Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans
there could be deliverance any longer after they had once forsaken the
temples of their gods and exposed the tombs and monuments of their
ancestors to the fury of their enemies.
Themistocles, being at a loss, and not able to draw the people over to
his opinion by any human reason, set his machines to work, as in a
theater, and employed prodigies and oracles. The serpent of Minerva,
kept in the inner part of her temple, disappeared; the priests gave it
out to the people that the offerings which were set for it were found
untouched, and declared, by the suggestion of Themistocles, that the
goddess had left the city, and taken her flight before them towards the
sea. And he often urged them with the oracle which bade them trust to
walls of wood, showing them that walls of wood could signify nothing
else but ships; and that the island of Salamis was termed in it, not
miserable or unhappy, but had the epithet of divine, for that it should
one day be associated with a great good fortune of the Greeks. At
length his opinion prevailed, and he obtained a decree that the city
should be committed to the protection of Minerva, "queen of Athens;"
that they who were of age to bear arms should embark, and that each
should see to sending away his children, women, and slaves where he
could. This decree being confirmed, most of the Athenians removed their
parents, wives, and children to Troezen, where they were received with
eager good-will by the Troezenians, who passed a vote that they should
be maintained at the public charge, by a daily payment of two obols to
every one, and leave be given to the children to gather fruit where they
pleased, and schoolmasters paid to instruct them. This vote was
proposed by Nicagoras.
There was no public treasure at that time in Athens; but the council of
Areopagus, as Aristotle says, distributed to every one that served,
eight drachmas, which was a great help to the manning of the fleet; but
Clidemus ascribes this also to the art of Themistocles. When the
Athenians were on their way down to the haven of Piraeus, the shield
with the head of Medusa was missing; and he, under the pretext of
searching for it, ransacked all places, and found among their goods
considerable sums of money concealed, which he applied to the public
use; and with this the soldiers and seamen were well provided for their
voyage.
When the whole city of Athens were going on board, it afforded a
spectacle worthy of pity alike and admiration, to see them thus send
away their fathers and children before them, and, unmoved with their
cries and tears, pass over into the island. But that which stirred
compassion most of all was, that many old men, by reason of their
great age, were left behind; and even the tame domestic animals could
not be seen without some pity, running about the town and howling, as
desirous to be carried along with their masters that had kept them;
among which it is reported that Xanthippus, the father of Pericles, had
a dog that would not endure to stay behind, but leaped into the sea, and
swam along by the galley's side till he came to the island of Salamis,
where he fainted away and died, and that spot in the island, which is
still called the Dog's Grave, is said to be his.
Among the great actions of Themistocles at this crisis, the recall of
Aristides was not the least, for, before the war, he had been ostracized
by the party which Themistocles headed, and was in banishment; but now,
perceiving that the people regretted his absence, and were fearful that
he might go over to the Persians to revenge himself, and thereby ruin
the affairs of Greece, Themistocles proposed a decree that those who
were banished for a time might return again, to give assistance by word
and deed to the cause of Greece with the rest of their fellow-citizens.
Eurybiades, by reason of the greatness of Sparta, was admiral of the
Greek fleet, but yet was faint-hearted in time of danger, and willing to
weigh anchor and set sail for the isthmus of Corinth, near which the
land army lay encamped; which Themistocles resisted; and this was the
occasion of the well-known words, when Eurybiades, to check his
impatience, told him that at the Olympic games they that start up before
the rest are lashed; "And they," replied Themistocles, "that are left
behind are not crowned." Again, Eurybiades lifting up his staff as if
he were going to strike, Themistocles said, "Strike if you will, but
hear;" Eurybiades, wondering much at his moderation, desired him to
speak, and Themistocles now brought him to a better understanding. And
when one who stood by him told him that it did not become those who had
neither city nor house to lose, to persuade others to relinquish their
habitations and forsake their countries, Themistocles gave this reply:
"We have indeed left our houses and our walls, base fellow, not thinking
it fit to become slaves for the sake of things that have no life nor
soul; and yet our city is the greatest of all Greece, consisting of two
hundred galleys, which are here to defend you, if you please; but if you
run away and betray us, as you did once before, the Greeks shall soon
hear news of the Athenians possessing as fair a country, and as large
and free a city, as that they have lost." These expressions of
Themistocles made Eurybiades suspect that if he retreated the Athenians
would fall off from him. When one of Eretria began to oppose him, he
said, "Have you anything to say of war, that are like an ink-fish? you
have a sword, but no heart." Some say that while Themistocles was
thus speaking things upon the deck, an owl was seen flying to the right
hand of the fleet, which came and sat upon the top of the mast; and
this happy omen so far disposed the Greeks to follow his advice, that
they presently prepared to fight. Yet, when the enemy's fleet was
arrived at the haven of Phalerum, upon the coast of Attica, and with the
number of their ships concealed all the shore, and when they saw the
king himself in person come down with his land army to the seaside, with
all his forces united, then the good counsel of Themistocles was soon
forgotten, and the Peloponnesians cast their eyes again towards the
isthmus, and took it very ill if any one spoke against their returning
home; and, resolving to depart that night, the pilots had order what
course to steer.
The Teuthis, loligo, or cuttlefish, is said to have a bone or
cartilage shaped like a sword, and was conceived to have no heart.
Themistocles, in great distress that the Greeks should retire, and lose
the advantage of the narrow seas and strait passage, and slip home every
one to his own city, considered with himself, and contrived that
stratagem that was carried out by Sicinnus. This Sicinnus was a Persian
captive, but a great lover of Themistocles, and the attendant of his
children. Upon this occasion, he sent him privately to Xerxes,
commanding him to tell the king, that Themistocles, the admiral of the
Athenians, having espoused his interest, wished to be the first to
inform him that the Greeks were ready to make their escape, and that he
counseled him to hinder their flight, to set upon them while they were
in this confusion and at a distance from their land army, and hereby
destroy all their forces by sea. Xerxes was very joyful at this
message, and received it as from one who wished him all that was good,
and immediately issued instructions to the commanders of his ships, that
they should instantly Yet out with two hundred galleys to encompass all
the islands, and enclose all the straits and passages, that none of the
Greeks might escape, and that they should afterwards follow with the
rest of their fleet at leisure. This being done, Aristides, the son of
Lysimachus, was the first man that perceived it, and went to the tent of
Themistocles, not out of any friendship, for he had been formerly
banished by his means, as has been related, but to inform him how they
were encompassed by their enemies. Themistocles, knowing the generosity
of Aristides, and much struck by his visit at that time, imparted to him
all that he had transacted by Sicinnus, and entreated him, that, as he
would be more readily believed among the Greeks, he would make use of
his credit to help to induce them to stay and fight their enemies in the
narrow seas. Aristides applauded Themistocles, and went to the other
commanders and captains of the galleys, and encouraged them to engage;
yet they did not perfectly assent to him, till a galley of Tenos, which
deserted from the Persians, of which Panaetius was commander, came in,
while they were still doubting, and confirmed the news that all the
straits and passages were beset; and then their rage and fury, as well
as their necessity; provoked them all to fight.
As soon as it was day, Xerxes placed himself high up, to view his fleet,
and how it was set in order. Phanodemus says, he sat upon a promontory
above the temple of Hercules, where the coast of Attica is separated
from the island by a narrow channel; but Acestodorus writes, that it was
in the confines of Megara, upon those hills which are called the Horns,
where he sat in a chair of gold, with many secretaries about him to
write down all that was done in the fight.
When Themistocles was about to sacrifice, close to the admiral's galley,
there were three prisoners brought to him, fine looking men, and richly
dressed in ornamented clothing and gold, said to be the children of
Artayctes and Sandauce, sister to Xerxes. As soon as the prophet
Euphrantides saw them, and observed that at the same time the fire
blazed out from the offerings with a more than ordinary flame, and that
a man sneezed on the right, which was an intimation of a fortunate
event, he took Themistocles by the hand, and bade him consecrate the
three young men for sacrifice, and offer them up with prayers for
victory to Bacchus the Devourer: so should the Greeks not only save
themselves, but also obtain victory. Themistocles was much disturbed at
this strange and terrible prophecy, but the common people, who, in any
difficult crisis and great exigency, ever look for relief rather to
strange and extravagant than to reasonable means, calling upon Bacchus
with one voice, led the captives to the altar, and compelled the
execution of the sacrifice as the prophet had commanded. This is
reported by Phanias the Lesbian, a philosopher well read in history.
The number of the enemy's ships the poet Aeschylus gives in his tragedy
called the Persians, as on his certain knowledge, in the following
words--
Xerxes, I know, did into battle lead
One thousand ships; of more than usual speed
Seven and two hundred. So is it agreed.
The Athenians had a hundred and eighty; in every ship eighteen men
fought upon the deck, four of whom were archers and the rest men-at-
arms.
As Themistocles had fixed upon the most advantageous place, so, with no
less sagacity, he chose the best time of fighting; for he would not run
the prows of his galleys against the Persians, nor begin the fight till
the time of day was come, when there regularly blows in a fresh breeze
from the open sea, and brings in with it a strong swell into the
channel; which was no inconvenience to the Greek ships, which were low-
built, and little above the water, but did much hurt to the Persians,
which had high sterns and lofty decks, and were heavy and cumbrous in
their movements, as it presented them broadside to the quick charges of
the Greeks, who kept their eyes upon the motions of Themistocles, as
their best example, and more particularly because, opposed to his ship,
Ariamenes, admiral to Xerxes, a brave man, and by far the best and
worthiest of the king's brothers, was seen throwing darts and shooting