1.1. In the case of Themistocles, his family was too obscure to further his reputation. His father was Neocles,—no very conspicuous man at Athens,—a Phrearrhian by deme, of the tribe Leontis; and on his mother’s side he was an alien, as her epitaph testifies:—Abrotonon was I, and a woman of Thrace, yet I brought forthThat great light of the Greeks,—know!’twas Themistocles.
1.1. Θεμιστοκλεῖ δὲ τὰ μὲν ἐκ γένους ἀμαυρότερα πρὸς δόξαν ὑπῆρχε· πατρὸς γὰρ ἦν Νεοκλέους οὐ τῶν ἄγαν ἐπιφανῶν Ἀθήνησι, Φρεαρρίου τῶν δήμων ἐκ τῆς Λεοντίδος φυλῆς, νόθος δὲ πρὸς μητρός, ὡς λέγουσιν·Ἀβρότονον Θρήϊσσα γυνὴ γένος· ἀλλὰ τεκέσθαιτὸν μέγαν Ἕλλησίν φημι Θεμιστοκλέα.
1.2. Phanias, however, writes that the mother of Themistocles was not a Thracian, but a Carian woman, and that her name was not Abrotonon, but Euterpe. And Neanthes actually adds the name of her city in Caria,—Halicarnassus. It was for the reason given, and because the aliens were wont to frequent Cynosarges,—this is a place outside the gates, a gymnasium of Heracles; for he too was not a legitimate god, but had something alien about him, from the fact that his mother was a mortal,—that Themistocles sought to induce certain well-born youths to go out to Cynosarges and exercise with him; and by his success in this bit of cunning he is thought to have removed the distinction between aliens and legitimates.
1.2. Φανίας μέντοι τὴν μητέρα τοῦ Θεμιστοκλέους οὐ Θρᾷτταν, ἀλλὰ Καρίνην, οὐδʼ Ἀβρότονον ὄνομα, ἀλλʼ Εὐτέρπην ἀναγράφει. Νεάνθης δὲ καὶ πόλιν αὐτῇ τῆς Καρίας Ἀλικαρνασσὸν προστίθησι. διὸ καὶ τῶν νόθων εἰς Κυνόσαργες συντελούντων (τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶν ἔξω πυλῶν γυμνάσιον Ἡρακλέους, ἐπεὶ κἀκεῖνος οὐκ ἦν γνήσιος ἐν θεοῖς, ἀλλʼ ἐνείχετο νοθείᾳ διὰ τὴν μητέρα θνητὴν οὖσαν) ἔπειθέ τινας ὁ Θεμιστοκλῆς τῶν εὖ γεγονότων νεανίσκων καταβαίνοντας εἰς τὸ Κυνόσαργες ἀλείφεσθαι μετʼ αὐτοῦ. καὶ τούτου γενομένου δοκεῖ πανούργως τὸν τῶν νόθων καὶ γνησίων διορισμὸν ἀνελεῖν.
1.3. However, it is clear that he was connected with the family of the Lycomidae, for he caused the chapel shrine at Phlya, which belonged to the Lycomidae, and had been burned by the Barbarians, to be restored at his own costs and adorned with frescoes, as Simonides has stated.
1.3. ὅτι μέντοι τοῦ Λυκομιδῶν γένους μετεῖχε δῆλός ἐστι· τὸ γὰρ Φλυῆσι τελεστήριον, ὅπερ ἦν Λυκομιδῶν κοινόν, ἐμπρησθὲν ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων αὐτὸς ἐπεσκεύασε καὶ γραφαῖς ἐκόσμησεν, ὡς Σιμωνίδης ἱστόρηκεν.
2.1. However lowly his birth, it is agreed on all hands that while yet a boy he was impetuous, by nature sagacious, and by election enterprising and prone to public life. In times of relaxation and leisure, when absolved from his lessons, he would not play nor indulge his ease, as the rest of the boys did, but would be found composing and rehearsing to himself mock speeches. These speeches would be in accusation or defence of some boy or other.
2.1. ἔτι δὲ παῖς ὢν ὁμολογεῖται φορᾶς μεστὸς εἶναι, καὶ τῇ μὲν φύσει συνετός, τῇ δὲ προαιρέσει μεγαλοπράγμων καὶ πολιτικός. ἐν γὰρ ταῖς ἀνέσεσι καὶ σχολαῖς ἀπὸ τῶν μαθημάτων γινόμενος οὐκ ἔπαιζεν οὐδʼ ἐρρᾳθύμει, καθάπερ οἱ λοιποὶ παῖδες, ἀλλʼ εὑρίσκετο λόγους τινὰς μελετῶν καὶ συνταττόμενος πρὸς ἑαυτόν. ἦσαν δʼ οἱ λόγοι κατηγορία τινὸς ἢ συνηγορία τῶν παίδων.
2.2. Wherefore his teacher was wont to say to him: “My boy, thou wilt be nothing insignificant, but something great, of a surety, either for good or evil.” Moreover, when he was set to study, those branches which aimed at the formation of character, or ministered to any gratification or grace of a liberal sort, he would learn reluctantly and sluggishly; and to all that was said for the cultivation of sagacity or practical efficiency, he clearly showed an indifference far beyond his years, as though he put his confidence in his natural gifts alone.
2.2. ὅθεν εἰώθει λέγειν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ διδάσκαλος ὡς οὐδὲν ἔσῃ, παῖ, σὺ μικρόν, ἀλλὰ μέγα πάντως ἀγαθὸν ἢ κακόν. ἐπεὶ καὶ τῶν παιδεύσεων τὰς μὲν ἠθοποιοὺς ἢ πρὸς ἡδονήν τινα καὶ χάριν ἐλευθέριον σπουδαζομένας ὀκνηρῶς καὶ ἀπροθύμως ἐξεμάνθανε, τῶν δὲ εἰς σύνεσιν ἢ πρᾶξιν λεγομένων δῆλος ἦν ὑπερορῶν παρʼ ἡλικίαν, ὡς τῇ φύσει πιστεύων.
2.3. Thus it came about that, in after life, at entertainments of a so-called liberal and polite nature, when he was taunted by men of reputed culture, he was forced to defend himself rather rudely, saying that tuning the lyre and handling the harp were no accomplishments of his, but rather taking in hand a city that was small and inglorious and making it glorious and great. And yet Stesimbrotus says that Themistocles was a pupil of Anaxagoras, and a disciple of Melissus the physicist; but he is careless in his chronology. It was Pericles, a much younger man than Themistocles, whom Melissus opposed at the siege of Samos, and with whom Anaxagoras was intimate.
2.3. ὅθεν ὕστερον ἐν ταῖς ἐλευθερίοις καὶ ἀστείαις λεγομέναις διατριβαῖς ὑπὸ τῶν πεπαιδεῦσθαι δοκούντων χλευαζόμενος ἠναγκάζετο φορτικώτερον ἀμύνεσθαι, λέγων, ὅτι λύραν μὲν ἁρμόσασθαι καὶ μεταχειρίσασθαι ψαλτήριον οὐκ ἐπίσταται, πόλιν δὲ μικρὰν καὶ ἄδοξον παραλαβὼν ἔνδοξον καὶ μεγάλην ἀπεργάσασθαι. καίτοι Στησίμβροτος Ἀναξαγόρου τε διακοῦσαι τὸν Θεμιστοκλέα φησὶ καὶ περὶ Μέλισσον σπουδάσαι τὸν φυσικόν, οὐκ εὖ τῶν χρόνων ἁπτόμενος· Περικλεῖ γάρ, ὃς πολὺ νεώτερος ἦν Θεμιστοκλέους, Μέλισσος μὲν ἀντεστρατήγει πολιορκοῦντι Σαμίους, Ἀναξαγόρας δὲ συνδιέτριβε.
2.4. Rather, then, might one side with those who say that Themistocles was a disciple of Mnesiphilus the Phrearrhian, a man who was neither a rhetorician nor one of the so-called physical philosophers, but a cultivator of what was then called “sophia” or wisdom, although it was really nothing more than cleverness in politics and practical sagacity. Mnesiphilus received this “sophia,” and handed it down, as though it were the doctrine of a sect, in unbroken tradition from Solon. His successors blended it with forensic arts, and shifted its application from public affairs to language, and were dubbed “sophists.” It was this man, then, to whom Themistocles resorted at the very beginning of his public life.
2.4. μᾶλλον οὖν ἄν τις προσέχοι τοῖς Μνησιφίλου τὸν Θεμιστοκλέα τοῦ Φρεαρρίου ζηλωτὴν γενέσθαι λέγουσιν, οὔτε ῥήτορος ὄντος οὔτε τῶν φυσικῶν κληθέντων φιλοσόφων, ἀλλὰ τὴν τότε καλουμένην σοφίαν, οὖσαν δὲ δεινότητα πολιτικὴν καὶ δραστήριον σύνεσιν, ἐπιτήδευμα πεποιημένου καὶ διασώζοντος ὥσπερ αἵρεσιν ἐκ διαδοχῆς ἀπὸ Σόλωνος· ἣν οἱ μετὰ ταῦτα δικανικαῖς μίξαντες τέχναις καὶ μεταγαγόντες ἀπὸ τῶν πράξεων τὴν ἄσκησιν ἐπὶ τοὺς λόγους, σοφισταὶ προσηγορεύθησαν. τούτῳ μὲν οὖν ἤδη πολιτευόμενος ἐπλησίαζεν.
2.5. But in the first essays of his youth he was uneven and unstable, since he gave his natural impulses free course, which, without due address and training, rush to violent extremes in the objects of their pursuit, and often degenerate; as he himself in later life confessed, when he said that even the wildest colts made very good horses, if only they got the proper breaking and training.
2.5. ἐν δὲ ταῖς πρώταις τῆς νεότητος ὁρμαῖς ἀνώμαλος ἦν καὶ ἀστάθμητος, ἅτε τῇ φύσει καθʼ αὑτὴν χρώμενος ἄνευ λόγου καὶ παιδείας ἐπʼ ἀμφότερα μεγάλας ποιουμένῃ μεταβολὰς τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων καὶ πολλάκις ἐξισταμένῃ πρὸς τὸ χεῖρον, ὡς ὕστερον αὐτὸς ὡμολόγει, καὶ τοὺς τραχυτάτους πώλους ἀρίστους ἵππους γίνεσθαι φάσκων, ὅταν ἧς προσήκει τύχωσι παιδείας καὶ καταρτύσεως.
2.6. What some story-makers add to this, however, to the effect that his father disinherited him, and his mother took her own life for very grief at her son’s ill-fame, this I think is false. And, in just the opposite vein, there are some who say that his father fondly tried to divert him from public life, pointing out to him old triremes on the sea-shore, all wrecked and neglected, and intimating that the people treated their leaders in like fashion when these were past service.
2.6. ἃ δὲ τούτων ἐξαρτῶσιν ἔνιοι διηγήματα πλάττοντες, ἀποκήρυξιν μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, θάνατον δὲ τῆς μητρὸς ἑκούσιον ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ παιδὸς ἀτιμίᾳ περιλύπου γενομένης, δοκεῖ κατεψεῦσθαι· καὶ τοὐναντίον εἰσὶν οἱ λέγοντες, ὅτι τοῦ τὰ κοινὰ πράττειν ἀποτρέπων αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ ἐπεδείκνυε πρὸς τῇ θαλάττῃ τὰς παλαιὰς τριήρεις ἐρριμμένας καὶ παρορωμένας, ὡς δὴ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς δημαγωγούς, ὅταν ἄχρηστοι φαίνωνται, τῶν πολλῶν ὁμοίως ἐχόντων.
3.1. Speedily, however, as it seems, and while he was still in all the ardor of youth, public affairs laid their grasp upon Themistocles, and his impulse to win reputation got strong mastery over him. Wherefore, from the very beginning, in his desire to be first, he boldly encountered the enmity of men who had power and were already first in the city, especially that of Aristides the son of Lysimachus, who was always his opponent. And yet it is thought that his enmity with this man had an altogether puerile beginning. They were both lovers of the beautiful Stesilaus, a native of Ceos, as Ariston the philosopher has recorded, and thenceforward they continued to be rivals in public life also.
3.1. ταχὺ μέντοι καὶ νεανικῶς ἔοικεν ἅψασθαι τοῦ Θεμιστοκλέους τὰ πολιτικὰ πράγματα καὶ σφόδρα ἡ πρὸς δόξαν ὁρμὴ κρατῆσαι. διʼ ἣν εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοῦ πρωτεύειν ἐφιέμενος ἰταμῶς ὑφίστατο τὰς πρὸς τοὺς δυναμένους ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ πρωτεύοντας ἀπεχθείας, μάλιστα δὲ Ἀριστείδην τὸν Λυσιμάχου, τὴν ἐναντίαν ἀεὶ πορευόμενον αὐτῷ. καίτοι δοκεῖ παντάπασιν ἡ πρὸς τοῦτον ἔχθρα μειρακιώδη λαβεῖν ἀρχήν· ἠράσθησαν γὰρ ἀμφότεροι τοῦ καλοῦ Στησίλεω, Κείου τὸ γένος ὄντος, ὡς Ἀρίστων ὁ φιλόσοφος ἱστόρηκεν.
3.2. However, the dissimilarity in their lives and characters is likely to have increased their variance. Aristides was gentle by nature, and a conservative in character. He engaged in public life, not to win favour or reputation, but to secure the best results consistent with safety and righteousness, and so he was compelled, since Themistocles stirred the people up to many novel enterprises and introduced great innovations, to oppose him often, and to take a firm stand against his increasing influence.
3.2. ἐκ δὲ τούτου διετέλουν καὶ περὶ τὰ δημόσια στασιάζοντες. οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ἡ τῶν βίων καὶ τῶν τρόπων ἀνομοιότης ἔοικεν αὐξῆσαι τὴν διαφοράν. πρᾷος γὰρ ὢν φύσει καὶ καλοκαγαθικὸς τὸν τρόπον ὁ Ἀριστείδης, καὶ πολιτευόμενος οὐ πρὸς χάριν οὐδὲ πρὸς δόξαν, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ βελτίστου μετὰ ἀσφαλείας καὶ δικαιοσύνης, ἠναγκάζετο τῷ Θεμιστοκλεῖ τὸν δῆμον ἐπὶ πολλὰ κινοῦντι καὶ μεγάλας ἐπιφέροντι καινοτομίας ἐναντιοῦσθαι πολλάκις, ἐνιστάμενος αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὴν αὔξησιν.
3.3. It is said, indeed, that Themistocles was so carried away by his desire for reputation, and such an ambitious lover of great deeds, that though he was still a young man when the battle with the Barbarians at Marathon was fought and the generalship of Miltiades was in everybody’s mouth, he was seen thereafter to be wrapped in his own thoughts for the most part, and was sleepless o’ nights, and refused invitations to his customary drinking parties, and said to those who put wondering questions to him concerning his change of life that the trophy of Miltiades would not suffer him to sleep.
3.3. λέγεται γὰρ οὕτω παράφορος πρὸς δόξαν εἶναι καὶ πράξεων μεγάλων ὑπὸ φιλοτιμίας ἐραστής, ὥστε νέος ὢν ἔτι τῆς ἐν Μαραθῶνι μάχης πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους γενομένης καὶ τῆς Μιλτιάδου στρατηγίας διαβοηθείσης σύννους ὁρᾶσθαι τὰ πολλὰ πρὸς ἑαυτῷ καὶ τὰς νύκτας ἀγρυπνεῖν καὶ τοὺς πότους παραιτεῖσθαι τοὺς συνήθεις, καὶ λέγειν πρὸς τοὺς ἐρωτῶντας καὶ θαυμάζοντας τὴν περὶ τὸν βίον μεταβολήν, ὡς καθεύδειν αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐῴη τὸ τοῦ Μιλτιάδου τρόπαιον.
3.4. Now the rest of his countrymen thought that the defeat of the Barbarians at Marathon was the end of the war; but Themistocles thought it to be only the beginning of greater contests, and for these he anointed himself, as it were, to be the champion of all Hellas, and put his city into training, because, while it was yet afar off, he expected the evil that was to come.
3.4. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι πέρας ᾤοντο τοῦ πολέμου τὴν ἐν Μαραθῶνι τῶν βαρβάρων ἧτταν εἶναι, Θεμιστοκλῆς δὲ ἀρχὴν μειζόνων ἀγώνων, ἐφʼ οὓς ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς ὅλης Ἑλλάδος ἤλειφε καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἤσκει πόρρωθεν ἔτι προσδοκῶν τὸ μέλλον.
4.1. And so, in the first place, whereas the Athenians were wont to divide up among themselves the revenue coming from the silver mines at Laureium, he, and he alone, dared to come before the people with a motion that this division be given up, and that with these moneys triremes be constructed for the war against Aegina. This was the fiercest war then troubling Hellas, and the islanders controlled the sea, owing to the number of their ships.
4.1. καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τὴν Λαυρεωτικὴν πρόσοδον ἀπὸ τῶν ἀργυρείων μετάλλων ἔθος ἐχόντων Ἀθηναίων διανέμεσθαι, μόνος εἰπεῖν ἐτόλμησε παρελθὼν εἰς τὸν δῆμον, ὡς χρὴ τὴν διανομὴν ἐάσαντας ἐκ τῶν χρημάτων τούτων κατασκευάσασθαι τριήρεις ἐπὶ τὸν πρὸς Αἰγινήτας πόλεμον. ἤκμαζε γὰρ οὗτος ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι μάλιστα καὶ κατεῖχον οἱ νησιῶται πλήθει νεῶν τὴν θάλασσαν.
4.2. Wherefore all the more easily did Themistocles carry his point, not by trying to terrify the citizens with dreadful pictures of Darius or the Persians—these were too far away and inspired no very serious fear of their coming, but by making opportune use of the bitter jealousy which they cherished toward Aegina in order to secure the armament he desired. The result was that with those moneys they built a hundred triremes, with which they actually fought at Salamis against Xerxes.
4.2. ᾗ καὶ ῥᾷον Θεμιστοκλῆς συνέπεισεν, οὐ Δαρεῖον οὐδὲ Πέρσας ⟨μακρὰν γὰρ ἦσαν οὗτοι καὶ δέος οὐ πάνυ βέβαιον ὡς ἀφιξόμενοι παρεῖχον⟩ ἐπισείων, ἀλλὰ τῇ πρὸς Αἰγινήτας ὀργῇ καὶ φιλονεικίᾳ τῶν πολιτῶν ἀποχρησάμενος εὐκαίρως ἐπὶ τὴν παρασκευήν. ἑκατὸν γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν χρημάτων ἐκείνων ἐποιήθησαν τριήρεις, αἷς καὶ πρὸς Ξέρξην ἐναυμάχησαν.
4.3. And after this, by luring the city on gradually and turning its progress toward the sea, urging that with their infantry they were no match even for their nearest neighbors, but that with the power they would get from their ships they could not only repel the Barbarians but also take the lead in Hellas, he made them, instead of “steadfast hoplites”—to quote Plato’s words, sea-tossed mariners, and brought down upon himself this accusation: “Themistocles robbed his fellow-citizens of spear and shield, and degraded the people of Athens to the rowing-pad and the oar.” And this he accomplished in triumph over the public opposition of Miltiades, as Stesimbrotus relates.
4.3. ἐκ δὲ τούτου κατὰ μικρὸν ὑπάγων καὶ καταβιβάζων τὴν πόλιν πρὸς τὴν θάλασσαν, ὡς τὰ πεζὰ μὲν οὐδὲ τοῖς ὁμόροις ἀξιομάχους ὄντας, τῇ δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν νεῶν ἀλκῇ καὶ τοὺς βαρβάρους ἀμύνασθαι καὶ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἄρχειν δυναμένους, ἀντὶ μονίμων ὁπλιτῶν, ὥς φησιν ὁ Πλάτων, ναυβάτας καὶ θαλαττίους ἐποίησε, καὶ διαβολὴν καθʼ αὑτοῦ παρέσχεν, ὡς ἄρα Θεμιστοκλῆς τὸ δόρυ καὶ τὴν ἀσπίδα τῶν πολιτῶν παρελόμενος εἰς ὑπηρέσιον καὶ κώπην συνέστειλε τὸν Ἀθηναίων δῆμον. ἔπραξε δὲ ταῦτα Μιλτιάδου κρατήσας ἀντιλέγοντος, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Στησίμβροτος.
4.4. Now, whether by accomplishing this he did injury to the integrity and purity of public life or not, let the philosopher rather investigate. But that the salvation which the Hellenes achieved at that time came from the sea, and that it was those very triremes which restored again the fallen city of Athens, Xerxes himself bore witness, not to speak of other proofs. For though his infantry remained intact, he took to flight after the defeat of his ships, because he thought he was not a match for the Hellenes, and he left Mardonius behind, as it seems to me, rather to obstruct their pursuit than to subdue them.
4.4. εἰ μὲν δὴ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν καὶ τὸ καθαρὸν τοῦ πολιτεύματος ἔβλαψεν ἢ μὴ ταῦτα πράξας, ἔστω φιλοσοφώτερον ἐπισκοπεῖν· ὅτι δὲ ἡ τότε σωτηρία τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐκ τῆς θαλάσσης ὑπῆρξε καὶ τὴν Ἀθηναίων πόλιν αὖθις ἀνέστησαν αἱ τριήρεις ἐκεῖναι, τά τʼ ἄλλα καὶ Ξέρξης αὐτὸς ἐμαρτύρησε. τῆς γὰρ πεζικῆς δυνάμεως ἀθραύστου διαμενούσης ἔφυγε μετὰ τὴν τῶν νεῶν ἧτταν, ὡς οὐκ ὢν ἀξιόμαχος, καὶ Μαρδόνιον ἐμποδὼν εἶναι τοῖς Ἕλλησι τῆς διώξεως μᾶλλον ἢ δουλωσόμενον αὐτούς, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, κατέλιπεν.
5.1. Some say that Themistocles was an eager money-maker because of his liberality; for since he was fond of entertaining, and lavished money splendidly on his guests, he required a generous budget. Others, on the contrary, denounce his great stinginess and parsimony, claiming that he used to sell the very food sent in to him as a gift.
5.1. σύντονον δὲ αὐτὸν γεγονέναι χρηματιστὴν οἱ μέν τινές φασι διʼ ἐλευθεριότητα· καὶ γὰρ φιλοθύτην ὄντα καὶ λαμπρὸν ἐν ταῖς περὶ τοὺς ξένους δαπάναις ἀφθόνου δεῖσθαι χορηγίας· οἱ δὲ τοὐναντίον γλισχρότητα πολλὴν καὶ μικρολογίαν κατηγοροῦσιν, ὡς καὶ τὰ πεμπόμενα τῶν ἐδωδίμων πωλοῦντος.
5.2. When Philides the horse-breeder was asked by him for a colt and would not give it, Themistocles threatened speedily to make his house a wooden horse; thereby darkly intimating that he would stir up accusations against him in his own family, and lawsuits between the man and those of his own household. In his ambition he surpassed all men. For instance, while he was still young and obscure, he prevailed upon Epicles of Hermione, a harpist who was eagerly sought after by the Athenians, to practise at his house, because he was ambitious that many should seek out his dwelling and come often to see him.
5.2. ἐπεὶ δὲ Φιλίδης ὁ ἱπποτρόφος αἰτηθεὶς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ πῶλον οὐκ ἔδωκεν, ἠπείλησε τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ ταχὺ ποιήσειν δούρειον ἵππον, αἰνιξάμενος ἐγκλήματα συγγενικὰ καὶ δίκας τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ πρὸς οἰκείους τινὰς ταράξειν. τῇ δὲ φιλοτιμίᾳ πάντας ὑπερέβαλεν, ὥστʼ ἔτι μὲν νέος ὢν καὶ ἀφανὴς Ἐπικλέα τὸν ἐξ Ἑρμιόνης κιθαριστὴν σπουδαζόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐκλιπαρῆσαι μελετᾶν παρʼ αὐτῷ, φιλοτιμούμενος πολλοὺς τὴν οἰκίαν ζητεῖν καὶ φοιτᾶν πρὸς αὐτόν.
5.3. Again, on going to Olympia, he tried to rival Cimon in his banquets and booths and other brilliant appointments, so that he displeased the Hellenes. For Cimon was young and of a great house, and they thought they must allow him in such extravagances; but Themistocles had not yet become famous, and was thought to be seeking to elevate himself unduly without adequate means, and so was charged with ostentation.
5.3. εἰς δʼ Ὀλυμπίαν ἐλθὼν καὶ διαμιλλώμενος τῷ Κίμωνι περὶ δεῖπνα καὶ σκηνὰς καὶ τὴν ἄλλην λαμπρότητα καὶ παρασκευήν, οὐκ ἤρεσκε τοῖς Ἕλλησιν. ἐκείνῳ μὲν γὰρ ὄντι νέῳ καὶ ἀπʼ οἰκίας μεγάλης ᾤοντο δεῖν τὰ τοιαῦτα συγχωρεῖν· ὁ δὲ μήπω γνώριμος γεγονώς, ἀλλὰ δοκῶν ἐξ οὐχ ὑπαρχόντων καὶ παρʼ ἀξίαν ἐπαίρεσθαι προσωφλίσκανεν ἀλαζονείαν.
5.4. And still again, as choregus, or theatrical manager, he won a victory with tragedies, although even at that early time this contest was conducted with great eagerness and ambition and set up a tablet commemorating his victory with the following inscription: “Themistocles the Phrearrhian was Choregus; Phrynichus was Poet; Adeimantus was Archon.” However, he was on good terms with the common folk, partly because he could call off-hand the name of every citizen, and partly because he rendered the service of a safe and impartial arbitrator in cases of private obligation and settlement out of court; and so he once said to Simonides of Ceos, who had made an improper request from him when he was magistrate: “You would not be a good poet if you should sing contrary to the measure; nor I a clever magistrate if I should show favour contrary to the law.”
5.4. ἐνίκησε δὲ καὶ χορηγῶν τραγῳδοῖς, μεγάλην ἤδη τότε σπουδὴν καὶ φιλοτιμίαν τοῦ ἀγῶνος ἔχοντος, καὶ πίνακα τῆς νίκης ἀνέθηκε τοιαύτην ἐπιγραφὴν ἔχοντα· Θεμιστοκλῆς Φρεάρριος ἐχορήγει, Φρύνιχος ἐδίδασκεν, Ἀδείμαντος ἦρχεν. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐνήρμοττε, τοῦτο μὲν ἑκάστου τῶν πολιτῶν τοὔνομα λέγων ἀπὸ στόματος, τοῦτο δὲ κριτὴν ἀσφαλῆ περὶ τὰ συμβόλαια παρέχων ἑαυτόν, ὥστε που καὶ πρὸς Σιμωνίδην τὸν Κεῖον εἰπεῖν, αἰτούμενόν τι τῶν οὐ μετρίων παρʼ αὐτοῦ στρατηγοῦντος, ὡς οὔτʼ ἐκεῖνος ἂν γένοιτο ποιητὴς ἀγαθὸς ᾄδων παρὰ μέλος οὔτʼ αὐτὸς ἀστεῖος ἄρχων παρὰ νόμον χαριζόμενος.
5.5. And once again he banteringly said to Simonides that it was nonsense for him to abuse the Corinthians, who dwelt in a great and fair city, while he had portrait figures made of himself, who was of such an ugly countenance. And so he grew in power, and pleased the common folk, and finally headed a successful faction and got Aristides removed by ostracism.
5.5. πάλιν δέ ποτε τὸν Σιμωνίδην ἐπισκώπτων ἔλεγε νοῦν οὐκ ἔχειν, Κορινθίους μὲν λοιδοροῦντα μεγάλην οἰκοῦντας πόλιν, αὑτοῦ δὲ ποιούμενον εἰκόνας οὕτως ὄντος αἰσχροῦ τὴν ὄψιν. αὐξόμενος δὲ καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀρέσκων τέλος κατεστασίασε καὶ μετέστησεν ἐξοστρακισθέντα τὸν Ἀριστείδην.
6.1. At last, when the Mede was descending upon Hellas and the Athenians were deliberating who should be their general, all the rest, they say, voluntarily renounced their claims to the generalship, so panic-stricken were they at the danger; but Epicydes, the son of Euphemides, a popular leader who was powerful in speech but effeminate in spirit and open to bribes, set out to get the office, and was likely to prevail in the election; so Themistocles, fearing lest matters should go to utter ruin in case the leadership fell to such a man, bribed and bought off the ambition of Epicydes.
6.1. ἤδη δὲ τοῦ Μήδου καταβαίνοντος ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων βουλευομένων περὶ στρατηγοῦ, τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους ἑκόντας ἐκστῆναι τῆς στρατηγίας λέγουσιν ἐκπεπληγμένους τὸν κίνδυνον, Ἐπικύδην δὲ τὸν Εὐφημίδου, δημαγωγὸν ὄντα δεινὸν μὲν εἰπεῖν, μαλακὸν δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ χρημάτων ἥττονα, τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐφίεσθαι καὶ κρατήσειν ἐπίδοξον εἶναι τῇ χειροτονίᾳ. τὸν οὖν Θεμιστοκλέα δείσαντα, μὴ τὰ πράγματα διαφθαρείη παντάπασι τῆς ἡγεμονίας εἰς ἐκεῖνον ἐμπεσούσης, χρήμασι τὴν φιλοτιμίαν ἐξωνήσασθαι παρὰ τοῦ Ἐπικύδους.
6.2. Praise is given to his treatment of the linguist in the company of those who were sent by the King to command earth and water as tokens of submission: this interpreter he caused to be arrested, and had him put to death by special decree, because he dared to prostitute the speech of Hellas to Barbarian stipulations.
6.2. ἐπαινεῖται δʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ περὶ τὸν δίγλωττον ἔργον ἐν τοῖς πεμφθεῖσιν ὑπὸ βασιλέως ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ ὕδατος αἴτησιν. ἑρμηνέα γὰρ ὄντα συλλαβὼν διὰ ψηφίσματος ἀπέκτεινεν ὅτι φωνὴν Ἑλληνίδα βαρβάροις προστάγμασιν ἐτόλμησε χρῆσαι.
6.3. Also to his treatment of Arthmius of Zeleia: on motion of Themistocles this man was entered on the list of the disfranchised, with his children and his family, because he brought the gold of the Medes and offered it to the Hellenes. But the greatest of all his achievements was his putting a stop to Hellenic wars, and reconciling Hellenic cities with one another, persuading them to postpone their mutual hatreds because of the foreign war. To which end, they say, Cheileos the Arcadian most seconded his efforts.
6.3. ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὸ περὶ Ἄρθμιον τὸν Ζελείτην· Θεμιστοκλέους γὰρ εἰπόντος καὶ τοῦτον εἰς τοὺς ἀτίμους καὶ παῖδας αὐτοῦ καὶ γένος ἐνέγραψαν, ὅτι τὸν ἐκ Μήδων χρυσὸν εἰς τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐκόμισε. μέγιστον δὲ πάντων τὸ καταλῦσαι τοὺς Ἑλληνικοὺς πολέμους καὶ διαλλάξαι τὰς πόλεις ἀλλήλαις, πείσαντα τὰς ἔχθρας διὰ τὸν πόλεμον ἀναβαλέσθαι· πρὸς ὃ καὶ Χείλεων τὸν Ἀρκάδα μάλιστα συναγωνίσασθαι λέγουσι.
7.1. On assuming the command, he straightway went to work to embark the citizens on their triremes, and tried to persuade them to leave their city behind them and go as far as possible away from Hellas to meet the Barbarians by sea. But many opposed this plan, and so he led forth a large army to the vale of Tempe, along with the Lacedaemonians, in order to make a stand there in defence of Thessaly, which was not yet at that time supposed to be medizing.
7.1. παραλαβὼν δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν εὐθὺς μὲν ἐπεχείρει τοὺς πολίτας ἐμβιβάζειν εἰς τὰς τριήρεις, καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἔπειθεν ἐκλιπόντας ὡς προσωτάτω τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἀπαντᾶν τῷ βαρβάρῳ κατὰ θάλατταν. ἐνισταμένων δὲ πολλῶν ἐξήγαγε πολλὴν στρατιὰν εἰς τὰ Τέμπη μετὰ Λακεδαιμονίων, ὡς αὐτόθι προκινδυνευσόντων τῆς Θετταλίας οὔπω τότε μηδίζειν δοκούσης·
7.2. But soon the army came back from this position without accomplishing anything, the Thessalians went over to the side of the King, and everything was medizing as far as Boeotia, so that at last the Athenians were more kindly disposed to the naval policy of Themistocles, and he was sent with a fleet to Artemisium, to watch the narrows. It was at this place that the Hellenes urged Eurybiades and the Lacedaemonians to take the lead, but the Athenians, since in the number of their ships they surpassed all the rest put together, disdained to follow others, —a peril which Themistocles at once comprehended.
7.2. ἐπεὶ δʼ ἀνεχώρησαν ἐκεῖθεν ἄπρακτοι καὶ Θετταλῶν βασιλεῖ προσγενομένων ἐμήδιζε τὰ μέχρι Βοιωτίας, μᾶλλον ἤδη τῷ Θεμιστοκλεῖ προσεῖχον οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι περὶ τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ πέμπεται μετὰ νεῶν ἐπʼ Ἀρτεμίσιον τὰ στενὰ φυλάξων. ἔνθα δὴ τῶν μὲν Ἑλλήνων Εὐρυβιάδην καὶ Λακεδαιμονιους ἡγεῖσθαι κελευόντων, τῶν δʼ Ἀθηναίων, ὅτι πλήθει τῶν νεῶν σύμπαντας ὁμοῦ τι τοὺς ἄλλους ὑπερέβαλλον, οὐκ ἀξιούντων ἑτέροις ἕπεσθαι, συνιδὼν τὸν κίνδυνον ὁ Θεμιστοκλῆς αὐτός τε τὴν ἀρχὴν τῷ Εὐρυβιάδῃ παρῆκε καὶ κατεπράϋνε τοὺς Ἀθηναίους, ὑπισχνούμενος, ἂν ἄνδρες ἀγαθοὶ γένωνται πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον, ἑκόντας αὐτοῖς παρέξειν εἰς τὰ λοιπὰ πειθομένους τοὺς Ἕλληνας.
7.3. He surrendered his own command to Eurybiades, and tried to mollify the Athenians with the promise that if they would show themselves brave men in the war, he would induce the Hellenes to yield a willing obedience to them thereafter. Therefore he is thought to have been the man most instrumental in achieving the salvation of Hellas, and foremost in leading the Athenians up to the high repute of surpassing their foes in valor and their allies in magnanimity.
7.3. διόπερ δοκεῖ τῆς σωτηρίας αἰτιώτατος γενέσθαι τῇ Ἑλλάδι καὶ μάλιστα τοὺς Ἀθηναίους προαγαγεῖν εἰς δόξαν, ὡς ἀνδρείᾳ μὲν τῶν πολεμίων, εὐγνωμοσύνῃ δὲ τῶν συμμάχων περιγενομένους.
7.4. Now Eurybiades, on the arrival of the Barbarian armament at Aphetae, was terrified at the number of ships that faced him, and, learning that two hundred ships more were sailing around above Sciathus to cut off his retreat, desired to proceed by the shortest route down into Hellas, to get into touch with Peloponnesus and encompass his fleet with his infantry forces there, because he thought the power of the King altogether invincible by sea. Therefore the Euboeans, fearing lest the Hellenes abandon them to their fate, held secret conference with Themistocles, and sent Pelagon to him with large sums of money.
7.4. ἐπεὶ δὲ ταῖς Ἀφεταῖς τοῦ βαρβαρικοῦ στόλου προσμίξαντος ἐκπλαγεὶς ὁ Εὐρυβιάδης τῶν κατὰ στόμα νεῶν τὸ πλῆθος, ἄλλας δὲ πυνθανόμενος διακοσίας ὑπὲρ Σκιάθου περιπλεῖν, ἐβούλετο τὴν ταχίστην εἴσω τῆς Ἑλλάδος κομισθεὶς ἅψασθαι Πελοποννήσου καὶ τὸν πεζὸν στρατὸν ταῖς ναυσὶ προσπεριβαλέσθαι, παντάπασιν ἀπρόσμαχον ἡγούμενος τὴν κατὰ θάλατταν ἀλκὴν βασιλέως, δείσαντες οἱ Εὐβοεῖς, μὴ σφᾶς οἱ Ἕλληνες πρόωνται, κρύφα τῷ Θεμιστοκλεῖ διελέγοντο, Πελάγοντα μετὰ χρημάτων πολλῶν πέμψαντες.
7.5. This money he took, as Herodotus relates, and gave to Eurybiades. Meeting with most opposition among his fellow-citizens from Architeles, who was captain on the sacred state galley, and who, because he had no money to pay the wages of his sailors, was eager to sail off home, Themistocles incited his crew all the more against him, so that they made a rush upon him and snatched away his dinner.
7.5. ἃ λαβὼν ἐκεῖνος, ὡς Ἡρόδοτος ἱστόρηκε, τοῖς περὶ τὸν Εὐρυβιάδην ἔδωκεν. ἐναντιουμένου δʼ αὐτῷ μάλιστα τῶν πολιτῶν Ἀρχιτέλους, ὃς ἦν μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς ἱερᾶς νεὼς τριήραρχος, οὐκ ἔχων δὲ χρήματα τοῖς ναύταις χορηγεῖν ἔσπευδεν ἀποπλεῦσαι, παρώξυνεν ἔτι μᾶλλον ὁ Θεμιστοκλῆς τοὺς τριηρίτας ἐπʼ αὐτόν, ὥστε τὸ δεῖπνον ἁρπάσαι συνδραμόντας.
7.6. Then, while Architeles was feeling dejected and indignant over this, Themistocles sent him a dinner of bread and meat in a box at the bottom of which he had put a talent of silver, and bade him dine without delay, and on the morrow satisfy his crew; otherwise he said he would denounce him publicly as the receiver of money from the enemy. At any rate, such is the story of Phanias the Lesbian.
7.6. τοῦ δʼ Ἀρχιτέλους ἀθυμοῦντος ἐπὶ τούτῳ καὶ βαρέως φέροντος, εἰσέπεμψεν ὁ Θεμιστοκλῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐν κίστῃ δεῖπνον ἄρτων καὶ κρεῶν, ὑποθεὶς κάτω τάλαντον ἀργυρίου καὶ κελεύσας αὐτόν τε δειπνεῖν ἐν τῷ παρόντι καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέραν ἐπιμεληθῆναι τῶν τριηριτῶν· εἰ δὲ μή, καταβοήσειν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας ὡς ἔχοντος ἀργύριον παρὰ τῶν πολεμίων. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν Φανίας ὁ Λέσβιος εἴρηκεν.
8.1. The battles which were fought at that time with the ships of the Barbarians in the narrows were not decisive of the main issue, it is true, but they were of the greatest service to the Hellenes in giving them experience, since they were thus taught by actual achievements in the face of danger that neither multitudes of ships nor brilliantly decorated figure-heads nor boastful shouts or barbarous battle-hymns have any terror for men who know how to come to close quarters and dare to fight there; but that they must despise all such things, rush upon the very persons of their foes, grapple with them, and fight it out to the bitter end.
8.1. αἱ δὲ γενόμεναι τότε πρὸς τὰς τῶν βαρβάρων ναῦς περὶ τὰ στενὰ μάχαι κρίσιν μὲν εἰς τὰ ὅλα μεγάλην οὐκ ἐποίησαν, τῇ δὲ πείρᾳ μέγιστα τοὺς Ἕλληνας ὤνησαν, ὑπὸ τῶν ἔργων παρὰ τοὺς κινδύνους διδαχθέντας, ὡς οὔτε πλήθη νεῶν οὔτε κόσμοι καὶ λαμπρότητες ἐπισήμων οὔτε κραυγαὶ κομπώδεις ἢ βάρβαροι παιᾶνες ἔχουσι τι δεινὸν ἀνδράσιν ἐπισταμένοις εἰς χεῖρας ἰέναι καὶ μάχεσθαι τολμῶσιν, ἀλλὰ δεῖ τῶν τοιούτων καταφρονοῦντας ἐπʼ αὐτὰ τὰ σώματα φέρεσθαι καὶ πρὸς ἐκεῖνα διαγωνίζεσθαι συμπλακέντας.
8.2. Of this Pindar seems to have been well aware when he said of the battle of Artemisium:—Where Athenians’ valiant sons set in radiance eternalLiberty’s corner-stone.For verily the foundation of victory is courage. Artemisium is a part of Euboea above Hestiaea,—a sea-beach stretching away to the north,—and just about opposite to it lies Olizon, in the territory once subject to Philoctetes. It has a small temple of Artemis surnamed Proseoea, which is surrounded by trees and enclosed by upright slabs of white marble. This stone, when you rub it with your hand, gives off the color and the odor of saffron.
8.2. ὃ δὴ καὶ Πίνδαρος οὐ κακῶς ἔοικε συνιδὼν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐν Ἀρτεμισίῳ μάχης εἰπεῖν·ὅθι παῖδες Ἀθαναίων ἐβάλοντο φαεννὰνκρηπῖδʼ ἐλευθερίας·ἀρχὴ γὰρ ὄντως τοῦ νικᾶν τὸ θαρρεῖν. ἔστι δὲ τῆς Εὐβοίας τὸ Ἀρτεμίσιον ὑπὲρ τὴν Ἑστίαιαν αἰγιαλὸς εἰς βορέαν ἀναπεπταμένος, ἀντιτείνει δʼ αὐτῷ μάλιστα τῆς ὑπὸ Φιλοκτήτῃ γενομένης χώρας Ὀλιζών. ἔχει δὲ ναὸν οὐ μέγαν Ἀρτέμιδος ἐπίκλησιν Προσηῴας, καὶ δένδρα περὶ αὐτῷ πέφυκε καὶ στῆλαι κύκλῳ λίθου λευκοῦ πεπήγασιν· ὁ δὲ λίθος τῇ χειρὶ τριβόμενος καὶ χρόαν καὶ ὀσμὴν κροκίζουσαν ἀναδίδωσιν.
8.3. On one of these slabs the following elegy was inscribed:—Nations of all sorts of men from Asia’s boundaries coming,Sons of the Athenians once, here on this arm of the sea,Whelmed in a battle of ships, and the host of the Medes was destroyed;These are the tokens thereof, built for the Maid Artemis.And a place is pointed out on the shore, with sea sand all about it, which supplies from its depths a dark ashen powder, apparently the product of fire, and here they are thought to have burned their wrecks and dead bodies.
8.3. ἐν μιᾷ δὲ τῶν στηλῶν ἐλεγεῖον ἦν τόδε γεγραμμένον·παντοδαπῶν ἀνδρῶν γενεὰς Ἀσίας ἀπὸ χώρας παῖδες Ἀθηναίων τῷδέ ποτʼ ἐν πελάγειναυμαχίῃ δαμάσαντες, ἐπεὶ στρατὸς ὤλετο Μήδων,σήματα ταῦτʼ ἔθεσαν παρθένῳ Ἀρτέμιδι.δείκνυται δὲ τῆς ἀκτῆς τόπος ἐν πολλῇ τῇ πέριξ θινὶ κόνιν τεφρώδη καὶ μέλαιναν ἐκ βάθους ἀναδιδούς, ὥσπερ πυρίκαυστον, ἐν ᾧ τὰ ναυάγια καὶ νεκροὺς καῦσαι δοκοῦσι.
9.1. However, when they learned by messengers from Thermopylae to Artemisium that Leonidas was slain and that Xerxes was master of the pass, they withdrew further down into Hellas, the Athenians bringing up the extreme rear because of their valor, and greatly elated by their achievements. As Themistocles sailed along the coasts, wherever he saw places at which the enemy must necessarily put in for shelter and supplies, be inscribed conspicuous writings on stones, some of which he found to his hand there by chance, and some he himself caused to be set near the inviting anchorages and watering places.
9.1. τῶν μέντοι περὶ Θερμοπύλας εἰς τὸ Ἀρτεμίσιον ἀπαγγελλόντων πυθόμενοι Λεωνίδαν τε κεῖσθαι καὶ κρατεῖν Ξέρξην τῶν κατὰ γῆν παρόδων, εἴσω τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἀνεκομίζοντο, τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐπὶ πᾶσι τεταγμένων διʼ ἀρετὴν καὶ μέγα τοῖς πεπραγμένοις φρονούντων. παραπλέων δὲ τὴν χώραν ὁ Θεμιστοκλῆς, ᾗπερ κατάρσεις ἀναγκαίας καὶ καταφυγὰς ἑώρα τοῖς πολεμίοις, ἐνεχάραττε κατὰ τῶν λίθων ἐπιφανῆ γράμματα, τοὺς μὲν εὑρίσκων ἀπὸ τύχης, τοὺς δʼ αὐτὸς ἱστὰς περὶ τὰ ναύλοχα καὶ τὰς ὑδρείας, ἐπισκήπτων Ἴωσι διὰ τῶν γραμμάτων, εἰ μὲν οἷόν τε, μετατάξασθαι πρὸς αὐτοὺς πατέρας ὄντας καὶ προκινδυνεύοντας ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐκείνων ἐλευθερίας, εἰ δὲ μή, κακοῦν τὸ βαρβαρικὸν ἐν ταῖς μάχαις καὶ συνταράττειν.
9.2. In these writings he solemnly enjoined upon the Ionians, if it were possible, to come over to the side of the Athenians, who were their ancestors, and who were risking all in behalf of their freedom; but if they could not do this, to damage the Barbarian cause in battle, and bring confusion among them. By this means he hoped either to fetch the Ionians over to his side, or to confound them by bringing the Barbarians into suspicion of them. Although Xerxes had made a raid up through Doris into Phocis, and was burning the cities of the Phocians, the Hellenes gave them no succour. The Athenians, it is true, begged them to go up into Boeotia against the enemy, and make a stand there in defence of Attica, as they themselves had gone up by sea to Artemisium in defence of others. But no one listened to their appeals. All clung fast to the Peloponnesus, and were eager to collect all the forces inside the Isthmus, and were building a rampart across the Isthmus from sea to sea.
9.2. ταῦτα δʼ ἤλπιζεν ἢ μεταστήσειν τοὺς Ἴωνας ἢ ταράξειν ὑποπτοτέρους τοῖς βαρβάροις γενομένους. Ξέρξου δὲ διὰ τῆς Δωρίδος ἄνωθεν ἐμβαλόντος εἰς τὴν Φωκίδα καὶ τὰ τῶν Φωκέων ἄστη πυρπολοῦντος οὐ προσήμυναν οἱ Ἕλληνες, καίπερ τῶν Ἀθηναίων δεομένων εἰς τὴν Βοιωτίαν ἀπαντῆσαι πρὸ τῆς Ἀττικῆς, ὥσπερ αὐτοὶ κατὰ θάλατταν ἐπʼ Ἀρτεμίσιον ἐβοήθησαν. μηδενὸς δʼ ὑπακούοντος αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ τῆς Πελοποννήσου περιεχομένων καὶ πᾶσαν ἐντὸς Ἰσθμοῦ τὴν δύναμιν ὡρμημένων συνάγειν, καὶ διατειχιζόντων τὸν Ἰσθμὸν εἰς θάλατταν ἐκ θαλάττης, ἅμα μὲν ὀργὴ τῆς προδοσίας εἶχε τοὺς Ἀθηναίους, ἅμα δὲ δυσθυμία καὶ κατήφεια μεμονωμένους.
9.4. Then the Athenians were seized alike with rage at this betrayal, and with sullen dejection at their utter isolation. Of fighting alone with an army of so many myriads they could not seriously think; and as for the only thing left them to do in their emergency, namely, to give up their city and stick to their ships, most of them were distressed at the thought, saying that they neither wanted victory nor understood what safety could mean if they abandoned to the enemy the shrines of their gods and the sepulchres of their fathers.
9.4. μάχεσθαι μὲν γὰρ οὐ διενοοῦντο μυριάσι στρατοῦ τοσαύταις· ὃ δʼ ἦν μόνον ἀναγκαῖον ἐν τῷ παρόντι, τὴν πόλιν ἀφέντας ἐμφῦναι ταῖς ναυσίν, οἱ πολλοὶ χαλεπῶς ἤκουον, ὡς μήτε νίκης δεόμενοι μήτε σωτηρίαν ἐπιστάμενοι θεῶν τε ἱερὰ καὶ πατέρων ἠρία προϊεμένων.
10.1. Then indeed it was that Themistocles, despairing of bringing the multitude over to his views by any human reasonings, set up machinery, as it were, to introduce the gods to them as a theatrical manager would for a tragedy, and brought to bear upon them signs from heaven and oracles. As a sign from heaven he took the behavior of the serpent, which is held to have disappeared about that time from the sacred enclosure on the Acropolis. When the priests found that the daily offerings made to it were left whole and untouched, they proclaimed to the multitude,—Themistocles putting the story into their mouths,—that the goddess had abandoned her city and was showing them their way to the sea.
10.1. ἔνθα δὴ Θεμιστοκλῆς ἀπορῶν τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις λογισμοῖς προσάγεσθαι τὸ πλῆθος, ὥσπερ ἐν τραγῳδίᾳ μηχανὴν ἄρας, σημεῖα δαιμόνια καὶ χρησμοὺς ἐπῆγεν αὐτοῖς· σημεῖον μὲν λαμβάνων τὸ τοῦ δράκοντος, ὃς ἀφανὴς ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκ τοῦ σηκοῦ δοκεῖ γενέσθαι· καὶ τὰς καθʼ ἡμέραν αὐτῷ προτιθεμένας ἀπαρχὰς εὑρίσκοντες ἀψαύστους οἱ ἱερεῖς, ἐξήγγελλον εἰς τοὺς πολλούς, τοῦ Θεμιστοκλέους λόγον διδόντος, ὡς ἀπολέλοιπε τὴν πόλιν ἡ θεὸς ὑφηγουμένη πρὸς τὴν θάλατταν αὐτοῖς.
10.2. Moreover, with the well-known oracle he tried again to win the people over to his views, saying that its “wooden wall” meant nothing else than their fleet; and that the god in this oracle called Salamis “divine,” not “dreadful” nor “cruel,” for the very reason that the island would sometime give its name to a great piece of good fortune for the Hellenes. At last his opinion prevailed, and so he introduced a bill providing that the city be entrusted for safe keeping “to Athena the patroness of Athens,” but that all the men of military age embark on the triremes, after finding for their children, wives, and servants, such safety as each best could.
10.2. τῷ δὲ χρησμῷ πάλιν ἐδημαγώγει, λέγων μηδὲν ἄλλο δηλοῦσθαι ξύλινον τεῖχος ἢ τὰς ναῦς· διὸ καὶ τὴν Σαλαμῖνα θείαν, οὐχὶ δεινὴν οὐδὲ σχετλίαν καλεῖν τὸν θεόν, ὡς εὐτυχήματος μεγάλου τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐπώνυμον ἐσομένην. κρατήσας δὲ τῇ γνώμῃ ψήφισμα γράφει, τὴν μὲν πόλιν παρακαταθέσθαι τῇ Ἀθηνᾷ τῇ Ἀθηνάων μεδεούσῃ, τοὺς δʼ ἐν ἡλικίᾳ πάντας ἐμβαίνειν εἰς τὰς τριήρεις, παῖδας δὲ καὶ γυναῖκας καὶ ἀνδράποδα σώζειν ἕκαστον ὡς δυνατόν.
10.3. Upon the passage of this bill, most of the Athenians bestowed their children and wives in Troezen, where the Troezenians very eagerly welcomed them. They actually voted to support them at the public cost, allowing two obols daily to each family, and to permit the boys to pluck of the vintage fruit everywhere, and besides to hire teachers for them. The bill was introduced by a man whose name was Nicagoras.
10.3. κυρωθέντος δὲ τοῦ ψηφίσματος οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν Ἀθηναίων ὑπεξέθεντο γενεὰς καὶ γυναῖκας εἰς Τροιζῆνα, φιλοτίμως πάνυ τῶν Τροιζηνίων ὑποδεχομένων· καὶ γὰρ τρέφειν ἐψηφίσαντο δημοσίᾳ, δύο ὀβολοὺς ἑκάστῳ διδόντες, καὶ τῆς ὀπώρας λαμβάνειν τοὺς παῖδας ἐξεῖναι πανταχόθεν, ἔτι δʼ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν διδασκάλοις τελεῖν μισθούς. τὸ δὲ ψήφισμα Νικαγόρας ἔγραψεν.
10.4. Since the Athenians had no public moneys in hand, it was the Senate of Areiopagus, according to Aristotle, which provided each of the men who embarked with eight drachmas, and so was most instrumental in manning the triremes; but Cleidemus represents this too as the result of an artifice of Themistocles. He says that when the Athenians were going down to the Piraeus and abandoning their city, the Gorgon’s head was lost from the image of the goddess; and then Themistocles, pretending to search for it, and ransacking everything, thereby discovered an abundance of money hidden away in the baggage, which had only to be confiscated, and the crews of the ships were well provided with rations and wages.
10.4. οὐκ ὄντων δὲ δημοσίων χρημάτων τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, Ἀριστοτέλης μέν φησι τὴν ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου βουλὴν πορίσασαν ὀκτὼ δραχμὰς ἑκάστῳ τῶν στρατευομένων αἰτιωτάτην γενέσθαι τοῦ πληρωθῆναι τὰς τριήρεις, Κλείδημος δὲ καὶ τοῦτο τοῦ Θεμιστοκλέους ποιεῖται στρατήγημα. καταβαινόντων γὰρ εἰς Πειραιᾶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων, φησὶν ἀπολέσθαι τὸ Γοργόνειον ἀπὸ τῆς θεοῦ τοῦ ἀγάλματος· τὸν οὖν Θεμιστοκλέα προσποιούμενον ζητεῖν καὶ διερευνώμενον ἅπαντα χρημάτων ἀνευρίσκειν πλῆθος ἐν ταῖς ἀποσκευαῖς ἀποκεκρυμμένον, ὧν εἰς μέσον κομισθέντων εὐπορῆσαι τοὺς ἐμβαίνοντας εἰς τὰς ναῦς ἐφοδίων.
10.5. When the entire city was thus putting out to sea, the sight provoked pity in some, and in others astonishment at the hardihood of the step; for they were sending off their families in one direction, while they themselves, unmoved by the lamentations and tears and embraces of their loved ones, were crossing over to the island where the enemy was to be fought. Besides, many who were left behind on account of their great age invited pity also, and much affecting fondness was shown by the tame domestic animals, which ran along with yearning cries of distress by the side of their masters as they embarked.
10.5. ἐκπλεούσης δὲ τῆς πόλεως τοῖς μὲν οἶκτον τὸ θέαμα, τοῖς δὲ θαῦμα τῆς τόλμης παρεῖχε, γενεὰς μὲν ἄλλῃ προπεμπόντων, αὐτῶν δʼ ἀκάμπτων πρὸς οἰμωγὰς καὶ δάκρυα γονέων καὶ περιβολὰς διαπερώντων εἰς τὴν νῆσον. καίτοι πολλοὶ μὲν διὰ γῆρας ὑπολειπόμενοι τῶν πολιτῶν ἔλεον εἶχον· ἦν δέ τις καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἡμέρων καὶ συντρόφων ζῴων ἐπικλῶσα γλυκυθυμία, μετʼ ὠρυγῆς καὶ πόθου συμπαραθεόντων ἐμβαίνουσι τοῖς ἑαυτῶν τροφεῦσιν.
10.6. A story is told of one of these, the dog of Xanthippus the father of Pericles, how he could not endure to be abandoned by his master, and so sprang into the sea, swam across the strait by the side of his master’s trireme, and staggered out on Salamis, only to faint and die straightway. They say that the spot which is pointed out to this day as “Dog’s Mound” is his tomb.
10.6. ἐν οἷς ἱστορεῖται κύων Ξανθίππου τοῦ Περικλέους πατρὸς οὐκ ἀνασχόμενος τὴν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ μόνωσιν ἐναλέσθαι τῇ θαλάττῃ καὶ τῇ τριήρει παρανηχόμενος ἐκπεσεῖν εἰς τὴν Σαλαμῖνα καὶ λιποθυμήσας ἀποθανεῖν εὐθύς· οὗ καὶ τὸ δεικνύμενον ἄχρι νῦν καὶ καλούμενον Κυνὸς σῆμα τάφον εἶναι λέγουσι.
11.1. These were surely great achievements of Themistocles, but there was a greater still to come. When he saw that the citizens yearned for Aristides, and feared lest out of wrath he might join himself to the Barbarian and so subvert the cause of Hellas,—he had been ostracized before the war in consequence of political defeat at the hands of Themistocles, —he introduced a bill providing that those who had been removed for a time be permitted to return home and devote their best powers to the service of Hellas along with the other citizens.
11.1. ταῦτά τε δὴ μεγάλα τοῦ Θεμιστοκλέους, καὶ τοὺς πολίτας αἰσθόμενος ποθοῦντας Ἀριστείδην καὶ δεδιότας, μὴ διʼ ὀργὴν τῷ βαρβάρῳ προσθεὶς ἑαυτὸν ἀνατρέψῃ τὰ πράγματα τῆς Ἑλλάδος (ἐξωστράκιστο γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ πολέμου καταστασιασθεὶς ὑπὸ Θεμιστοκλέους), γράφει ψήφισμα, τοῖς ἐπὶ χρόνῳ μεθεστῶσιν ἐξεῖναι κατελθοῦσι πράττειν καὶ λέγειν τὰ βέλτιστα τῇ Ἑλλάδι μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν.