| Welcome to my Greek page that contains: A report about Philippedes the famous runner of the marathon. |
| Philippedes Philippedes can be spelled four different ways: Philippedes, Philippides, Pheidippides, and Philippedis. Philippedes was a Greek soldier who ran twenty-six hilly miles from Marathon to Athens to tell the king of the Greeks that the Greeks had beaten the Persian army in the battle of Marathon. Totally exhausted, he died right afterwards. According to Herodotos, a Greek writer, Philippedes was sent to Sparta right before the battle to lead militia to the battle. He ran 150 miles, (240 k.m.) in two days. When running back to Marathon from Sparta, he had a vision of the Greek g_d Pan. It inspired him to work harder and be brave and courageous. The Greek army, at this point in time, was outnumbered four to one. But they launched a surprise offensive attack, which at the time appeared to be suicidal. At the end of the day, 6400 Persians lay dead, and 192 Greeks lay dead. It is compared to Pickett's charge in the Civil war. The two major differences about the battle were that Pickett lost, and the Greeks won. And that thousands more of Pickett's men were killed. The Persian cavalry could not move on horse, because of the rocky crater they were in. Once surrounded by the Greeks, their archers and cavalry useless, the Persian's in their poor wicker shields were killed by the hundreds. Despite his run to Sparta, Philippedes ran 26 miles to Athens. After saying, "Greetings, we win", he dropped dead. This all happened in September, 490 B.C. The Persians invaded Greece, because originally the Athenians promised to join the Persians against the Spartans. The Athenians then changed their mind, and fooled Persia completely into think a civil war was going on in Athens. The marathon which now takes place in the Olympics is inspired by this act. |