The Sacred Band -Three

About this episode

This episode discusses the life and death of two heroes in Thebes, focusing on themes of violence and LGBTQI+ history.

This week, on Tales we return to Thebes one last time to discuss what happens when others even the field, the life and death or our two heroes, a young man named Philip - and a giant lion.. This is part three of a three parter. Content Warnings: Battlefield injury and death, some depictions towards the end are quite graphic. Political violence, slavery and hostage taking. Assassination. Suicide-adjacent fatalism. Mass burial. Discussion of LGBTQI+ history not that THAT one should ever need to be a trigger warning - but there you go…Yes I got hate mail a few weeks back, so let’s throw it in there… and back to the actual nasty stuff, discussion of Authoritarianism, tyranny and mass killing. Sources Include:James Romm’s ‘The Sacred Band’Plutarch’s ‘Lives…’ Support Tales on Patreon for $2 US a month and get access to exclusive content, or Try our 7 Day Free Trial. Please leave Tales a like and a review wherever you listen. The best way you can support us is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. Tales of History and Imagination can be found on… | Facebook |TikTok | Threads | YouTube | Bluesky |

People in this episode

Host: Simone Whitlow

Topics covered

• LGBTQI+ history
• political violence
• battlefield injury
• tyranny
• mass killing
• slavery
• hostage taking

Keywords

• The Sacred Band
• Thebes
• battlefield injury
• political violence
• LGBTQI+ history
• tyranny
• mass burial

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Sacred Band, Lives…

Places: Thebes

More episodes of Tales of History and Imagination

• The Storm · May 30, 2026 · 34 min
• The Sacred Band -Two · April 10, 2026 · 31 min
• The Sacred Band - One · March 21, 2026 · 28 min
• The Tichborne Claimant - Two · February 23, 2026 · 52 min
• Tales From The Patreon · January 18, 2026 · 29 min
• Update: The 2025 Season Cliffhanger · January 11, 2026 · 1 min