Delphiis famous as the ancient sanctuary that grew rich as the seat of Pythia, the High Priestess of the Temple of Apollo, the oracle consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. Moreover, the Greeks considered Delphi the navel (or centre) of the world, as represented by the stone monument known as the Omphalos of Delphi.
In the summer of 480 BC, when Xerxes, the son of Darius the Great of Persia, returned to finish the job of conquering the Greeks in which his father had failed, the Athenians consulted the oracle. They were told:
Now your statues are standing and pouring sweat. They shiver with dread. The black blood drips from the highest rooftops. They have seen the necessity of evil. Get out, get out of my sanctum and drown your spirits in woe.
It was unambiguous. When persuaded to seek advice a second time, the oracle gave a way for the Athenians to escape their doom. When Athena approached her father to help her city, Zeus responded that he would grant that "a wall of wood alone shall be uncaptured, a boon to you and your children."
The oracle again advised the Athenians to flee:
Await not in quiet the coming of the horses, the marching feet, the armed host upon the land. Slip away. Turn your back. You will meet in battle anyway. O holy Salamis, you will be the death of many a woman's son between the seedtime and the harvest of the grain.
Pray to the Winds. They will prove to be mighty allies of Greece.
Meanwhile, the Spartans also consulted the oracle and were told:
The strength of bulls or lions cannot stop the foe. No, he will not leave off, I say, until he tears the city or the king limb from limb.
or in a version according to Herodotus:
Hear your fate, O dwellers in Sparta of the wide spaces;
Either your famed, great town must be sacked by Perseus' sons, Or, if that be not, the whole land of Lacedaemon Shall mourn the death of a king of the house of Heracles, For not the strength of lions or of bulls shall hold him, Strength against strength; for he has the power of Zeus, And will not be checked until one of these two he has consumed.
The Spartans withdrew in consternation, wondering which fate was worse. Events overtook the prophecy when the Persianarmy assaultedThermopylae on September 8 (previous forum's page), where a Spartan-led coalition [popularly called the "300" after the number of Spartans sent (who were, excepting one man with an eye infection, killed to a man)] and allies held the pass against them. The Spartans under KingLeonidas(The Lion) resisted the Persian advance at Thermopylae until betrayed by treachery. Refusing to retreat, the entire Spartan contingent, including their King (as foretold), lost their lives, but in so doing gained immortal fame. The Persian armada then sailed to nearby CapeArtemisium, where they were met by the Athenian fleet. The Athenian ships fought against great odds, but in three battles managed to hold their own.
A tremendous storm then arose at Artemesium, with the most violent winds attacking the ships for three days. The Persians lost about 20% of their warships and perhaps the same number of transport vessels to the storm. The stormy winds and huge waves did not harm the Athenian ships.
Back in Athens Themistocles argued that the wall of wood referred to the Athenian navy and persuaded the Athenians to pursue their policy of using wealth from their Attic silver mines at Laurium to continue building their fleet. On the grounds that the oracle referred to the nearby island of Salamis as "holy", he claimed that those slain would be Greece's enemies, not the Athenians. For these the oracle would have said "O cruel Salamis". His voice carried the day, Athens was evacuated to Salamis and in a following naval battle on 22 September 480 the Athenian fleet and its allies destroyed the Persian fleet at Salamis, while watched by Xerxes from mount Egaleo.
A king sate on the rocky brow Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis And ships, by thousands, lay below, And men in nations;—all were his! He counted them at break of day— And when the sun set where were they? by Lord Byron
Despite the fact that Athens was burned by the Persians, her occupants were saved, the Persian threat was ended and the authority of the Oracle was never higher.
The Spartan admiral, Evriviades wanted to defend at Corinthos straits. Themistocles, on the other hand, insisted that the Greek fleet should stay in Salamina to fight. At the council convened before the naval battle Evryviadis said that those who start before the signal should be whiped , while Themistocles replied that those who start long after the signal never get a prize. Evriviades tried to hit Themistocles, who avoided the hit and said the famous phrase "you can hit me but only if you listen to me first" and the Spartan admiral calmed down and agreed with Themistocles plan
The naval battle of Salamis was fought in the straits between the mainland and Salamis, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens.
Herodotus reports that there were 378 triremes in the Greek flee, according to the Athenian playwright Aeschylus, who actually fought at Salamis, the panhellenic fleet numbered 310 triremes (the difference being the number of Athenian ships).Ctesias claims that the Athenian fleet numbered only 110 triremes, which ties in with Aeschylus's numbers. According to Hyperides, the Greek fleet numbered only 220. The fleet was effectively under the command of Themistocles, but nominally led by the Spartan nobleman Eurybiades, as had been agreed at the congress in 481 BCand the Persian fleet initially numbered 1,207 triremes. Aeschylus, who fought at Salamis, also claims that he faced 1,207 warships there, of which 207 were "fast ships"
Aeschylus claims that as the Persians approached (possibly implying that they were not already in the Straits at dawn), they heard the Greeks singing their battle hymn (paean) before they saw the panhellenic fleet:
(this is very inspirational, thus cannot be translated)
Like the Battles of Marathon and Thermopylae, Salamis has gained something of a 'legendary' status (unlike, for instance, the more decisive Battle of Plataea), perhaps because of the desperate circumstances and the unlikely odds.A significant number of historians have stated that Salamis is one of the most significant battles in human history (though the same is often stated of Marathon). In a more extreme form of this argument, some historians argue that if the Greeks had lost at Salamis, the ensuing conquest of Greece by the Persians would have effectively stifled the growth of Western Civilization as we know it. This view is based on the premise that much of modern Western society, such as philosophy, science, personal freedom and democracy are rooted in the legacy of Ancient Greece.Thus, this school of thought argues that, given the domination of much of modern history by Western Civilization, Persian domination of Greece might have changed the whole trajectory of human history. It is also worth mentioning that the celebrated blossoming of hugely influential Athenian culture occurred only after the Persian wars were won
P.S. 6 months ago, archaeologists announced that they have uncovered the partially submerged remains of the anchorage used by the Greek warships prior to the Battle of Salamis. The site of the ancient mooring site is on the island of Salamis, at the coastal Ambelaki-Kynosaurus site
Delphi is famous as the ancient sanctuary that grew rich as the seat of Pythia, the High Priestess of the Temple of Apollo, the oracle consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. Moreover, the Greeks considered Delphi the navel (or centre) of the world, as represented by the stone monument known as the Omphalos of Delphi.
In the summer of 480 BC, when Xerxes, the son of Darius the Great of Persia, returned to finish the job of conquering the Greeks in which his father had failed, the Athenians consulted the oracle. They were told:
It was unambiguous. When persuaded to seek advice a second time, the oracle gave a way for the Athenians to escape their doom. When Athena approached her father to help her city, Zeus responded that he would grant that "a wall of wood alone shall be uncaptured, a boon to you and your children."
The oracle again advised the Athenians to flee:
Meanwhile, the Spartans also consulted the oracle and were told:
or in a version according to Herodotus:
The Spartans withdrew in consternation, wondering which fate was worse. Events overtook the prophecy when the Persian army assaulted Thermopylae on September 8 (previous forum's page), where a Spartan-led coalition [popularly called the "300" after the number of Spartans sent (who were, excepting one man with an eye infection, killed to a man)] and allies held the pass against them. The Spartans under King Leonidas (The Lion) resisted the Persian advance at Thermopylae until betrayed by treachery. Refusing to retreat, the entire Spartan contingent, including their King (as foretold), lost their lives, but in so doing gained immortal fame. The Persian armada then sailed to nearby Cape Artemisium, where they were met by the Athenian fleet. The Athenian ships fought against great odds, but in three battles managed to hold their own.
A tremendous storm then arose at Artemesium, with the most violent winds attacking the ships for three days. The Persians lost about 20% of their warships and perhaps the same number of transport vessels to the storm. The stormy winds and huge waves did not harm the Athenian ships.
Back in Athens Themistocles argued that the wall of wood referred to the Athenian navy and persuaded the Athenians to pursue their policy of using wealth from their Attic silver mines at Laurium to continue building their fleet. On the grounds that the oracle referred to the nearby island of Salamis as "holy", he claimed that those slain would be Greece's enemies, not the Athenians. For these the oracle would have said "O cruel Salamis". His voice carried the day, Athens was evacuated to Salamis and in a following naval battle on 22 September 480 the Athenian fleet and its allies destroyed the Persian fleet at Salamis, while watched by Xerxes from mount Egaleo.
A king sate on the rocky brow
Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis
And ships, by thousands, lay below,
And men in nations;—all were his!
He counted them at break of day—
And when the sun set where were they? by Lord Byron
Despite the fact that Athens was burned by the Persians, her occupants were saved, the Persian threat was ended and the authority of the Oracle was never higher.
The Spartan admiral, Evriviades wanted to defend at Corinthos straits. Themistocles, on the other hand, insisted that the Greek fleet should stay in Salamina to fight. At the council convened before the naval battle Evryviadis said that those who start before the signal should be whiped , while Themistocles replied that those who start long after the signal never get a prize. Evriviades tried to hit Themistocles, who avoided the hit and said the famous phrase "you can hit me but only if you listen to me first" and the Spartan admiral calmed down and agreed with Themistocles plan
The naval battle of Salamis was fought in the straits between the mainland and Salamis, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens.
Herodotus reports that there were 378 triremes in the Greek flee, according to the Athenian playwright Aeschylus, who actually fought at Salamis, the panhellenic fleet numbered 310 triremes (the difference being the number of Athenian ships). Ctesias claims that the Athenian fleet numbered only 110 triremes, which ties in with Aeschylus's numbers. According to Hyperides, the Greek fleet numbered only 220. The fleet was effectively under the command of Themistocles, but nominally led by the Spartan nobleman Eurybiades, as had been agreed at the congress in 481 BC and the Persian fleet initially numbered 1,207 triremes. Aeschylus, who fought at Salamis, also claims that he faced 1,207 warships there, of which 207 were "fast ships"
http://www.poetry-archive.com/a/the_battle_of_salamis.html
Aeschylus claims that as the Persians approached (possibly implying that they were not already in the Straits at dawn), they heard the Greeks singing their battle hymn (paean) before they saw the panhellenic fleet: