On the Thesmophoria, see Meursius, Græcia Feriata, p. 151 sq.; L. Preller, Demeter und Persephone, p. 335 sq.; Id., Griech. Myth., [3], 1. 639 sq.; Fritsche's ed. of the Thesmophoriazusæ, p. 577 sq.; Aug. Mommsen, Heortologie, p. 287 sq.; Rheinisches Museum, xxv. (1870), p. 548; Gazette Archeologique, 1880, p. 17; Mr Andrew Lang, in Nineteenth Century, April 1887. (J. G. FR.)
THESPIÆ, an ancient Greek city of Boeotia. It stood on level ground commanded by the low range of hills which runs eastward from the foot of Mount Helicon to Thebes. In the Persian invasion the Thespian con tingent of 700 men voluntarily stayed with the Spartans at Thermopylae, and shared their fate. For its resistance to the Persians, the city was burned by Xerxes (480 B.C.). Nevertheless, in the next year 1800 Thespians shared in the great victory of Plataea. At the battle of Delium (424) the flower of the Thespians fell fighting against Athens on the side of Thebes, and in the following year the jealous Thebans availed themselves of the weakness of their gallant confederate to pull down the walls of Thespise. The walls were restored by the Spartans under Agesilaus in 378, but were again destroyed by the The bans, apparently before the battle of Leuctra (371).[1] After the battle the Thespians, who had taken no part in it, withdrew to a strong place, Ceressus, from which, however, they were expelled by the Thebans. In 343 the city was not yet restored; but it must have been sub sequently, for it is mentioned in the Roman wars.
In the 2d century Pausanias mentions that Thespite contained a theatre, a market-place (agora), and sanctuaries of Aphrodite, the Muses, and Hercules. Love (Eros) was the deity most vener ated by the Thespians; they possessed a very ancient image of him in the shape of an unhewn block of stoue. The marble statue of Love by Praxiteles was the great sight at Thespise, and drew crowds to the place. It was carried off to Rome by Caligula, re stored by Claudius, and again carried off by Nero. There was also a bronze statue of Love by Lysippus. From an inscription we learn that one of the deities worshipped was Demeter Achea, the " Mater Dolorosa." The Thespians also worshipped the Muses, and celebrated a festival in their honour in the sacred grove on Mount Helicon. Remains of what was probably the ancient citadel are still to be seen, consisting of an oblong or oval line of fortification, solidly and regularly built. The adjacent ground to the east and south is covered with foundations, bearing witness to the extent of the ancient city. The neighbouring village Eremokastro, on higher ground, was thought by Ulrichs to be probably the site of the ancient Ceressus. In 1882 there were discovered, about 1200 yards east of Eremokastro, on the road to Arkopodi (Leuctra), the remains of a polyandrion, including a colossal stone lion. The tomb dates from the 5th century B.C., and is probably that of the Thespians who fell at Plataea, for those who fell at Thermopylffi were buried on the field.
See Leake, Travels in Northern Greece, ii. 479 tq.; Dodwell, Tour through Greece, i. 253; Bursian, Geogr. von Griechenland, i. 237 sq.; Ulrichs, Reisen u. Forschungen in Griechenland, ii. 84 sq.; Mittheil. d. deutsch. archaol. Inst. in Athen, 1879, pp. 190 sq., 273 sq.; npcucnxa rrjs iv eraipt apx<uoo-yi<crjs as, 1882, pp. 65-74.
THESSALONIANS, Epistles to the. Thessalonica, now Salonica (q.v.), was in the time of the Romans the most important town of Macedonia. In consequence of its advantageous situation, on a good harbour and on the Via Egnatia, the great trade road which connected the Adriatic with the Hellespont, the town had surpassed the old capital Pella, and had indeed become one of the chief commercial centres of the ancient world. Since the Roman conquest the seat of the Roman provincial government had been here. Here, as in Corinth, the conditions were favourable for the reception of Christianity. The population was not purely Greek, but cosmopolitan, a mixture of divers nationalities. Such a population is always more susceptible to religious novelties for good and for evil than one of old, firmly established national growth. The apostle Paul experienced this to his great joy and satisfaction here also, as he for the first time set foot on the shores of Europe with the message of Jesus Christ. It was about the year 52 or 53 that he, on his arrival from Philippi, preached the gospel of Christ in the rich merchant city. As in other places, he began with the Jews. There was a Jewish congregation at Thessalonica, as at all the great ports and trading centres of the Mediterranean, with their own synagogue and regular service. For three Sabbaths Paul stood up in the synagogue, prov ing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the promised and expected Messiah (Acts xvii. 1-3). He had not much success with the Jews, but this was more than compen sated by the number of " devout Greeks " (i.e., Gentiles who already had some connexion with Judaism) whom he won to a belief in Christ. He found hearing especially with the chief women (Acts xviii. 4). But Paul had also converted a not smaller number of real heathens. Indeed, they must have constituted the majority of the Christian church there formed, for in his first epistle he says quite generally that his readers, in consequence of his preaching, had turned from idols to the one true God (1 Thess. i. 9). Paul's stay in Thessalonica was short. The plots of the Jews soon obliged him to leave the town, and he betook himself to Beroea (Acts xvii. 10), thence to Athens (Acts xvii. 15), and finally to Corinth (Acts xviii. 1). The two epistles were written to the church of Thessalonica during a stay of a year and a half in Corinth (Acts xviii. 11), about 53-54, not before this in Athens, as is asserted in the subscription of both epistles in the Codex Alexandrinus and other MSS. For when Paul wrote the first epistle some time had elapsed since the formation of the church: some members were already dead (1 Thess. iv. 13), and Paul had worked for some time, not only in Macedonia, but also in Achaia (i. 7, 8). On the other hand, the church appears to be comparatively young; the conversions are still spoken of everywhere in Macedonia and Achaia (i. 9). All this points to the conclusion that the first epistle was written in Corinth, and this is confirmed by the opening salutation (i. 1), in which Silvanus (Silas) and Timotheus are named as joint authors, for they were in Corinth with Paul (Acts xviii. 5).
The first epistle gives us a very clear picture of the disposition and state of such a young church, composed of former heathens. They had received with enthusiasm the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Bringer of salvation, the Saviour in the approaching day of judgment (i. 9, 10). But the realization of this salvation is now awaited with impatience, and a sense of disappointment is experienced because some members of the church have died without having seen the advent of the Lord (iv. 13). At the same time many there are still living in gross heathen sins and vices (iv. 1-8). Paul had sent back Timotheus from Athens to Thessalonica in order to advise the young inexperienced church, and to obtain news concerning it (iii. 1-5). He has just returned to Paul (iii. 6), and the information received through this source is the occasion of the first epistle,[2] designed to supply the place of Paul's personal presence and bring new exhortation and instruction from the apostle to the young church, which still much needed guidance.
We have no information concerning the effect of this letter. It is conceivable, however, that the church required yet further advice and direction from the apostle, and so far it is not remarkable that Paul saw the need for a second similar letter of teaching and exhortation. This second epistle also, if it is genuine, was written during Paul's stay of a year and a half at Corinth, very soon after
- ↑ Xenophon (Hellen., vi. 3. 1 and 5) and Diodorus (xv. 46) speak of Thespiæ as if it had been destroyed and its inhabitants driven away before the battle of Leuctra; but, as the Thespian troops were present with the Thebans immediately before the battle (Paus., ix. 13, 8), it would seem that only the walls, not the city itself, had been previously destroyed. See Grote, Hist. of Greece, ix. p. 379.
- ↑ According to Acts xvii. 14-15 and xviii. 5, Silas and Timotheus had remained behind in Berœa, and first met Paul again in Corinth. But according to 1 Thess. iii. 1-5 it must be understood that Timotheus was in Athens with Paul, and had been sent thence to Thessalonica.
