Ethnicity and Local Myth 233Boiotoi of theCatalogue of Shipsare grouped around Thebes. However, is the later
center of Boiotia in fact the core of the Boiotian contingent? Significantly, thepolis
itself is not even named. Instead, we find the term “Hypothebai” (Hom. Il. 2.505). In
contrast to Orchomenos, who leads a contingent on her own, Thebes or her substitute
appears in the middle of a long enumeration ofpoleis.Wasthepolisnot as important
at the beginning of the seventh century as we might presume from the crucial role
she later played in Boiotian history? Perhaps, but in theCatalogue of Ships,thepolis
stands out nevertheless. Only “Hypothebai” (“lower Thebe”) and Onchestos, the
cult-center of Boiotia, get a verse on their own. From that perspective, Thebes is not as
unimportant in theCatalogue of Shipsas one might think at first glance. Departing from
the textual organization, Onchestos with its sanctuary of Poseidon and “Hypothebai”
are the most important places in Boiotia. They are directly followed by Arne. Conse-
quently, the later super-polisThebes, Onchestos as the cult-center of the Boiotoi, and
Arne, the mythical hometown of the Boiotoi, seem to define the core of Boiotia at
this time.
The comparison of the seventh-centuryCatalogue of Shipswith Pausanias’ description
in the second centuryADillustrates that something had changed over the intervening
centuries. What happened in between to bring about these different images of the same
region? How could the history of Boiotia become almost equivalent to the history of
Thebes, as it is in the description of Pausanias, unlike in theCatalogue of Ships,which
takesethneor tribes as the most important category for subdividing the Greek world,
and in which Boiotia is characterized by an impressive number of differentpoleis?Tellme
where you come from, and I’ll tell you who you are. If we want to answer the question
of how local and regional identities developed, we have to observe the emergence of
different identity levels as expressed in the changing patterns of myth. Then we can bridge
the divide between temporally distant descriptions.
The Double Foundation of Boiotian
Thebes: The Interdependence ofPolis-Bound
and Ethnic Identity
Where do we come from? That is an essential question of humankind, even more in
antiquity when etiology played a pre-eminent role. Whoever could point to powerful
ancestors in their foundation stories was supposed to be powerful in actual politics as
well. It was important, therefore, to know who had founded Thebes. Interestingly, two
stories on the foundation of thepolisexist: two heroes are regarded as the founders of
Thebes. One is the well-known figure Kadmos, who came from Phoenicia while searching
for his sister Europa. After a long journey, he arrived at Delphi, where he asked the Pythia
how to find his sister. The oracle advised him to give up this quest and to follow a cow
instead. Wherever the animal lay down, he was told, he should found a city. He did
so, but at the spot where the cow fulfilled the prophecy, he also found a dragon. After
defeating it, Kadmos sowed the teeth of the beast. In consequence, the first citizens of
Thebes grew out of the earth, called “Spartoi” (“The Sown Ones”) due to the fact that
they had been sown.