Sicinnus
or SICINUS (
Σίκιννος,
Σίκινος), a Persian, according to Plutarch, was a slave of Themistocles and
παιδαγωγὸς to his children. In B. C. 480, he was employed by his master to convey to Xerxes the intelligence of the intended flight of the Greeks from Salamis. Soon after, the Greeks, victorious at Salamis, pursued the Persian fleet as far as Andros, but then came to the resolution to continue the chase no further, lest they should inspire the enemy with the courage of despair. Hereupon Themistocles, according to Herodotus, again sent Sicinnus, with others on whom he could depend, to Xerxes, to claim merit with him for having dissuaded the Greeks from intercepting his flight.
As a reward for his services, Themistocles afterwards enriched Sicinnus, and obtained for him the citizenship of Thespiae. Some have identified the subject of the present article with the Sicinnus who is mentioned by Athenaeus as the reputed inventor of the dance named
Σίκιννις. Athenaeus tells us that, according to some, he was a barbarian, according to others, a Cretan (
Hdt. 8.75,
110; Plut.
Them. 12, 16 ; Ath. 1.20, e, 14.630, b; Casaub.
ad Ath. l.c.)
[
E.E]
