However herodotus then lists a number of greek powers who provided. Salamis a battle that defined history for centuries to come. In that battle antidorus of lemnos, the only one of the greeks siding with the persian, deserted to the greeks, and for that the athenians gave him land in salamis. Xerxes came to the realization that the greeks were going to be a tough nut to crack. He was one of a new breed of nonaristocratic politicians who rose to prominence in the early years of the athenian democracy. The battle of salamis was a naval battle fought between an alliance of greek citystates under. The battle of salamis kindle edition by charles river editors. Prior to the battle, xerxes, ruler of persia, had won battles in artemisium, thermopylae, and most notably, athens, which he captured in. It took place in 479 bc near the city of plataea in boeotia, and was fought between an alliance of the greek citystates including sparta, athens, corinth and megara, and the persian empire of xerxes i allied with boeotians, thessalians, and macedonians the previous year the persian invasion. Be that as it may, the battle of salamis did have tremendous immediate repercussions.
The battle of salamis 23 or 24 september 480 bc was the decisive battle of xerxess invasion of greece, and was a major greek naval victory that left the persian army dangerously isolated in southern greece. The sicyonians contributed 15 up from 12, the epidaurians 10 up from 8. The internet classics archive the history of herodotus. Should you wish to find out more about the battle of salamis, to see how it acquired such mythic status for the greeks, i suggest you read herodotus, storyteller and mythmaker par excellence.
The battle of salamis was fought in september 480 bc during the persian wars 499 to 449 bc. In order to understand their disappointment, it is necessary to establish herodotus c. The greek fleet joined them there in august after the indecisive battle of artemisium. Salamis an island in the saronic gulf in the aegean sea, opposite mount aigaleo, 16 kilometres west of athens. Book 8 the battle of artemisium the battle of salamis the aftermath and the macedonians book 9. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the greatest battles in history. In the aftermath of the battle the persians retreated back to thessaly, and xerxes returned home with most of the army leaving a sizable force to continue the campaign in the following. In that struggle the general ariabignes son of darius died, brother of xerxes, and many others died, too, including some famed among the persians and the medes and their other allies, but only some few of the hellenes. While his extensive notes and source discussion at the end of the book lists works discussing the accuracy of these accounts, there is little discussion in the. Herodotus is mistaken about the date of the olympic games.
Upset by the results of thermopylae, the greek fleet wants to retreat. After some careful source work, detecting bias, exaggeration and other historiographical questions, they were asked to write a written account of the battle. Translated from tales from herodotus farnell and goff provide a synopsis of the events to this point. The strait of salamis after the persian victories at artemisium and thermopylae, king xerxes proceeded to athens, which he captured in the last days of september 480. His main points, additional to those of loeschke, are. The athenians try to convince the other greeks to marshal their naval strength at salamis. The battle of salamis the histories of herodotus excerpt. Barry strauss is a worldclass academic classicist, but the battle of salamis. Battle of salamis was one of the final battles in the second war between the persian empire led by king xerxes and an alliance of greek citystates. As a politician, themistocles was a populist, having. Thanks to their efforts, the greek fleet swells to almost 400 ships. Herodotus claims to have traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book, almost all of which covers territories of the persian empire. The battle of salamis was a naval battle fought by the allied greek citystates and the persian empire in september 480 bc between the island of salamis and the mainland greece wikipedia contributors. Although the persian host had suffered setbacks, delays and even minor reversals at thermopylae and.
Find a summary of this and each chapter of histories. Battle of salamis project gutenberg selfpublishing. By drawing attention to the effects of the actual form of the speech, i shall. Learning this, they therefore entreated the fleet to put in at salamis. Book seven of herodotus histories ended with a greek defeat, but in book eight we will hear about greek successes. The naval encounter that saved greece and western civilization is geared for the more general reader.
His land forces marched down the northern coasts of the aegean sea and down into greece by way of. Dewald, women and culture in herodotus histories, womens studies 8, no. For other uses, see battle of salamis disambiguation. The battle of salamis 77 munro, of oxford, who refers to my article and agrees with its general conclusions, while he rejects the opposing view as he deems it of herodotus. There are many editions, but the obvious one to go for is in the oxford classical texts series. Quotation of verse inscriptions epitaphs from thermopylae 228. At the beginning of the histories, herodotus sets out his reasons for writing it. The battle of plataea was the final land battle during the second persian invasion of greece. Historians were less than disappointed with the portrayal of artemisia in the hollywood blockbuster 300. In its first logos, we witness the naval engagement on the sea between aphetae and artemisium. The battle of salamis, by barry strauss indepthinfo. One of the great naval battles in history, salamis saw the outnumbered greeks best a. Among surviving ancient works, he was the first to mention her, providing the. In the aftermath of the battle the persians retreated back to thessaly, and.
Herodotus presents the battle as though it occurred directly after the capture of athens, but nowhere. Strauss draws heavily upon herodotus and aeschylus. Herodotuss history is an account of the grecopersian wars 499479 bce and the story of the growth and organization of the persian empire. He is known for having written the book the histories greek. The battle of thermopylae from herodotus the histories essay 1146 words 5 pages western civilization february 8, 2009 the battle of thermopylae from herodotus the histories the battle of thermopylae, which herodotus recorded in his writing the histories, was one of the most arduous and notable battles of western history. Part of a complete english translation of herodotus. Artemisias exploits in the battle of salamis are more famous than most because herodotus says that he cannot relay many other exploits but hers. Home book shop wars battles biographies timeline weapons blog.
Triremes have rams near the bow key to greek victory at salamis. The total number of ships, besides the fiftyoared boats, was 378. The greek commander was the admiral of the small spartan squadron, a man named eurybiades. It is extremely difficult to date the events of the summer of 480, but all reconstructions by modern scholars assume that the games ended shortly before or most probably during the two battles on august 20 or september 18. Themistocles put the story into their the priests mouths. Two spartans, eurytus and aristodemus, were in sick bay at battle time. It resulted in a decisive victory for the outnumbered greeks. Persian side, artemisia presides over the failure of xerxes at salamis,16 and all the features. Xerxes, who came to the throne in 485, executed another invasion of greece on an enormous scale by both land and sea.
In the immediate aftermath of salamis, xerxes attempted to build a pontoon bridge or. Here are presented the results of the enquiry carried out by herodotus of halicarnassus. The battle was fought in the straits between the mainland and. She fought as an ally of xerxes i, king of persia against the independent greek city states during the second persian invasion of greece. Histories book 8 the battle of salamis summary course hero. Battle of salamis part of the grecopersian wars a romantic style painting. In spite of the groundbreaking work of herodotus, a new book, focusing on the battle of salamis, is certainly in order. According to herodotus, the athenians insist that their compatriots must send their fleets to salamis, a small island just opposite the athenian harbors. On herodotuss and aeschyluss accounts of the battle of. Chapter summary for herodotuss histories, book 8 the aftermath and the macedonians summary. Ten years after the defeat of the persians at marathon in 490 b. Book viii deals with the second persian war, and chapters 8396 deal specifically with salamis. View this articles jstor metadata you may also retrieve all of this items metadata in json at the following. He tells the story of the persian invasion of greece in 490 bc and the decisive naval battle at salamis with an easy style focused on character development.
As part of their assessable work, my senior students were asked to look at herodotus, plutarch and aeschylus accounts of the battle of salamis. Anecdotes illustrating the brave spirit of various spartans 22627. There the greeks, sparked by fear and indecisiveness, conduct successive discussions about. Persian fleet 5 strategic and tactical considerations 6 the battle 6. It marked the highpoint of the second persian invasion of greece, which had begun that spring. When the greek ships from artemision arrived at salamis, the rest of the hellenic fleet departed. Artemisias reasons for ramming a friendly ship are unknown, as herodotus acknowledges, but they give him the chance to unfold a punchline that reveals something of greek expectations of gender roles. The battle of salamis and the origins of political theory jstor. In the aftermath of salamis she hoisted the greek colors, rammed a persian ship, after which. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The battle of thermopylae from herodotus the histories.
Indepth analysis, coupled with florid storytelling based partly on new archeological evidence would be a great addition to the bookshelves of anyone interested in ancient history. Herodotus describes the contingents and their numbers. Herodotus covers the empires geography, social structure, and history before describing the events which led to xerxes invasion of greece and the greek citystates uniting to defeat his army. The next logos opens with a description of a serious quarrel between the greek admirals. The spartans wanted to return to the peloponnese, seal off the isthmus of corinth with a wall, and prevent the persians from defeating them on land, but the. An unfortunate result of his more elaborately worked writing has been failure to understand his words, and hence much misplaced editorial intervention. His histories, which provide an account in nine books of the conflict between the greece and asia from the middle of the sixth century b. Salamis according to herodotus page 2 waterblogged. On herodotuss and aeschyluss accounts of the battle of salamis is an article from transactions of the american philological association 18691896, volume 8 view more articles from transactions of the american philological association 18691896. The persians also had triremes although theirs were larger than those of the greeks. With the dawn of the day of the battle of salamis in ch. The battle of salamis was the major turning point in the second persian invasion of greece.
The athenians had fled to salamis after the battle of thermopylae in august, 480 bc, while the persians occupied and burned their city. Histories book 8 the aftermath and the macedonians summary. Xerxes decided to leave the greek invasion in the hands of his second in command, mardonius. When the priestess interpreted the significance of this, the athenians were all the more eager to abandon the city since the goddess had deserted the acropolis.
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