The playwright Aeschylus fought in the Greco-Persian Wars, and the battle scenes of the naval Battle of Salamis in his play, The Persians, may have been eyewitness accounts. They provide a more enthralling and possibly more accurate account of the battle than Herodotus. We will also consult Herodotus for the actions the wily Themistocles took to ensure a Greek victory in the Battle of Salamis, tricking the great King Xerxes to defeat, and the Ionian Greek woman General Artemisia. We also summarize the Greek defeat at the Pass of Thermopylae that preceded the Battle of Salamis. YouTube video: https://youtu.be/cabAkQwHnlk Please support our channel, if you wish to purchase these Amazon books we receive a small affiliate commission: The Histories, by Herodotus, Aubrey de Sélincourt, Translator https://amzn.to/3EQAHID Herodotus: The Father of History, Audible Audiobook, by Elizabeth Vandiver, The Great Courses https://amzn.to/38Sh051 The Ancient Greek Historians (Harvard Lectures), by John Bagnell Bury https://amzn.to/2Z18ZcO The Greek and Persian Wars, Audible, by John R. Hale, The Great Courses https://amzn.to/3FrzNCA Plutarch's Greek Lives, Oxford World Classics, Robin Waterfield, translator https://amzn.to/32nUYaz Great Books of The Western World: VOLUME 5 - Aeschylus / Sophocles / Euripides / Aristophanes, by Encylopaedia Britannica, used copies inexpensive https://amzn.to/3Fy4INJ Blog: https://wp.me/pachSU-zK

2. Today we will learn and reflect on the history behind the Battle of
Salamis in the Greco-Persian Wars, where the heavily outnumbered
Greek fleet decisively defeated and destroyed much of the Persian fleet
while the Great Persian King Xerxes watched in horror.
The playwright Aeschylus fought in the Greco-Persian, and the battle
scenes in his play, The Persians, may have been eyewitness accounts,
and provide a more enthralling and possibly more accurate account of
the battle than Herodotus.
We will also consult Herodotus; he has some interesting anecdotes and
stories about the colorful lady general Artemisia who sort of fought for
the Persians in her trireme.

3. Herodotus tells us that he wrote
his Histories “so that human
achievements may not be
forgotten in time, and great and
marvelous deeds, some
displayed by Greeks, some by
barbarians, may not be without
their glory; and especially to
show why the two peoples
fought with each other.”

4. At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources used for this video,
and the additional lessons we learn from these sources, and my blogs
that also cover this topic. Please, we welcome interesting questions in
the comments. Let us learn and reflect together!

5. Aeschylus and Herodotus: Battle of Salamis
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Western World:
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Sophocles/ Euripides/
Aristophanes, by
Encylopaedia
Britannica, used copies
inexpensive.
© Copyright 2021 https://youtu.be/cabAkQwHnlk

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Aeschylus and Herodotus: Battle of Salamis
https://youtu.be/cabAkQwHnlk

7. We pondered in our first video/blog how, just as in the Iliad,
the Greek soldiers and sailors in the Histories of Herodotus
fight for cleos, or glory, and warriors in these warrior societies
are immortalized by their great and marvelous deeds on the
battlefield.
In the first four book of his Histories, Herodotus treats us to a
tour and snippets of the histories of Persia and its conflicts with
Scythia and Egypt, but the last five books cover the more
familiar history of the Greco-Persian Wars.

8. https://youtu.be/YwUojwMIQEw

9. In our second video Herodotus recounts the
history of the Greco-Persian Wars, including the
Battle of Salamis:

10. https://youtu.be/JjNcyLo54ko

11. The above videos have more extensive introductory information,
let us simply summarize the ancient ships of war. In the Greek
navy, the triremes had three long stacked rows of rowers who
had to row in unison, with a heavy ram below the waterline at
the front of the ship, with which they would try to sink opposing
ships. A typical trireme had about 170 rowers, plus a handful of
hoplite infantry ready on deck. The favored strategy was to ram
the middle of the opposing ship, sinking it. Greek navies fighting
on both sides rowed triremes, several references in Herodotus
state that it was difficult to tell them apart in the thick of battle.

12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trireme
The Olympias,
a modern-day
reconstruction
of a trireme.

13. Herodotus is best when he repeats anecdotes or
interesting stories, but his descriptions of the important
battles sometimes fall short, but the Greek playwright
Aeschylus includes an emotional memory of the naval
Battle of Salamis, where the outnumbered Greek fleet
sinks a large portion of the mighty Persian fleet.

14. King Xerxes had an enormous army marching along the
coast from Persia, Herodotus says there were over two
million soldiers marching, but modern scholars accuse
Herodotus of exaggerating the size of the army, it would
have been difficult in the ancient world to feed an army
of one or two hundred thousand on the march. The vast
Persian fleet sailed along the coast as the army marched.

15. One of the Persian commanders Xerxes
admired was the Greek Artemisia, the only
woman commander on either side of the
war. Artemisia’s husband was the tyrant of
the Persian satrapy of Caria, and when he
died, she became the ruling tyrant, so she
was commanding a trireme from Caria.
Her son could have commanded the
trireme, but she instead sailed with the
fleet, “her own spirit of adventure and
manly courage were her only incentives.”
This tyrantessa Artemisia will figure
prominently in the Battle of Salamis.
Artemisia at the Battle of Salamis, by
Wilhelm von Kaulbach, painted 1868

16. THE SPARTAN FEW BLOCK THE PERSIAN ARMY AT THERMOPALYE
As we learned in our video on the Greco-Persian War, the Greek strategy was for
the Spartan and Greek hoplites to stop the Persian army north of Athens at the
Pass of Thermopylae, and for Athenian and Greek triremes to stop the Persian
navy at the Straits of Salamis. The force of several thousand hoplites stopped the
Persian army dead in its tracks when defending the narrow Pass at Thermopylae
for many days, causing massive Persian casualties, but when a traitor revealed a
mountain path that avoided the pass, the Persians were able to attack from both
sides. The Spartan commander knew they were doomed, he sent most of the
confederate troops home, leaving a mostly Spartan force of the famous Three
Hundred behind, who fought to the death. The movie 300, by the way, has many
historical inaccuracies.
This noble story Herodotus narrates in livid detail in our main video on the Greco-
Persian Wars.

17. Leonidas at Thermopylae, by Jacques-Louis David, painted 1814

18. The decision was made to abandon Athens, as the Athenians could not
prevent the city from falling under a Persian siege. The Athenian men
would board their triremes while the women, children, and slaves
would be sent as temporary refugees to the nearby Peloponnese city-
state of Troezen and Salamis, taking whatever property with them that
they could, leaving Athens nearly deserted.
The Persians lost no time in invading Attica and the nearly empty city
of Athens, looting and burning Athens and all her temples. But booty
of another kind was not to be found, no concubines could be seized.

19. Acropolis, by Leo von Klenze, painted 1846

20. Should the Persians attack the Athenian fleet at
Salamis? Artemisia alone among the Persians
disagreed with the general Mardonius,
counseling that the Persians should not rush to
attack the Greek fleet at Salamis: “The Greeks
are as far superior to your men in naval matters
as men are to women. In any case, what
pressing need have you to risk further action at
sea? Have you not taken Athens, the main
objective of the war? Is not the rest of Greece
in your power?” “If you merely keep your fleet
where it is now, you can stay here or advance
into the Peloponnese, you will easily
accomplish your purpose.”
Artemisia at the Battle of Salamis, by
Wilhelm von Kaulbach, painted 1868

21. GREEK TRIREMES RAM AND SINK PERSIAN FLEET AT SALAMIS
Once the tides of war shifted to the Greeks the Spartan’s noble
stand at Thermopylae, like the Alamo, would inspire them in
their battles with the Persians, and would inspire historians over
the centuries and the millennia, but the effect on the Greeks the
day after the battle was despairing.

22. Some Greeks were
wanting to sail
their triremes to
the Isthmus to
defend the Spartan
lands of the
Peloponnese.
Isthmus of Peloponnese

23. Themistocles grasped that the best chance for the
Greeks to prevail would be to fight in the cramped
straits of Salamis. He addressed the Greek sailors
and troops, “It is now in your power to save
Greece, if you take my advice and engage the
enemy’s fleets here in Salamis.” He details his
plan: “First, we shall be fighting in narrow waters,
and there, with our inferior numbers, we shall
win.” “Fighting in a confined space favors us but
the open sea favors the enemy. Second, Salamis,
where we have put our women and children, will
be preserved; and thirdly, you will be fighting in
defense of the Peloponnese by remaining here
just as much as withdrawing to the Isthmus.”

24. Themistocles wanted to be sure that the Greeks would
face the Persians in the cramped straits of Salamis, so
he sent his slave Sicinnus to furtively visit the Persian
camp to give a message to the commander so they
would that night bottle up the Greek fleet in Salamis so
they could not escape. Herodotus repeats this message
for us, “I am the bearer of a secret communication from
the Athenian commander, who is a well-wisher to your
king and hopes for a Persian victory. He has told me to
report to you that the Greeks are afraid and are
planning to slip away. Only prevent them from slipping
through your fingers, and you have at this moment an
opportunity of unparalleled success.”

25. The Persians were known for hiring their former Greek
enemies as advisors, so Themistocles was assuring his
personal success no matter who won the Battle of Salamis.
Indeed, later in life after the Athenians sent him into exile,
Themistocles ruled a Greek city in Persia as a benign tyrant
for many years.
In the play of Aeschylus, a messenger is giving Queen
Atossa, widow of Darius, mother of Xerxes, an emotional
eyewitness account of the naval Battle of Salamis:

26. Battle order. Achaemenid fleet (in red) entered from the east (right) and
confronted the Greek fleet (in blue) within the confines of the strait.
The Battle of Salamis, 480 BC

27. The Battle of Salamis, by Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868)
AESCHYLUS: Our crews then,
with no lack of order but with an obedient spirit,
prepared their evening meal,
while each sailor looped his oar about its thole-pin so that it fitted well.
But when the light of the sun had faded and night drew on,
each master of an oar and each man versed in arms went on board.

28. The Battle of Salamis, by Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868)
The long Persian galleys cheered each other, line by line;
and they held their course as each captain had been ordered,
and all through the night the commanders of the fleet
kept their whole force cruising to and fro across the strait. Night began to wane,
yet the fleet of the Hellenes in no way attempted to put forth by stealth.

29. We witness the brilliant tactics of Themistocles, for the
Greek naval forces had the benefit of a sound night’s sleep
and a good breakfast, while the Persians spent their night
before the big battle bobbing up and down on the waves
bottling up the Greeks, and not getting a wink of sleep.
Can you imagine pulling an all-nighter, then having to row
and fight all day long with little to eat and drink under the
bright hot sun? With horror the dog-tired Persians greet
both the dawn and the battle cries of the Greeks:

30. The Battle of Salamis, by Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868)

31. The Battle of Salamis, by
Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868)
When radiant Day with her white horses shone over all the land,
a loud cheer like a song of triumph first rang out from the Hellenes,
and, at the same instant, clear from the island crags,
an echo returned an answering cry.
Terror fell on all the barbarians, balked of their purpose;
for then the Hellenes chanted their solemn paean, not as in flight,
but as men rushing to the onset with the courage of gallant hearts.

32. The Battle of Salamis, by Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868)
The trumpet with its blast set all their side afire,
and instantly, at the word of command,
with the even stroke of foaming oars they struck the briny deep.
Swiftly they all came clear into view.

33. The Battle of Salamis, by
Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868)
Their right wing, well marshalled, led on in orderly advance,
next their whole army pressed on against us,
and at the same time a loud shout met our ears:
“On, you men of Hellas! Free your native land.
Free your children, your wives, the temples of your fathers' gods,
and the tombs of your ancestors. Now you are fighting for all you have.”

34. The Battle of Salamis, by
Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868)
Then from our side arose in response the mingled clamor of Persian speech,
and straightaway the ships dashed together their bronze prows.
It was a ship of Hellas that began the charge,
and chopped off in its entirety the curved stern of a Phoenician boat.
Each captain drove his ship straight against some other ship.

35. The Battle of Salamis, by Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868)
At first the stream of the Persian army held its own.
When the mass of our ships had been crowded in the narrows,
and none could render another aid,
and each crashed its bronze prow against each of its own line,
they splintered their whole bank of oars.

36. The Battle of Salamis, by Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868)
Then the Hellenic galleys, not heedless of their chance,
hemmed them in and battered them on every side.
The hulls of our vessels rolled over,
and the sea was hidden from our sight,
strewn as it was with wrecks and slaughtered men.

37. The Battle of Salamis, by
Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868)
The shores and reefs were crowded with our dead,
and every ship that formed a part of the barbarian fleet
plied its oars in disorderly flight.
But, as if our men were tuna or some haul of fish,
the foe kept striking and hacking them
with broken oars and fragments of wrecked ships.
Groans and shrieks together filled the open sea
until the face of black night hid the scene.

38. The Battle of Salamis, by Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868)
But as for the full extent of our disasters, this, even if I had
ten days in succession to do so,
I could not describe to you.
However, you can be sure that so great a multitude of men
never perished in a single day.”

39. Herodotus tells us how Artemisia dealt with the
excessive chaos in the battlefield: “After the
Persian fleet had lost all semblance of order,
Artemisia was chased by an Athenian trireme. As
her ship happened to be closest to the enemy
and there were other friendly ships just ahead of
her, escape was impossible. In this awkward
situation she hit on a plan which turned out
greatly to her advantage: with the Athenian
close on her tail, she drove ahead with all
possible speed and rammed” a friendly ship,
whether she had a quarrel with the captain of
that ship or it was just in the way is hard to say,
“but in any case she rammed and sank her, and
was lucky enough to reap a double benefit.”
Artemisia at the Battle of Salamis, by
Wilhelm von Kaulbach, painted 1868

40. “For the captain of the Athenian trireme, on
seeing her ram an enemy, naturally assumed
her ship was a Greek ship, or at least a
deserter fighting on the Greek side; so he
abandoned the chase and turned to attack
elsewhere.” Xerxes was watching, and a
bystander commented, “Do you see, my lord,
how well Artemisia is fighting? She has sunk
an enemy ship.” To which Xerxes responded,
“My men have turned into women, and my
women into men.” Artemisia was indeed
lucky, “there were no survivors to accuse
her.”
Artemisia at the Battle of Salamis, by
Wilhelm von Kaulbach, painted 1868

41. King Xerxes was concerned that the Greek fleet would
sail to the Hellespont and destroy his bridges, so he
started making plans for his escape. His general
Mardonius said they should blame those confederates
who were manning the ships, the Egyptians, the
Phoenicians, the Cyprians, the Cilicians, because the
Persians were not involved in these losses.

42. Ship dashed
against ship, till
the Persian Army
dead strewed the
deep like flowers,
by Walter Crane
.
Death of the
Persian admiral
Ariabignes,
brother of Xerxes,
at Salamis, by
William Rainey
around 1900

43. Mardonius tells Xerxes, “If you have
made up your mind not to stay
here, then go home together with
the greater part of the army and I
will make it my duty, with 300,000
picked troops, to deliver Greece to
you in chains.” This gave a way for
Xerxes to return home without
losing too much face.
Greeks defeating Persians at
Battle of Salamis. 1901, TimeLife

44. Artemisia advised Xerxes to accept
the plan proposed by Mardonius,
“Who cares if Mardonius comes to
grief? He is only your slave, and
the Greeks will have but a poor
triumph if they kill him. As for
yourself, you will be going home
with the object of your campaign
established, for you have burnt
Athens.”
Artemisia at the Battle of Salamis, by
Wilhelm von Kaulbach, painted 1868

45. King Darius Meeting Scythian emissaries, Franciszek Smuglewicz, after 1785
In Aeschylus’ play, The Persians, the ghost of Darius
says this to the good Persian Queen Atossa:
“Wherefore instruct your lord, your son Xerxes,
With well-reasoned admonitions teach him,
To have a humbler heart and cast away,
The sin of pride, for it offends God.”

46. The Battle of Salamis, by
Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868) Aeschylus imagines what Xerxes may have
said when he arrived home at Persia:
“My fate is upon me,
My star has declined,
A grief has undone me,
A doom none divined.

47. The Battle of Salamis, by Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868)
Age, thine eyes chide me,
They bow down my head,
My strength is denied me,
My limbs are as lead.
Would Zeus I lay fallen in battle,
Covered up out of sight with the dead!

48. We do know that this was not the end of
the reign of Xerxes, as he ruled another
decade and a half.

49. SOURCES: The Histories of Herodotus is a joy to read, and the books that cover the
Greco-Persian War reads more like a history, and has many entertaining stories, we
left some for you to discover.
We enjoyed reading the play by Aeschylus, but we noticed that the 1922 online
translation varied radically from the translation in Britannica Great Books volume.
There are other more recent translations listed by Dr Wikipedia, but they have
copyright issues, so I used the 1922 translation for the long battle scenes, but for
the other verses I preferred the Britannica translation, which tried to be more
poetic, which sometimes worked, sometimes not.
We discussed the two Great Courses lectures on Herodotus in our first video on
Herodotus.

50. Aeschylus and Herodotus: Battle of Salamis
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Blog: www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com
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Great Books of The
Western World:
VOLUME 5 - Aeschylus/
Sophocles/ Euripides/
Aristophanes, by
Encylopaedia
Britannica, used copies
inexpensive.
© Copyright 2021 https://youtu.be/cabAkQwHnlk

51. YouTube Channel (please subscribe):
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Aeschylus and Herodotus: Battle of Salamis
https://youtu.be/cabAkQwHnlk

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