None of the ancient tales or narratives being referenced in this line have happy outcomes; thus, the author is suggesting to us that dreaming of them and romanticizing them shows a lack of fundamental historical knowledge.
Thebes: The main reference is to Sophocles and his portrait of the Theban dynasty. Oedipus kills his father Laius and marries his mother Jocasta. When these facts are discovered, Jocasta commits suicide and Oedipus blinds himself. Thebes is engulfed in fratricidal wars in which both of Oedipus's sons die. His daughter Antigone and her fiancé Haemon both commit suicide.
Priam: Priam was a Trojan on the losing side of a war with the Greeks. The neighboring areas were subject to pillaging and rape by the invading Greek armies.
Camelot: Guinevere, Arthur's wife, and Lancelot, his best friend, are having an affair. Arthur is killed by his illegitimate son Mordred. Although many of the knights are noble and even heroic, this is also a tale of great suffering.
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