previous next

That this Athenian story was a late and malicious invention is hinted by H. himself in the words (§ 4) μαρτυρέει δέ σφι καὶ ἄλλη Ἑλλάς. Indeed, the phrase φάτις ἔχει is itself a note of uncertainty; cf. vii. 3. 2; ix. 84. 2. There is no trace of any such charge elsewhere, and immediately after the battle the Athenians allowed the following epitaph to be placed on the tomb of the Corinthians buried at Salamis (Hicks, 18; cf. Plut. Mor. 870 E) [ ξεῖνε, εὔυδρ]όν ποκ᾽ ἐναίομες ἄστυ Κορίνθου [Νῦν δ᾽ ἁμὲ Αἴα]ντος [νᾶσος ἔχει Σαλαμίς]. The other couplet given by Plutarch (of which there is no trace on the stone) is a later addition, as shown by the scansion Πέρσα^ς ἐνθάδε Φοινίσσας νῆας καὶ Πέρσας ἑλόντες καὶ Μήδους ἱερὰν Ἑλλάδα ῥυσαμέθα, but there is no reason to suspect the epitaphs taken by Plutarch (l. c.), cf. Dio Chrys. xxxvii, p. 459, from the cenotaph erected to the Corinthians at the Isthmus and from the grave of Adimantus Ἀκμᾶς ἑστακυῖαν ἐπὶ ξυροῦ Ἑλλάδα πᾶσαν ταῖς αὑτῶν ψυχαῖς κείμεθα ῥυσάμενοι and Οὗτος Ἀδειμάντου κείνου τάφος, οὗ διὰ βουλὰς Ἑλλὰς ἐλευθερίας ἀμφέθετο στέφανον. The fact is that Adimantus, here as elsewhere (cf. viii. 5. 59), suffers for the sins of his son Aristeus, one of the most active enemies of Athens at the outbreak of the Peloponnesian war (cf. vii. 137. 3; Thuc. i. 60, 65, ii. 67). We should not, with Plutarch (l. c.), ascribe such tales to the malignity of H. but to the bitter feelings of his Athenian informants (cf. Introduction, p. 39). For the real mission of the Corinthians cf. App. XXI. 8.

τὰ ἱστία ἀειράμενον: hoisting sail was a proof of flight (cf. vi. 14. 2; viii. 56), since in battle the trireme took down mast and sail and used only oars.


Stein would place this temple of Athene Scirias on the south point of the island, apparently called Cape Sciradium (Plut. Solon 9), and would thus interpret Plutarch's (de Mal. 39; Mor. 870 B) τὰ λήγοντα τῆς Σαλαμινίας, ‘the end of the land of Salamis,’ but this phrase may better be applied to the territory of the town Salamis, and the temple placed two miles north of the town on Cape Arapis, near the modern arsenal and the isle of Leros (cf. Appendix XXI. 8).

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide References (1 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (1):
    • Thucydides, Histories, 1.60
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: