The weekend wasn’t all plumbing problems. I did manage to read some Herodotus and what fun it was. I read his narrative of the Battle at Marathon. I don’t think I have actually ever read anything about Marathon, I know about it because it seems to have pervaded the culture in some ways and you know every summer Olympics one of the announcers has to say why the marathon race is called a marathon.
So reading Herodotus I expected a dramatic runner huffing up to the king of Athens with an arrow in his side to say they had beaten back the Persians wherupon, message delivered, he collapses to the floor and dies. That’s not how Herodotus tells it.
There is a runner, Pheidippides, who is a trained and can run from Athens to Sparta in a day. Pheiddippides is sent to ask Sparta to send their army to the plains of Marathon because the Persians were coming to attack Athens. But on this run he reached Sparta the day after he had left Athens. His excuse was that he was held up by the appearance of the god Pan. When he did get to Sparta the king told him that Sparta would be glad to come and help but they were in the middle of something and by their laws couldn’t march out until the moon was full which was going to be in five days.
So Athens takes its army with the armies of a few other cities and they assemble on the plains. Thousands of Persians pull up in their ships. Outnumbered, the Athenians tried a risky move. Instead of lining up most of their ranks in the middle as was usually done, they lined up only about three-deep in the middle and put most of the army on the left and right wing. The Athenians were in the middle and at the signal ran all out toward the Persian line. The Persians were a bit taken aback but got themselves together to meet the attack. The Persians thought the fight would be over in no time since there were so few ranked rows.
Little did they know that on the wings, they were getting their butts kicked. The Persian army on the wings turned and ran. The Athenian army closed ranks and slowly encircled the center of the Persian fighting force. It appears that everyone caught up in the circle was killed.
The Persians who made it back to the ships thought they would get their revenge by sailing directly to Athens before the army could get back to protect the city. But either through a spy or traitor on the ships sending the Athenians a signal, or the Athenians just being smart, they new what was up. They raced back to Athens and made it there before the Persians did. When the Persians came into view of the coast and Athens and saw the Athenian army encamped there, they knew they had been beat and turned around and sailed away.
The next day the Spartans show up. When they found out what happened they praised the Athenians then went back home with a detour to Marathon so they could see the carnage. And there was a lot of it. Herodotus reports only 192 Athenians were killed and 6400 Persians. I doubt that is accurate but it certainly is the kind of thing out of which myths are made.
I found the story rather exciting. The details of the battle tactics that came from a brilliant, daring idea coupled with desperation succeeded against the arrogance of the Persians. And even though I new Athens was going to win, I was still worried, because what if this time they didn’t? That’s one of the cool things about books. You can read the same story more than once knowing full well how it all ends and still hope (or worry) that maybe this time it will turn out differently.
Not only have I never actually read anything by Herodotus, I’ve never realized marathons were based on an historical event. Clearly I must remedy that. Herodotus=beach read.
Aeshylus was a soldier at Marathon, for what that’s worth.
What a great story, which reminds me to read Herodotus. Onto the list he goes. Thanks.
Oh boy, a story that involves not only one of my favorite gods Pan, but also what must be one of the most brilliant excuses not to join a battle ever: “We’re in the middle of something, and, anyway, by our laws, we can’t march until the moon is full.” And then, they show up after it’s all over. I just love it.
Amateur Reader — I didn’t know Aeschylus was in the battle of Marathon. That explains a lot about Aristophanes’s treatment of Aeschylus and Euripides in “Frogs,” which I wrote about a week or two ago. For the Greeks of the Peloponnesian War era, the Greeks who had lived through and fought in the Persian War were the “Greatest Generation,” the equivalent to the U.S.’s WWII generation. Aristophanes shows the same nostalgia for Aeschylus that Americans often show for the WWII generation, too–how often do we hear that this generation is fickle, soft, and spoiled compared to that generation?
All Who Are Considering Herodotus — Yes, read him! And if you think you will get bored with lengthy exposition about ancient people and their customs, at the very least read about Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis, and read the sections that discuss the different Persian Kings from Cyrus the Great to Xerxes (including the section about Croesus and his fortunes and misfortunes, which I find one of the most entertaining).
Stefanie — Will you be moving on to Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War after you finish Herodotus? To be honest, unless, like me, you are just nuts about Greek literature, I wouldn’t recommend it. He lacks the compelling narrative gifts of Herodotus (which is a nice way of saying he can be boring).
Carrie, Herodotus is great fun even though sometimes a bit slow. He would definitely make great beach reading especially if you are on the beach in Greece
Amateur Reader, really? I had no idea. Thanks for that fact.
Andi, I am learning quit a lot about history and myth from Herodotus. He is an interesting mix of truth and fantastical stories.
Emily, I know, what an excuse the Spartans made. It made me laugh. I was surprised at Pan’s appearance in the story which also sounds sort of like an excuse made up by the runner for why he was late getting to Sparta. But since Athens won, they were very forgiving.
JD, thanks for the additional pieces of information. I am planning on eventually making the rounds of all the playwrights and this will be good to remember when I get to Aristophanes. I looked up Aeschylus’ bio and he has a play called The Persians about his life and in particular the Battle of Salamis. I am indeed planning on reading Thucydides after Herodotus. I wouldn’t say I was nuts about Greek lit, but I am enjoying my foray into it very much. It began as a project to read a sort of history of western philosophy and I haven’t even read Plato yet because I have been having so much fun reading everything else! I will keep what you’ve said in mind and if I find Thucydides boring won’t feel bad about abandoning him.
You’ll enjoy the playwrights, too, I think. Aristophanes is great–there’s really nothing quite like his comedy. I talked about “The Frogs” on my blog, but check out “The Clouds” for a really wild plot.
Hmm. . . you can read Heroditus with on-going plumbing problems? You are a better person than me. There are alot of plumbing problems at my condo and all I can think about is violence.
Interesting story! Whenever I read a post like this I’m tempted to start reading ancient literature — to start a new reading project, in other words. But that’s the last thing I need!
Thanks for the tip JD!
Violette, reading soothes me and I find I can read in some of the oddest situations.
Dorothy, you can never have too many reading projects