seem to have been responsible for the defects of later history, failing to construct a civilization equal to the one they had been able to destroy. In the case of the arts especially, it is significant that Pindar, the only Bœotian poet of the first order, was not of unmixed Bœotian blood, but belonged to a branch of the Ægidæ, who traced their pedigree back to the pre-Bœotian rulers of Thebes. Of this descent, distinguished in the eyes of all Greeks, Pindar was justly proud. And yet he was a loyal son of Thebes and assumed his share in the “ancient reproach” of “Bœotian swine.” We are at liberty, therefore, to emphasize his country before his blood. Modern Thebes is huddled on the site of the ancient acropolis, its poverty serving as a reminder of the desolation which as early as Strabo’s time had fallen upon one of the great cities of Greece. Pausanias found the lower city deserted, save for the sanctuaries, the population being restricted to the acropolis, and Dio Chrysostom had seen a solitary image standing among the ruins of the old market-place. In the middle ages Fortune returned to Thebes from time to time, but under the Turks deserted her in apparent despair. Doubtless the town will revive as the modern nation gathers its forces. In the mean time it serves to indicate the area of the stronghold or acropolis built by the prehistoric settlers. Before the middle of the fifth century the city had grown westward to the stream of Dirce, and eastward to the river Ismenus. After that time, as is evident from remains of city walls, the area was even more extended. The mythological past of Thebes was greater than any of its historic periods. Her early citizens shone brilliantly among those— “Lights of the age that rose before our own As demigods o’er Earth’s wide region known, Yet these dread battle hurried to their end; Some, where the sevenfold gates of Thebes ascend, Strave for the flocks of Œdipus in fight, Some war in navies led to Troy’s far shore.”[30] Footnote 30: Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 160. Translated by Elton.