Θῆβαι

Ancient Greek

Etymology 1

From Ionic-Attic Θήβη (Thḗbē), from Mycenaean Greek 𐀳𐀣 (te-qa /⁠tʰēgʷā⁠/), from Proto-Hellenic *tʰēgʷā.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /tʰɛ̂ː.bai̯/ → /ˈθi.βɛ/ → /ˈθi.ve/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tʰɛ̂ː.bai̯/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈtʰe̝.bɛ/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈθi.βɛ/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈθi.ve/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈθi.ve/

Proper noun

Θῆβαι • (Thêbai) f pl (genitive Θηβῶν); first declension

1. Thebes, the name of a city in Boeotia
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 6.222-223:

     Τυδέα δ’ οὐ μέμνημαι, ἐπεί μ’ ἔτι τυτθὸν ἐόντα / κάλλιφ’, ὅτ’ ἐν Θήβῃσιν ἀπώλετο λαὸς Ἀχαιῶν.

     Tudéa d’ ou mémnēmai, epeí m’ éti tutthòn eónta / kálliph’, hót’ en Thḗbēisin apṓleto laòs Akhaiôn.

     • 1990 translation by Robert Fagles

       My father, Tydeus, I really don't remember. I was just a baby when father left me then, that time an Achaean army went to die at Thebes.

Inflection

First declension of αἱ Θῆβαι; τῶν Θηβῶν (Attic)

Case / #	Plural
Nominative	αἱ Θῆβαι hai Thêbai
Genitive	τῶν Θηβῶν tôn Thēbôn
Dative	ταῖς Θήβαις taîs Thḗbais
Accusative	τᾱ̀ς Θήβᾱς tā̀s Thḗbās
Vocative	Θῆβαι Thêbai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• Θήβησι (Thḗbēsi)
• Θήβαζε (Thḗbaze)
• Θηβαῖος (Thēbaîos)
• Θηβαγενής (Thēbagenḗs)
• Θηβαϊκός (Thēbaïkós)
• Θηβαΐς (Thēbaḯs)

Descendants

• → Arabic: طِيبَة (ṭība)
• → Basque: Tebas
• → Breton: Thebai
• → Bulgarian: Тива (Tiva)
• → Catalan: Tebes
• → Czech: Théby
• → Danish: Theben
• → Dutch: Thebe
• → English: Thebes
• → Esperanto: Tebo
• → Estonian: Teeba
• → Finnish: Theba
• → French: Thèbes
• → Galician: Tebas
• → German: Theben
• Greek: Θήβα (Thíva)
• → Hebrew: תבאי
• → Hungarian: Thébai
• → Italian: Tebe
• → Japanese: テーバイ (Tēbai)
• → Korean: 테베 (tebe)
• → Latin: Thebae
• → Lithuanian: Tėbai
• → Norwegian: Theben
• → Polish: Teby
• → Portuguese: Tebas
• → Romanian: Teba
• → Russian: Фи́вы (Fívy)
• → Serbo-Croatian: Теба, Teba
• → Slovak: Téby
• → Slovene: Tebe
• → Spanish: Tebas
• → Swedish: Thebe
• → Turkish: Tebai
• → Welsh: Thebai

Etymology 2

From Egyptian Demotic tꜣ-jpy (literally “the temple”), with the second component from earlier Egyptian

(jpt, “(inner sanctum of) a temple”) (cf. jpt-swt and pꜣ-n-jpt).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /tʰɛ̂ː.bai̯/ → /ˈθi.βɛ/ → /ˈθi.ve/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tʰɛ̂ː.bai̯/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈtʰe̝.bɛ/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈθi.βɛ/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈθi.ve/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈθi.ve/

Proper noun

Θῆβαι • (Thêbai) f pl (genitive Θηβῶν); first declension

1. Thebes, the name of a city in Upper Egypt (including today's Karnak and Luxor)

Inflection

First declension of αἱ Θῆβαι; τῶν Θηβῶν (Attic)

Case / #	Plural
Nominative	αἱ Θῆβαι hai Thêbai
Genitive	τῶν Θηβῶν tôn Thēbôn
Dative	ταῖς Θήβαις taîs Thḗbais
Accusative	τᾱ̀ς Θήβᾱς tā̀s Thḗbās
Vocative	Θῆβαι Thêbai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Alternative forms

• Θήβη (Thḗbē)

Derived terms

See under Etymology 1 above.

Descendants

• → Breton: Teba
• → Coptic: ⲑⲉⲃⲁⲓⲥ (thebais)
• → Czech: Théby
• → Danish: Theben
• → Dutch: Thebe
• → English: Thebes
• → Esperanto: Tebo
• Greek: Θήβες (Thíves)
• → Hungarian: Théba
• → Italian: Tebe
• → Japanese: テーベ (Tēbe)
• → Latin: Thebae
• → Portuguese: Tebas

References

• “Θῆβαι”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Θῆβαι”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “Θῆβαι”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• “Θῆβαι”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,027

Further reading

• Thebes on Wikipedia.Wikipedia