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The History of Herodotus: Page 41
Volume Two - Book VII
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219. To the Hellenes who were in Thermopylai first the soothsayer
Megistias, after looking into the victims which were sacrificed,
declared the death which was to come to them at dawn of day; and
afterwards deserters brought the report[219] of the Persians having
gone round. These signified it to them while it was yet night, and
thirdly came the day-watchers, who had run down from the heights when
day was already dawning. Then the Hellenes deliberated, and their
opinions were divided; for some urged that they should not desert
their post, while others opposed this counsel. After this they
departed from their assembly,[220] and some went away and dispersed
each to their several cities, while others of them were ready to
remain there together with Leonidas.
220. However it is reported also
that Leonidas himself sent them away, having a care that they might
not perish, but thinking that it was not seemly for himself and for
the Spartans who were present to leave the post to which they had come
at first to keep guard there. I am inclined rather to be of this
latter opinion,[221] namely that because Leonidas perceived that the
allies were out of heart and did not desire to face the danger with
him to the end, he ordered them to depart, but held that for himself
to go away was not honourable, whereas if he remained, a great fame of
him would be left behind, and the prosperity of Sparta would not be
blotted out: for an oracle had been given by the Pythian prophetess to
the Spartans, when they consulted about this war at the time when it
was being first set on foot, to the effect that either Lacedemon must
be destroyed by the Barbarians, or their king must lose his life. This
reply the prophetess gave them in hexameter verses, and it ran thus:
"But as for you, ye men who in wide-spaced Sparta inhabit,
Either your glorious city is sacked by the children of Perses,
Or, if it be not so, then a king of the stock Heracleian
Dead shall be mourned for by all in the boundaries of broad Lacedemon.
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Him[222] nor the might of bulls nor the raging of lions shall
hinder; For he hath might as of Zeus; and I say he shall not be
restrained, Till one of the other of these he have utterly torn and
divided."[223] I am of opinion that Leonidas considering these things and desiring to
lay up for himself glory above all the other Spartans,[224] dismissed
the allies, rather than that those who departed did so in such
disorderly fashion, because they were divided in opinion.
221. Of this
the following has been to my mind a proof as convincing as any other,
namely that Leonidas is known to have endeavoured to dismiss the
soothsayer also who accompanied this army, Megistias the Acarnanian,
who was said to be descended from Melampus, that he might not perish
with them after he had declared from the victims that which was about
to come to pass for them. He however when he was bidden to go would
not himself depart, but sent away his son who was with him in the
army, besides whom he had no other child.
222. The allies then who were dismissed departed and went away,
obeying the word of Leonidas, and only the Thespians and the Thebans
remained behind with the Lacedemonians. Of these the Thebans stayed
against their will and not because they desired it, for Leonidas kept
them, counting them as hostages; but the Thespians very willingly, for
they said that they would not depart and leave Leonidas and those with
him, but they stayed behind and died with them. The commander of these
was Demophilos the son of Diadromes.
223. Xerxes meanwhile, having made libations at sunrise, stayed for
some time, until about the hour when the market fills, and then made
an advance upon them; for thus it had been enjoined by Epialtes,
seeing that the descent of the mountain is shorter and the space to be
passed over much less than the going round and the ascent. The
Barbarians accordingly with Xerxes were advancing to the attack; and
the Hellenes with Leonidas, feeling that they were going forth to
death, now advanced out much further than at first into the broader
part of the defile; for when the fence of the wall was being
guarded,[225] they on the former days fought retiring before the enemy
into the narrow part of the pass; but now they engaged with them
outside the narrows, and very many of the Barbarians fell: for behind
them the leaders of the divisions with scourges in their hands were
striking each man, ever urging them on to the front. Many of them then
were driven into the sea and perished, and many more still were
trodden down while yet alive by one another, and there was no
reckoning of the number that perished: for knowing the death which was
about to come upon them by reason of those who were going round the
mountain, they[226] displayed upon the Barbarians all the strength
which they had, to its greatest extent, disregarding danger and acting
as if possessed by a spirit of recklessness.
224. Now by this time the
spears of the greater number of them were broken, so it chanced, in
this combat, and they were slaying the Persians with their swords; and
in this fighting fell Leonidas, having proved himself a very good man,
and others also of the Spartans with him, men of note, of whose names
I was informed as of men who had proved themselves worthy, and indeed
I was told also the names of all the three hundred. Moreover of the
Persians there fell here, besides many others of note, especially two
sons of Dareios, Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, born to Dareios of
Phratagune the daughter of Artanes: now Artanes was the brother of
king Dareios and the son of Hystaspes, the son of Arsames; and he in
giving his daughter in marriage to Dareios gave also with her all his
substance, because she was his only child.
225. Two brothers of
Xerxes, I say, fell here fighting; and meanwhile over the body of Leonidas there arose a great struggle between the Persians and the
Lacedemonians, until the Hellenes by valour dragged this away from the
enemy and turned their opponents to flight four times. This conflict
continued until those who had gone with Epialtes came up; and when the
Hellenes learnt that these had come, from that moment the nature of
the combat was changed; for they retired backwards to the narrow part
of the way, and having passed by the wall they went and placed
themselves upon the hillock,[227] all in a body together except only
the Thebans: now this hillock is in the entrance, where now the stone
lion is placed for Leonidas. On this spot while defending themselves
with daggers, that is those who still had them left, and also with
hands and with teeth, they were overwhelmed by the missiles of the
Barbarians, some of these having followed directly after them and
destroyed the fence of the wall, while others had come round and stood
about them on all sides.
226. Such were the proofs of valour given by the Lacedemonians and
Thespians; yet the Spartan Dienekes is said to have proved himself the
best man of all, the same who, as they report, uttered this saying
before they engaged battle with the Medes:--being informed by one of
the men of Trachis that when the Barbarians discharged their arrows
they obscured the light of the sun by the multitude of the arrows, so
great was the number of their host, he was not dismayed by this, but
making small account of the number of the Medes, he said that their
guest from Trachis brought them very good news, for if the Medes
obscured the light of the sun, the battle against them would be in the
shade and not in the sun.
227. This and other sayings of this kind
they report that Dienekes the Lacedemonian left as memorials of
himself; and after him the bravest they say of the Lacedemonians were
two brothers Alpheos and Maron, sons of Orsiphantos. Of the Thespians
the man who gained most honour was named Dithyrambos son of
Harmatides.
228. The men were buried were they fell; and for these, as well as for
those who were slain before being sent away[228] by Leonidas, there is
an inscription which runs thus:
"Here once, facing in fight three hundred myriads of foemen,
Thousands four did contend, men of the Peloponnese."
This is the inscription for the whole body; and for the Spartans
separately there is this:
"Stranger, report this word, we pray, to the Spartans, that lying
Here in this spot we remain, faithfully keeping their laws."[229]
This, I say, for the Lacedemonians; and for the soothsayer as follows:
"This is the tomb of Megistias renowned, whom the Median foemen,
Where Sperchios doth flow, slew when they forded the stream;
Soothsayer he, who then knowing clearly the fates that were coming,
Did not endure in the fray Sparta's good leaders to leave."
The Amphictyons it was who honoured them with inscriptions and
memorial pillars, excepting only in the case of the inscription to the
soothsayer; but that of the soothsayer Megistias was inscribed by
Simonides the son of Leoprepes on account of guest-friendship.
229. Two of these three hundred, it is said, namely Eurystos and
Aristodemos, who, if they had made agreement with one another, might
either have come safe home to Sparta together (seeing that they had
been dismissed from the camp by Leonidas and were lying at Alpenoi
with disease of the eyes, suffering extremely), or again, if they had
not wished to return home, they might have been slain together with
the rest,--when they might, I say, have done either one of these two
things, would not agree together; but the two being divided in
opinion, Eurystos, it is said, when he was informed that the Persians
had gone round, asked for his arms and having put them on ordered his
Helot to lead him to those who were fighting; and after he had led him
thither, the man who had led him ran away and departed, but Eurystos
plunged into the thick of the fighting, and so lost his life: but
Aristodemos was left behind fainting.[230] Now if either Aristodemos
had been ill[231] alone, and so had returned home to Sparta, or the
men had both of them come back together, I do not suppose that the
Spartans would have displayed any anger against them; but in this
case, as the one of them had lost his life and the other, clinging to
an excuse which the first also might have used,[232] had not been
willing to die, it necessarily happened that the Spartans had great
indignation against Aristodemos.
230. Some say that Aristodemos came
safe to Sparta in this manner, and on a pretext such as I have said;
but others, that he had been sent as a messenger from the camp, and
when he might have come up in time to find the battle going on, was
not willing to do so, but stayed upon the road and so saved his life,
while his fellow-messenger reached the battle and was slain.
231. When Aristodemos, I say, had returned home to Lacedemon, he had reproach
and dishonour;[233] and that which he suffered by way of dishonour was
this,--no one of the Spartans would either give him light for a fire
or speak with him, and he had reproach in that he was called
Aristodemos the coward.[234]
232. He however in the battle at Plataia
repaired all the guilt that was charged against him: but it is
reported that another man also survived of these three hundred, whose
name was Pantites, having been sent as a messenger to Thessaly, and
this man, when he returned back to Sparta and found himself
dishonoured, is said to have strangled himself.
233. The Thebans however, of whom the commander was Leontiades, being
with the Hellenes had continued for some time to fight against the
king's army, constrained by necessity; but when they saw that the
fortunes of the Persians were prevailing, then and not before, while
the Hellenes with Leonidas were making their way with speed to the
hillock, they separated from these and holding out their hands came
near to the Barbarians, saying at the same time that which was most
true, namely that they were on the side of the Medes and that they had
been among the first to give earth and water to the king; and moreover
that they had come to Thermopylai constrained by necessity, and were
blameless for the loss which had been inflicted upon the king: so that
thus saying they preserved their lives, for they had also the
Thessalians to bear witness to these words. However, they did not
altogether meet with good fortune, for some had even been slain as
they had been approaching, and when they had come and the Barbarians
had them in their power, the greater number of them were branded by
command of Xerxes with the royal marks, beginning with their leader
Leontiades, the same whose son Eurymachos was afterwards slain by the
Plataians, when he had been made commander of four hundred Thebans and
had seized the city of the Plataians.[235]
234. Thus did the Hellenes at Thermopylai contend in fight; and Xerxes
summoned Demaratos and inquired of him, having first said this:
"Demaratos, thou art a good man; and this I conclude by the truth of
thy words, for all that thou saidest turned out so as thou didst say.
Now, however, tell me how many in number are the remaining
Lacedemonians, and of them how many are like these in matters of war;
or are they so even all of them?" He said: "O king, the number of all
the Lacedemonians is great and their cities are many, but that which
thou desirest to learn, thou shalt know. There is in Lacedemon the
city of Sparta, having about eight thousand men; and these are all
equal to those who fought here: the other Lacedemonians are not equal
to these, but they are good men too." To this Xerxes said: "Demaratos,
in what manner shall we with least labour get the better of these men?
Come set forth to us this; for thou knowest the courses of their
counsels,[236] seeing that thou wert once their king."
235. He made
answer: "O king, if thou dost in very earnest take counsel with me, it
is right that I declare to thee the best thing. What if thou shouldest
send three hundred ships from thy fleet to attack the Laconian land?
Now there is lying near it an island named Kythera, about which
Chilon, who was a very wise man among us, said that it would be a
greater gain for the Spartans that it should be sunk under the sea
than that it should remain above it; for he always anticipated that
something would happen from it of such a kind as I am now setting
forth to thee: not that he knew of thy armament beforehand, but that
he feared equally every armament of men. Let thy forces then set forth
from this island and keep the Lacedemonians in fear; and while they
have a war of their own close at their doors, there will be no fear
for thee from them that when the remainder of Hellas is being
conquered by the land-army, they will come to the rescue there. Then
after the remainder of Hellas has been reduced to subjection, from
that moment the Lacedemonian power will be left alone and therefore
feeble. If however thou shalt not do this, I will tell thee what thou
must look for. There is a narrow isthmus leading to the Peloponnese,
and in this place thou must look that other battles will be fought
more severe than those which have taken place, seeing that all the
Peloponnesians have sworn to a league against thee: but if thou shalt
do the other thing of which I spoke, this isthmus and the cities
within it will come over to thy side without a battle."
236. After him
spoke Achaimenes, brother of Xerxes and also commander of the fleet,
who chanced to have been present at this discourse and was afraid lest
Xerxes should be persuaded to do this: "O king," he said, "I see that
thou art admitting the speech of a man who envies thy good fortune, or
is even a traitor to thy cause: for in truth the Hellenes delight in
such a temper as this; they envy a man for his good luck, and they
hate that which is stronger than themselves. And if, besides other
misfortunes which we have upon us, seeing that four hundred of our
ships[237] have suffered wreck, thou shalt send away another three
hundred from the station of the fleet to sail round Peloponnese, then
thy antagonists become a match for thee in fight; whereas while it is
all assembled together our fleet is hard for them to deal with, and
they will not be at all a match for thee: and moreover the whole sea-
force will support the land-force and be supported by it, if they
proceed onwards together; but if thou shalt divide them, neither wilt
thou be of service to them nor they to thee. My determination is
rather to set thy affairs in good order[238] and not to consider the
affairs of the enemy, either where they will set on foot the war or
what they will do or how many in number they are; for it is sufficient
that they should themselves take thought for themselves, and we for
ourselves likewise: and if the Lacedemonians come to stand against the
Persians in fight, they will assuredly not heal the wound from which
they are now suffering."[239]
237. To him Xerxes made answer as
follows: "Achaimenes, I think that thou speakest well, and so will I
do; but Demaratos speaks that which he believes to be best for me,
though his opinion is defeated by thine: for I will not certainly
admit that which thou saidest, namely that he is not well-disposed to
my cause, judging both by what was said by him before this, and also
by that which is the truth, namely that though one citizen envies
another for his good fortune and shows enmity to him by his
silence,[240] nor would a citizen when a fellow-citizen consulted him
suggest that which seemed to him the best, unless he had attained to a
great height of virtue, and such men doubtless are few; yet guest-
friend to guest-friend in prosperity is well-disposed as nothing else
on earth, and if his friend should consult him, he would give him the
best counsel. Thus then as regards the evil-speaking against
Demaratos, that is to say about one who is my guest-friend, I bid
every one abstain from it in the future."
238. Having thus said Xerxes passed in review the bodies of the dead;
and as for Leonidas, hearing that he had been the king and commander
of the Lacedemonians he bade them cut off his head and crucify him.
And it has been made plain to me by many proofs besides, but by none
more strongly than by this, that king Xerxes was enraged with Leonidas
while alive more than with any other man on earth; for otherwise he
would never have done this outrage to his corpse; since of all the men
whom I know, the Persians are accustomed most to honour those who are
good men in war. They then to whom it was appointed to do these
things, proceeded to do so.
239. I will return now to that point of my narrative where it remained
unfinished.[241] The Lacedemonians had been informed before all others
that the king was preparing an expedition against Hellas; and thus it
happened that they sent to the Oracle at Delphi, where that reply was
given them which I reported shortly before this. And they got this
information in a strange manner; for Demaratos the son of Ariston
after he had fled for refuge to the Medes was not friendly to the
Lacedemonians, as I am of opinion and as likelihood suggests
supporting my opinion; but it is open to any man to make conjecture
whether he did this thing which follows in a friendly spirit or in
malicious triumph over them. When Xerxes had resolved to make a
campaign against Hellas, Demaratos, being in Susa and having been
informed of this, had a desire to report it to the Lacedemonians. Now
in no other way was he able to signify it, for there was danger that
he should be discovered, but he contrived thus, that is to say, he
took a folding tablet and scraped off the wax which was upon it, and
then he wrote the design of the king upon the wood of the tablet, and
having done so he melted the wax and poured it over the writing, so
that the tablet (being carried without writing upon it) might not
cause any trouble to be given by the keepers of the road. Then when it
had arrived at Lacedemon, the Lacedemonians were not able to make
conjecture of the matter; until at last, as I am informed, Gorgo, the
daughter of Cleomenes and wife of Leonidas, suggested a plan of which
she had herself thought, bidding them scrape the wax and they would
find writing upon the wood; and doing as she said they found the
writing and read it, and after that they sent notice to the other
Hellenes. These things are said to have come to pass in this
manner.[242]
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END OF BOOK VII
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