Ελληνική ιστορία και προϊστορία

Ελληνική ιστορία και προϊστορία
Ελληνική ιστορία και προϊστορία

Δευτέρα 17 Σεπτεμβρίου 2018

Herodotus original text about the battle of Mycale against Persian fleet army

Now on the selfsame day when the Persians were so stricken at Plataeae, it so fell out that they suffered a like fate at Mycale in Ionia. For the Greeks who had come in their ships with Leutychides the Lacedaemonian being then in quarters at Delos, there came to them certain messengers from Samos, to wit, Lampon son of Thrasycles, Athenagoras son of Archestratides, and Hegesistratus son of Aristagoras; these the Samians had sent, keeping their despatch secret from the Persians and the despot Theomestor son of Androdamas, whom the Persians had made despot of Samos. When they came before the generals, Hegesistratus spoke long and vehemently: "If the Ionians but see you," said he, "they will revolt from the Persians; and the foreigners will not stand; but if perchance they do stand, you will have such a prey as never again"; and he prayed them in the name of the gods of their common worship to deliver Greeks from slavery and drive the foreigner away. That, said he, would be an easy matter for them; "for the Persian ships are unseaworthy and no match for yours; and if you have any suspicion that we may be tempting you guilefully, we are ready to be carried on your ships as hostages." This Samian stranger being so earnest in entreaty, Leutychides asked him (whether it was that he desired to know for the sake of a presage, or that heaven happily prompted him thereto), "Sir Samian, what is your name?" "Hegesistratus," said he. Then Leutychides cut short whatever else Hegesistratus had begun to say, and cried: "I accept the omen of your name, Sir Samian; now do you see to it that ere you sail hence you and these that are with you pledge yourselves that the Samians will be our zealous allies." Thus he spoke, and then and there added the deed thereto; for straightway the Samians bound themselves by pledge and oath to alliance with the Greeks. This done, the rest sailed away, but Leutychides bade Hegesistratus take ship with the Greeks, for the good omen of his name....
...... Deïphonus, the son of this Evenius, had been brought by the Corinthians, and practised divination for the army. But I have heard it said ere now, that Deïphonus was no son of Evenius, but made a wrongful use of that name, and wrought for wages up and down Hellas. Having won favourable omens, the Greeks stood out to sea from Delos for Samos. When they were now near Calamisa in the Samian territory, they anchored there hard by the temple of Here that is in those parts, and prepared for a sea‑fight; the Persians, learning of their approach, stood likewise out to sea and made for the mainland, with all their ships save the Phoenicians, whom they sent sailing away. It was determined by them in council that they would not do battle by sea; for they deemed themselves overmatched; and the reason of their making for the mainland was, that they might lie under the shelter of their army at Mycale, which had been left by Xerxes' command behind the rest of his host to hold Ionia; there were sixty thousand men in it, and Tigranes, the goodliest and tallest man in Persia, was their general. It was the design of the Persian admirals to flee to the shelter of that army, and there to beach their ships and build a fence round them which should be a protection for the ships and a refuge for themselves. With this design they put to sea. So when they came past the temple of the Goddesses at Mycale to the Gaeson and Scolopoïs, where is a temple of Eleusinian Demeter (which was built by Philistus son of Pasicles, when he went with Nileus son of Codrus to the founding of Miletus), there they beached their ships and fenced them round with stones and trunks of orchard trees that they cut down; and they drove in stakes round the fence, and prepared for siege or victory, making ready of deliberate purpose for either event.
When the Greeks learnt that the foreigners were off and away to the mainland, they were ill‑pleased to think that their enemy had escaped them, and doubted whether to return back or make sail for the Hellespont. At the last they resolved that they would do neither, but sail to the mainland; and equipping themselves therefore with gangways and all else needful for a sea‑fight, they held their course for Mycale. When they came near to the camp and found none putting out to meet them, and saw the ships beached within the wall and a great host of men drawn up in array along the strand, Leutychides thereupon first coasted along in his ship, keeping as near to the shore as he could, and made this proclamation to the Ionians by the voice of a herald: "Men of Ionia, you that hear us, take heed of what I say! for in no case will the Persians understand aught of my charge to you: when we join battle, let a man remember first his freedom, and next the battle‑cry 'Hebe': and let him that hears me not be told of this by him that hears." The purpose of this act was the same as Themistocles' purpose at Artemisium; either the message would be unknown to the foreigners and would prevail with the Ionians, or if it were thereafter reported to the foreigners it would make them to mistrust their Greek allies. After this counsel of Leutychides', the Greeks next brought their ships to land and disembarked on the beach, where they put themselves in array. But the Persians, seeing the Greeks prepare for battle and exhort the Ionians, first of all took away the Samians' armour, suspecting that they favoured the Greeks; for indeed when the foreigners' ships brought certain Athenian captives, who had been left in Attica and taken by Xerxes' army, the Samians had set them all free and sent them away to Athens with provision for the way; for which cause in especial they were held suspect, as having set free five hundred souls of Xerxes' enemies. Furthermore, they appointed the Milesians to guard the passes leading to the heights of Mycale, alleging that they were best acquainted with the country; but their true reason for so doing was, that the Milesians should be away from the rest of their army. In such manner did the Persians safeguard themselves from those Ionians who (they supposed) might turn against them if opportunity were given; for themselves, they set their shields close to make a barricade.
The Greeks, having made all preparation, advanced their line against the foreigners. As they went, a rumour sped all about the army, and a herald's wand was seen lying by the water-line; and the rumour that ran was to the effect that the Greeks were victors over Mardonius' army at a battle in Boeotia. Now there are many clear proofs of the divine ordering of things; seeing that at this time, the Persians' disaster at Plataeae falling on the same day as that other which was to befall them at Mycale, the rumour came to the Greeks at that place, whereby their army was greatly heartened and the readier to face danger. Moreover there was this other coincidence, that there were precincts of Eleusinian Demeter on both battlefields; for at Plataeae the fight was hard by the temple of Demeter, as I have already said, and so it was to be at Mycale likewise. It so fell out that the rumour of victory won by the Greeks with Pausanias spoke truth; for the defeat of Plataeae happened while it was yet early in the day, and the defeat of Mycale in the afternoon. That the two fell on the same day of the same month was proved to the Greeks when they examined the matter not long afterwards. Now before this rumour came they had been faint-hearted, fearing less for themselves than for the Greeks with Pausanias, lest Mardonius should be the stumbling-block of Hellas; but when the report sped among them they grew stronger and swifter in their onset. So Greeks and foreigners alike were eager for battle, seeing that the islands and the Hellespont were the prizes of victory.
As for the Athenians and those whose place was nearest them, that is, for about half of the line, their way lay over the beach and level ground; for the Lacedaemonians and those that were next to them, through a ravine and among hills; and while the Lacedaemonians were making a circuit, those others on the other wing were already fighting. While the Persians' shields stood upright, they defended themselves and held their own in the battle; but when the Athenians and their neighbours in the line passed the word and went more zealously to work, that they and not the Lacedaemonians might win the victory, immediately the face of the fight was changed. Breaking down the shields they charged all together into the midst of the Persians, who received the onset and stood their ground for a long time, but at the last fled within their wall; and the Athenians and Corinthians and Sicyonians and Troezenians, who were next to each other in the line, followed hard after and rushed in together likewise. But when the walled place was won, the foreigners made no further defence, but took to flight, all save the Persians, who gathered themselves into bands of a few men and fought with whatever Greeks came rushing within the walls. Of the Persian leaders two escaped by flight and two were slain; Artaÿntes and Ithamitres, who were admirals of the fleet, escaped; Mardontes and Tigranes, the general of the land army, were slain fighting. While the Persians still fought, the Lacedaemonians and their comrades came up, and finished what was left of the business. The Greeks too lost many men there, notably the men of Sicyon and their general Perilaus. As for the Samians who served in the Median army, and had been disarmed, they, seeing from the first that victory hung in the balance, did what they could in their desire to aid the Greeks; and when the other Ionians saw the Samians set the example, they also thereupon deserted the Persians and attacked the foreigners. The Persians had for their own safety appointed the Milesians to watch the passes, so that if haply aught should befall the Persian army such as did befall it, they might have guides to bring them safe to the heights of Mycale. This was the task to which the Milesians were appointed, for the aforesaid reason, and that they might not be present with the army and so turn against it. But they did wholly contrariwise to the charge laid upon them; they misguided the fleeing Persians by ways that led them among their enemies, and at last themselves became their worst enemies and slew them. Thus did Ionia for the second time revolt from the Persians. In that battle those of the Greeks that fought best were the Athenians, and the Athenian that fought best was one who practised the Pancratium, Hermolycus son of Euthoenus. This Hermolycus on a later day met his death in battle at Cyrnus in Carystus during a war between the Athenians and Carystians, and lay dead on Geraestus. Those that fought next best after the Athenians were the men of Corinth and Troezen and Sicyon.
When the Greeks had made an end of most of the foreigners, either in battle or in flight, they brought out their booty on to the beach, and found certain stores of wealth; then they burnt the ships and the whole of the wall, which having burnt they sailed away. When they were arrived at Samos, they debated in council whether they should dispeople Ionia, and in what Greek lands under their dominion it were best to plant the Ionians, leaving the country itself to the foreigners; for it seemed to them impossible to stand on guard between the Ionians and their enemies for ever; yet if they should not so stand, they had no hope that the Persians would suffer the Ionians to go unpunished. In this matter the Peloponnesians that were in authority were for removing the people from the marts of those Greek nations that had sided with the Persians, and giving their land to the Ionians to dwell in; but the Athenians misliked the whole design of dispeopling Ionia, or suffering the Peloponnesians to determine the lot of Athenian colonies; and as they resisted hotly, the Peloponnesians yielded. Thus it came about that they admitted to their alliance the Samians, Chians, Lesbians, and all other islanders who had served with their armaments, and bound them by pledge and oaths to remain faithful and not desert their allies; who being thus sworn, the Greeks set sail to break the bridges, supposing that these still held fast. So they laid their course for the Hellespont.
Πηγή : http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Herodotus/9B*.html

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