult members were chastised for embracing vegetarianism, the nobility of the left hand, the equality of the sexes, voluntary poverty, and communalism.
Sparta: both the city on the Eurotas River and the state that encompassed most of Lakonia, and, through alliance and conquest, controlled much of the southern Peloponnesos. Lakedaimon is probably the closest synonym.
Taygetos: the large mountain wall between Lakonia and Messenia, ranging some 60 to 70 miles in extent and rising nearly 8,000 feet at its peak.
Thebes: the largest city and capital of the federated region of Boiotia in central Greece. Not to be confused with Egyptian Thebes. On occasion Thebes and Boiotia were used, if inexactly, interchangeably.
Thespiai: a city-state in Boiotia, in the foothills of Mt. Helikon, and nearly always at odds with the larger capital Thebes a few miles away. Thespians were residents of Thespiai but bore no relation to Thespis, the legendary sixth-century-B.C. founder of tragic drama, from whom derives the modern notion of “thespians” as actors.
Xenophon: famous Greek historian of fourth-century-B.C. Greece and veteran of the retreat of the Ten Thousand from Asia, as well as author of treatises on topics as diverse as horsemanship and the economics of household management. He was exiled from Athens, lived in Triphylia as a friend of the Spartans, and was banished after the invasion of Epaminondas.
* Ease of recognition and pronunciation, rather than absolute consistency, has guided the spellings of Greek names. Some less well known Greek names and places are transliterated rather than Latinized-for example, Korinthos for Corinth, Leuktra for Leuctra, and Thespiai for Thespiae-while more common names like Epaminondas and Thebes seemed preferable to Epameinondas and Thebai. I use Hellas for Greece, which derives from Roman nomenclature for Hellas.
Principal Characters
Ainias: (“praiseworthy”) the Arkadian mercenary and tactician who came north to join Epaminondas
Alkidamas: (“strength of the people”) the aged rhetorician and champion of the Messenians
Chion: (“snowy” or the “Chian”) the huge slave from the island of Chios bought in infancy by Malgis from the Spartans, and raised on the farm on Mt. Helikon
Damo: wife of Lophis and custodian of the farm
Dirke: aged neighbor of Melon on Mt. Helikon
Epaminondas: Boiotarch and general of the Boiotian army and leader of the allied army
Ephoros: historian and resident of Athens, at work on a general history of the Greeks
Gaster: (“belly”) captain of the
Gorgos: (“dragon”) captured helot slave of Melon, veteran of the Spartan wars against Athens
Lichas: ephor and warrior of Sparta
Lophis: only son of Melon
Malgidai: the descendants of Malgis who continued to work his farm on Mt. Helikon
Malgis: the one-eyed Thespian veteran, father of Melon, who first carved out the farm on Mt. Helikon
Melissos: (“bee”) the young boy hostage from Makedon, who spent a year with the Thebans as a guarantor of the northern peace
Melon: (“apple”) the son of Malgis, the lame farmer on Mt. Helikon and the “apple” of various prophecies promising the end of Sparta
Myron: (“perfume”) farm slave on Mt. Helikon, recruited by Neto on the eve of Leuktra
Neto: the Messenian slave of Melon, bought as a small girl from the Spartans
Nikon: (“victor”) leader of the helot insurgents
Pelopidas: head of the Sacred Band, and co-general of the allied army
Phryne: (“toad”) courtesan and owner of a rest-stop at Thespiai
Porpax: (“shield-strap”) the older of the two great hounds of the Malgidai
Proxenos: (“consul”) the wall builder from Plataia and chief architect to Epaminondas
Sturax: (“butt-spike”) the younger and friskier of the two dogs of the Malgidai
