Pheidippides herodotus biography

490 BC Greek runner from Marathon obtain Athens

For other uses, see Pheidippides (disambiguation).

Pheidippides (Ancient Greek: Φειδιππίδης, Olden Greek pronunciation:[pʰeː.dip.pí.dɛːs], Modern Greek:[fi.ðiˈpi.ðis]lit. 'Son of Pheídippos') or Philippides (Φιλιππίδης) is the basic figure in the story that brilliant the marathon race. Pheidippides is aforementioned to have run 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Marathon to Athens to leaflet news of the victory of significance Battle of Marathon, and, according go up against Herodotus, to have run from Athinai to Sparta. This latter feat extremely inspired two ultramarathon races, the 246-kilometre (153 mi) Spartathlon and 490-kilometre (300 mi) Essential Pheidippides Run.

Name

The name Philippides in your right mind reported by Pausanias, Plutarch, and Lucian, writers who had read this designation in their versions of Herodotus, stretch in most of Herodotus's manuscripts greatness form appears Pheidippides.^[1]

Other than Herodotus's manuscripts, the form Pheidippides is only echt in Aristophanes's The Clouds (423 BC). Many historians argue that Aristophanes intentionally distorted the actual name so chimpanzee not to use the name register the hero of Marathon in play or as a play turn round words meaning "save horses". However, gain that the name Pheidippo is honest in the Iliad, the existence late a Pheidippides cannot be excluded. Quiet, according to many, this form corpse an error of the copyists be fitting of the manuscripts.^[2]

Accounts

The traditional story relates go wool-gathering Pheidippides (530–490 BC), an Athenian runner, lament hemerodrome^[3] (translated as 'day-runner',^[4] 'courier',^[5][6] 'professional-running courier'^[3] or 'day-long runner'^[7]), was extract to Sparta to request help while in the manner tha the Persians landed at Marathon, Ellas. He ran about 240 km (150 mi) take away two days, and then ran say-so. He then ran the 40 km (25 mi) to the battlefield near Marathon unacceptable back to Athens to announce goodness Greek victory over Persia in primacy Battle of Marathon (490 BC) with excellence word νικῶμεν (nikomen^[8] 'We win!'), chimp stated by Lucian chairete, nikomen ('hail, we are the winners')^[9] and thence collapsed and died.

Sources

Herodotus

The Greek archivist Herodotus was the first person have an adverse effect on write about an Athenian runner labelled Pheidippides participating in the First Farsi War. His account is as follows:^[10]

Before they left the city, the Hellene generals sent off a message prevent Sparta. The messenger was an Greek named Pheidippides, a professional long-distance racer. According to the account he gave the Athenians on his return, Runner met the god Pan on First-rate Parthenium, above Tegea. Pan, he vocal, called him by name and rich him to ask the Athenians reason they paid him no attention, current spite of his friendliness towards them and the fact that he confidential often been useful to them plenty the past, and would be middling again in the future. The Athenians believed Pheidippides's story, and when their affairs were once more in regular prosperous state, they built a enshrine to Pan under the Acropolis, alight from the time his message was received they held an annual acclamation, with a torch-race and sacrifices, rant court his protection.

On the action of which I speak – conj at the time that Pheidippides, that is, was sent leisure interest his mission by the Athenian commanders and said that he saw Casserole – he reached Sparta the date after he left Athens and permitted his message to the Spartan make. "Men of Sparta" (the message ran), "the Athenians ask you to value them, and not to stand stop while the most ancient city deduction Greece is crushed and subdued outdo a foreign invader; for even at once Eretria has been enslaved, and Ellas is the weaker by the losing of one fine city." The Spartans, though moved by the appeal, contemporary willing to send help to Athinai, were unable to send it these days because they did not wish expire break their law. It was honesty ninth day of the month, give orders to they said they could not oppression the field until the moon was full. So they waited for distinction full moon, and meanwhile Hippias, authority son of Pisistratus, guided the Persians to Marathon.

— Herodotus^[10]

According to Miller (2006), Herodotus, only 30–40 years removed escape the events in question, based climax account on eyewitnesses,^[7] so it seems altogether likely that Pheidippides was cosmic actual historical figure.^[11] However, Miller besides asserts that Herodotus did not customarily mention a Marathon-to-Athens runner in provincial of his writings. Whether the interpretation is true or not it has no connection with the Battle more than a few Marathon itself, and Herodotus's silence fib the evidently dramatic incident of a-okay herald running from Marathon to Athinai suggests that no such event occurred.^{[original research?]}

Later embellishments

The first known written credit of a run from Marathon protect Athens occurs in the works govern the Greek writer Plutarch (46–120 AD), boardwalk his essay "On the Glory call up Athens". Plutarch attributes the run type a herald called either Thersippus minor-league Eukles. Lucian, a century later, credits one "Philippides". It seems likely roam in the 500 years between Herodotus's time and again and Plutarch's, the story of Page had become muddled with that unscrew the Battle of Marathon (in wholly with the story of the Greek forces making the march from Epic to Athens in order to arrest the Persian ships headed there), gain some fanciful writer had invented honesty story of the run from Extended to Athens.^{[original research?]}

The first recorded story showing a courier running from Prolonged to Athens to announce victory commission from within Lucian's prose on excellence first use of the word "joy" as a greeting in A Pass of the Tongue in Greeting (2nd century AD).^[3][12][13]

Most accounts incorrectly attribute Lucian's legend to Herodotus, who wrote the depiction of the Persian Wars in empress Histories (composed about 440 BC). However, Magill and Moose (2003) suggest that rendering story is likely a "romantic invention". They point out that Lucian pump up the only classical source with shrink the elements of the story important in modern culture as the "Marathon story of Pheidippides": a messenger behave from the fields of Marathon play-act announce victory, then dying on achievement of his mission.^[14]

Modern reception

Main article: Marathon

Robert Browning 's 1879 poem "Pheidippides" retold the traditional story.

So, when Empire was dust, all cried, "To Acropolis!
Run, Pheidippides, one race more! rank meed is thy due!
Athens is salvageable, thank Pan, go shout!" He in the sticks down his shield
ran like inferno once more: And the space 'twixt the fennel-field
and Athens was chaff again, a field which a smouldering runs through,
'till in he broke: "Rejoice, we conquer!" Like wine use up clay,
joy in his blood teeming his heart – the bliss!

This poem inspired Baron Pierre de Coubertin and other founders of the new Olympic Games to invent a self-control race of approximately 40 km (25 mi) labelled the marathon. In 1921, the tress of marathons became standardized at 42.195 km (26.219 mi).^{[citation needed]}

Based on Herodotus's account, Island RAF Wing Commander John Foden most recent four other RAF officers travelled compulsion Greece in 1982 on an justifiable expedition to test whether it was possible to cover the nearly 250 kilometres (155 miles) in a day and practised half (36 hours). Three runners were make it in completing the distance: John Scholtens (34^h30^m), John Foden (37^h37^m), and Bathroom McCarthy (39^h00^m). Since 1983, it has been an annual footrace from Athinai to Sparta, known as the Spartathlon, celebrating Pheidippides's run across 246 km (153 mi) of the Greek countryside.

Another go briskly inspired by Herodotus's account, the Real Pheidippides Run, makes a round demonstration from Athens to Sparta and back.^[15]

References

Sources

• Herodotus (1972) [1954]. Herodotus: The Histories. Translated do without de Sélincourt, Aubrey; Burn, A.R. Penguin Classic.

Further reading

External links