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So, when we left off, Themistocles was at war!
Which I hope you’re interested in, because we’re going to be telling more war anecdotes--or anecdotes that Plutarch is reminded of because of talking about something else involving the war--for some time yet.
Plutarch - Themistocles 8
And the fights which occurred against the barbarian fleets in the narrow places were not hugely decisive in the greater scheme of things, but they benefited the Greeks by the experience; they learned from their efforts in the midst of danger that neither a large number of ships nor decorated and illustrious officers nor boastful shouting or barbaric war-songs hold any danger for men knowing how to dirty their hands* and prepared to fight; but it is necessary that, disdaining such things, they attack the enemy bodily and fight against them engaging in close combat. And Pindaros seems to understand this not poorly, in his saying on the battle of Artemisia:
“From this the children of the Athenians threw down the splendid foundation of freedom; for the beginning of victory is to be bold.”
And Artemisia, which is in Euboea, is a beach rising northwards beyond Hestiaea, and exactly opposite to it is Olizon, a land that was under [rule of] Philoktetes. It holds a small temple of Artemis, also called Proseoea, and trees grow around it, and white stones stand up in a circle; the stone, when rubbed with a hand, gives up a color and smell like saffron. And on one of the stones is this elegiac epigram:
“The children of the Athenians once conquered an Asiatic race of all kinds of men by a ship-battle on the sea here, when the general destroyed the Medes; they set up these symbols for the maiden Artemis.”
And a place on the headland in the middle of it all shows a heap of ashy and black dust cast up from the deep, as if it’s burnt with fire, in which ship wreckage and cremated bodies are cast.
Plutarch - Themistocles 9
When the news about Thermopylae came into Artemisia, they learned that Leonidas lay dead and Xerxes held power over the passage to the land,** they retreated into Greece, with the Athenians arranging their forces at the rear of the rest on account of their courage; and the Athenians thought very highly of themselves.
But Themistocles sailed along the land and looked for necessary landing spots and refuges for the enemy; he engraved messages clearly on the rocks, finding some by chance, and standing up others at anchorages and sources of fresh water. Through the messages he encouraged the Ionians, if they were able, to switch over to [the side of the Athenians], who were their ancestors and facing danger for the sake of [the Ionians’] freedom; and if they weren’t able, to do mischief to the barbarians during the battle and throw them into confusion. And he hoped for these things: either to suborn the Ionians, or to trouble the barbarians by [the Ionians] becoming more suspicious [to them].
While Xerxes descended through Doris into Phocis and was burning down the towns of the Phocians, the Greeks didn’t come to their aid, even though the Athenians wanted them to take a stand at Boetia for the sake of Attica, just as they had come across the sea to help at Artemisia. Nobody listened to them, but holding to the Peloponnese they were eager to lead together all their forces to the Isthmus, and to build a wall dividing up the Isthmus from sea to sea; anger over the betrayal took hold of the Athenians, and at the same time dejection and discouragement took them over being forsaken [by their allies].
For they did not intend to fight a fleet of so many ships; but as for the only thing possible in present circumstances--to leave the city and cling to their ships--the majority took it with difficulty, [thinking that] they didn’t want a victory or understand a salvation in giving away the altars of the gods and the graves of their fathers [to the enemy].
---
* Literally, “for men knowing to move into hands”, with “into hands” meaning hand-to-hand combat.
** You’ve all heard about the 300 Spartans (and rather quietly unmentioned many other dudes) who died defending the mountain pass at Thermopylae against the Persian army, right? That place.
Which I hope you’re interested in, because we’re going to be telling more war anecdotes--or anecdotes that Plutarch is reminded of because of talking about something else involving the war--for some time yet.
Plutarch - Themistocles 8
And the fights which occurred against the barbarian fleets in the narrow places were not hugely decisive in the greater scheme of things, but they benefited the Greeks by the experience; they learned from their efforts in the midst of danger that neither a large number of ships nor decorated and illustrious officers nor boastful shouting or barbaric war-songs hold any danger for men knowing how to dirty their hands* and prepared to fight; but it is necessary that, disdaining such things, they attack the enemy bodily and fight against them engaging in close combat. And Pindaros seems to understand this not poorly, in his saying on the battle of Artemisia:
“From this the children of the Athenians threw down the splendid foundation of freedom; for the beginning of victory is to be bold.”
And Artemisia, which is in Euboea, is a beach rising northwards beyond Hestiaea, and exactly opposite to it is Olizon, a land that was under [rule of] Philoktetes. It holds a small temple of Artemis, also called Proseoea, and trees grow around it, and white stones stand up in a circle; the stone, when rubbed with a hand, gives up a color and smell like saffron. And on one of the stones is this elegiac epigram:
“The children of the Athenians once conquered an Asiatic race of all kinds of men by a ship-battle on the sea here, when the general destroyed the Medes; they set up these symbols for the maiden Artemis.”
And a place on the headland in the middle of it all shows a heap of ashy and black dust cast up from the deep, as if it’s burnt with fire, in which ship wreckage and cremated bodies are cast.
Plutarch - Themistocles 9
When the news about Thermopylae came into Artemisia, they learned that Leonidas lay dead and Xerxes held power over the passage to the land,** they retreated into Greece, with the Athenians arranging their forces at the rear of the rest on account of their courage; and the Athenians thought very highly of themselves.
But Themistocles sailed along the land and looked for necessary landing spots and refuges for the enemy; he engraved messages clearly on the rocks, finding some by chance, and standing up others at anchorages and sources of fresh water. Through the messages he encouraged the Ionians, if they were able, to switch over to [the side of the Athenians], who were their ancestors and facing danger for the sake of [the Ionians’] freedom; and if they weren’t able, to do mischief to the barbarians during the battle and throw them into confusion. And he hoped for these things: either to suborn the Ionians, or to trouble the barbarians by [the Ionians] becoming more suspicious [to them].
While Xerxes descended through Doris into Phocis and was burning down the towns of the Phocians, the Greeks didn’t come to their aid, even though the Athenians wanted them to take a stand at Boetia for the sake of Attica, just as they had come across the sea to help at Artemisia. Nobody listened to them, but holding to the Peloponnese they were eager to lead together all their forces to the Isthmus, and to build a wall dividing up the Isthmus from sea to sea; anger over the betrayal took hold of the Athenians, and at the same time dejection and discouragement took them over being forsaken [by their allies].
For they did not intend to fight a fleet of so many ships; but as for the only thing possible in present circumstances--to leave the city and cling to their ships--the majority took it with difficulty, [thinking that] they didn’t want a victory or understand a salvation in giving away the altars of the gods and the graves of their fathers [to the enemy].
---
* Literally, “for men knowing to move into hands”, with “into hands” meaning hand-to-hand combat.
** You’ve all heard about the 300 Spartans (and rather quietly unmentioned many other dudes) who died defending the mountain pass at Thermopylae against the Persian army, right? That place.