10/30/2022 0 Comments Conversion miles kilometre heureHowever, there have been suggestions that Philippides might have followed another route: a westward climb along the eastern and northern slopes of Mount Penteli to the pass of Dionysos, and then a straight southward downhill path to Athens. This route, as it existed when the Olympics were revived in 1896, was approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) long, and this was the approximate distance originally used for marathon races. The latter and more obvious route matches almost exactly the modern Marathon-Athens highway ( EO83– EO54), which follows the lay of the land southwards from Marathon Bay and along the coast, then takes a gentle but protracted climb westwards towards the eastern approach to Athens, between the foothills of Mounts Hymettus and Penteli, and then gently downhill to Athens proper. Mount Pentelicus stands between Marathon and Athens, which means that if Philippides actually made his famous run after the battle, he had to run around the mountain, either to the north or to the south. Browning's poem, his composite story, became part of late 19th century popular culture and was accepted as a historic legend. In 1879, Robert Browning wrote the poem Pheidippides. Herodotus makes no mention of a messenger sent from Marathon to Athens, and relates that the main part of the Athenian army, having fought and won the grueling battle, and fearing a naval raid by the Persian fleet against an undefended Athens, marched quickly back from the battle to Athens, arriving the same day. In some Herodotus manuscripts, the name of the runner between Athens and Sparta is given as Philippides. The Greek historian Herodotus, the main source for the Greco-Persian Wars, mentions Philippides as the messenger who ran from Athens to Sparta asking for help, and then ran back, a distance of over 240 kilometres (150 mi) each way. There is debate about the historical accuracy of this legend. Satirist Lucian of Samosata (2nd century AD) first gives an account closest to the modern version of the story, but is writing tongue-in-cheek and also names the runner Philippides (not Pheidippides). This is the account adopted by Benjamin Haydon for his painting Eucles Announcing the Victory of Marathon., published as an engraving in 1836 with a poetical illustration by Letitia Elizabeth Landon. The account of the run from Marathon to Athens first appears in Plutarch's On the Glory of Athens in the 1st century AD, which quotes from Heraclides Ponticus's lost work, giving the runner's name as either Thersipus of Erchius or Eucles. It is said that he ran the entire distance to Athens without stopping, discarding his weapons and even clothes to lose as much weight as possible, and burst into the assembly, exclaiming νενικήκαμεν ( nenikēkamen, "we have won!"), before collapsing and dying. He interpreted this as an attempt by the defeated Persians to rush into the city to claim a false victory or simply raid, hence claiming their authority over Greek land. The legend states that, while he was taking part in the Battle of Marathon, which took place in August or September, 490 BC, he witnessed a Persian vessel changing its course towards Athens as the battle was near a victorious end for the Greek army. The name Marathon comes from the legend of Philippides (or Pheidippides), the Greek messenger. Luc-Olivier Merson's 1869 painting depicting the runner announcing the victory at the Battle of Marathon to the people of Athens
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