In 480bc Xerxes burned down Athens. The most powerful empire in the world obliterated the cultural capital of the Hellenic world. Sacred buildings, each one of them burned to the ground. The Acropolis destroyed, Athens had to be rebuild from scratch. A terrible loss to humanity, but just a normal act of barbarism in antiquity.
Centuries passed, the balance of power had shifted. It was now the Achaemenids who were defeated, and Greeks who controlled the Persian capitals; Alexander the Hegemon of Greece was now in control of Persia.
It was at Persepolis, ancient capital of Persia, that this story of revenge unfolds. Alexander and his entourage found themselves indulging on some entertainment, a party as we say today. Surrounded by his close generals and their women, they were taking a well deserved break from campaigning, after all they had just conquered, in a few years, the most powerful empire in the world. Among the entourage a woman stood out.
Thaïs was the name, Athenian by birth, hetaira by profession, she was among the entourage indulging in drinking. Who if not a prominent hetaira would add embers to the ambiance. By all accounts Thaïs was responsible for much of the euphoria that night, an ambiance fueled by the excesses of alcohol. You may now search for the definition of a hetaira before continuing to read.
At the climax of the party, Thaïs reminded Alexander of the great atrocities that Xerxes did to Athens. Temples burned, treasures sacked, the whole of the Hellenic people humiliated. Now at Persepolis, shouldn’t Greeks take their revenge? The court of Persepolis should be burned, the whole city as well, all for good measure.
Drunk generals and companions bursted into cheer at Thaïs’ idea. And so, under the guidance of Thaïs, Alexander took a torch and spread fire first, she went second. In seconds the rest of the Greeks, armed with torches, stormed the city and spread the fire.
Persepolis became ashes, never to find glory again.
Thais went on to become the first [Greek] queen of Egypt, for she married Ptolemy I after years of serving as a faithful mistress. Of the incident the ancient historians recorded this as revenge for the burning of Athens by Xerxes. All of them neglected to mention that the kingdom of Macedon, the same Alexander was born to, allied with Xerxes during the war which culminated on the burning of Athens.
This is partly the reason why Macedonian Greekness has been called into question throughout history. Regardless it was not a king, rather a determined woman, who like generals do, prepared and led a host into chaos. For if not for Thaïs who would had avenged Athens?
