Thebes
Americannoun
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an ancient city in Upper Egypt, on the Nile, whose ruins are located in the modern towns of Karnak and Luxor: a former capital of Egypt.
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a city of ancient Greece, in Boeotia: a rival of ancient Athens.
noun
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(in ancient Greece) the chief city of Boeotia, destroyed by Alexander the Great (336 bc )
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(in ancient Egypt) a city on the Nile: at various times capital of Upper Egypt or of the entire country
Other Word Forms
- Thebaic adjective
- Theban adjective
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Today, Karnak Temple sits about 500 meters east of the Nile near Luxor, once the religious capital of ancient Egypt known as Thebes.
From Science Daily • Jan. 4, 2026
In Sophocles’ play, Oedipus confronts a plague that has been laying waste to Thebes.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 13, 2025
Because her brothers are dead, Antigone’s uncle, Creon, is the new king of Thebes.
From Salon • Feb. 25, 2024
If there was any Greek state that could stand toe-to-toe with Sparta on the battlefield, it was Thebes, mythical home of Oedipus and bad-boy of Greece for taking the side of the Persians in 480.
From Slate • Jan. 16, 2024
He was born in Thebes and for a long time was held to be the son of Amphitryon, a distinguished general.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
