Pheidippides: Difference between revisions

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Corrected Ancient Greek spelling of Φειδιππίδης
imported>Jmolina116
Fix modern Greek IPA
 
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| caption = Statue of Pheidippides alongside the Marathon Road
| caption = Statue of Pheidippides alongside the Marathon Road
| birth_date  = {{circa|530 BC}}
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| birth_place = [[Athens]]
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| death_date  = {{circa|490 BC}} (aged {{circa|40}})
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| death_place = [[Athens]]
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'''Pheidippides''' ({{langx|grc|Φειδιππίδης}}, {{IPA|grc|pʰeː.dip.pí.dɛːs|link=yes}}, {{IPA|el|fi.δiˈpi.ðis|label=[[Modern Greek]]:}} {{lit|Son of Pheídippos}}) or '''Philippides''' ({{lang|grc|Φιλιππίδης}}) is the central figure in the story that inspired the [[marathon race]]. Pheidippides is said to have run {{convert|40|km|mi}} from [[Marathon, Greece|Marathon]] to [[Athens]] to deliver news of the victory of the [[Battle of Marathon]], and, according to [[Herodotus]], to have run from Athens to [[Sparta]]. This latter feat also inspired two [[ultramarathon]] races, the {{convert|246|km|mi|adj=on}} [[Spartathlon]] and {{convert|490|km|mi|adj=on}} Authentic Pheidippides Run.
'''Pheidippides''' ({{IPAc-en|f|ə||ˌ|d|ɪ|p|ə|ˈ|d|iː|z|_|ˌ|f|eɪ|-}}; {{respell|fə|DIP|ə|DEEZ|_|FAY-}}; {{langx|grc|Φειδιππίδης}}, {{IPA|grc|pʰeː.dip.pí.dɛːs|link=yes}}, {{IPA|el|fi.ðiˈpi.ðis|label=[[Modern Greek]]:}} {{lit|Son of Pheídippos}}) or '''Philippides''' ({{lang|grc|Φιλιππίδης}}) was a 5th-century-BC [[Athens|Athenian]] [[Hemerodromoi|running courier]] who was the central figure in the story that inspired the [[marathon race]].


[[File:Phidippides.jpg|thumb|Painting of Pheidippides as he gave word of the Greek victory over [[Persia]] at the [[Battle of Marathon]] to the people of Athens. {{nowrap|[[Luc-Olivier Merson]]}} (1869) ]]
The best-known version of this story is the 1879 poem ''Pheidippides'' by [[Robert Browning]],<ref name="pheidip" /> in which Pheidippides is said to have run approximately {{convert|240|km|mi|adj=}} from Athens to [[Sparta]] (and back to Athens) before the [[Battle of Marathon]] (490 BC), in order to seek Spartan help against the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]] in the upcoming battle. Pheidippides then fought at the Battle of Marathon, and after the Athenian victory, he ran approximately {{convert|40|km|mi}} from [[Marathon, Greece|Marathon]] to Athens to deliver the news. He died immediately after announcing the Athenian victory.<ref name=":0" />
 
Browning's poem is a composite of two earlier versions of Pheidippides's story. According to the earliest-known version of the story by the historian [[Herodotus]], Pheidippides is said to have made an Athens-to-Sparta (and return) run before the battle, but Herodotus does not mention Pheidippides fighting at Marathon, a subsequent Marathon–Athens run, or his death. A much-later version of the story by the satirist [[Lucian]] mentions only a Marathon–Athens run and Pheidippides's death; this version has been called a "[likely] romantic invention".<ref name=":1" />
 
Pheidippides's legendary Marathon–Athens run was the inspiration for the modern {{convert|42|km|mi|adj=on}} marathon race. Pheidippides's Athens–Sparta run inspired two [[ultramarathon]] races, the {{convert|246|km|mi|adj=on}} [[Spartathlon]] and {{convert|490|km|mi|adj=on}} Authentic Pheidippides Run.


== Name ==
== Name ==
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==Accounts==
==Accounts==
The traditional story relates that Pheidippides (530–490&nbsp;BC), an Athenian [[runner (messenger)|runner]], or {{translit|grc|[[Hemerodromoi|hemerodrome]]}}<ref name="Edward Seldon Sears "/> (translated as 'day-runner',<ref name=" Donald G. Kyle ">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tEbcu-sDkFEC&q=Marathon+runner+Philippides+Pheidippides&pg=PA100 |first=Donald G. |last=Kyle |title=Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World |date=18 September 2006 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |access-date=2012-04-08 |isbn=0631229701}}</ref> 'courier',<ref>{{cite book |author=Herodotus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4wY9AAAAYAAJ&dq=hemerodrome&pg=PA374 |via=Google Books |title=Histories |volume=3 |translator1=Southeby, Leigh |translator2=Southeby, S. |year=1806 |access-date=2012-04-08}}</ref><ref name="Pierre Henri Larcher">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/larchersnotesonh02larc |author-link1=Pierre Henri Larcher |last1=Larcher |first1=Pierre Henri |author-link2=William Desborough Cooley |last2=Cooley |first2=William Desborough |title=Larcher's Notes on Herodotus: Historical and critical comments on the History of Herodotus, with a chronological table; translated from the French |year=1844 |publisher=London, Whittaker |access-date=2012-04-08}}</ref> 'professional-running courier'<ref name="Edward Seldon Sears"/> or 'day-long runner'<ref name="Mill's"/>), was sent to [[Sparta]] to request help when the Persians landed at [[Marathon, Greece]]. He ran about {{convert|240|km|mi|abbr=on}} in two days, and then ran back. He then ran the {{convert|40|km|mi|abbr=on}} to the battlefield near Marathon and back to [[Athens]] to announce the Greek victory over [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]] in the [[Battle of Marathon]] (490&nbsp;BC) with the word {{lang|grc|[[Wikt:νικώ#Greek|νικῶμεν]]}} ({{translit|grc|nikomen}}<ref name="University news team">{{cite web |author=University news team |date=7 September 2011 |title=News from the University Press releases 'Bristol team to mark 2,500th anniversary of the first marathon' |publisher=University of Bristol |url=http://www.bris.ac.uk/news/2011/7882.html}}</ref> 'We win!'), as stated by Lucian {{translit|grc|chairete, nikomen}} ('hail, we are the winners')<ref name="Herodotus, Robin Waterfield, Carolyn Dewald">{{cite book |author1=[[Herodotus]] |last2=Waterfield |first2=Robin |last3=Dewald |first3=Carolyn |date=15 May 2008 |title=The Histories |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199535668 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q7y3Suc6bKkC&q=Marathon+runner+Philippides+Pheidippides&pg=PA689 |access-date=2012-04-08}}</ref> and then collapsed and died.
[[File:Phidippides.jpg|thumb|Painting of Pheidippides as he gave word of the Greek victory over [[Persian Empire|Persia]] at the [[Battle of Marathon]] to the people of Athens. {{nowrap|[[Luc-Olivier Merson]]}} (1869)]]
 
===Sources===
====Herodotus====
[[File:Soldat Marathon Cortot Louvre LP243.jpg|thumb|''The Soldier of Marathon Announcing the Victory'' (1834) by [[Jean-Pierre Cortot]]; [[Louvre]], Paris]]


The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] was the first person to write about an Athenian runner named Pheidippides participating in the [[First Persian War]]. His account is as follows:<ref name=Herodotus-Guttenberg-105>{{cite book |author=[[Herodotus]] |title=Histories |at=Book&nbsp;VI, 105–106 |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2456/2456-h/book6.htm |via=Gutenberg.org}}</ref>
The original story by Herodotus relates that Pheidippides, an [[Athens|Athenian]] [[runner (messenger)|runner]], or {{translit|grc|[[Hemerodromoi|hemerodrome]]}}<ref name="Edward Seldon Sears">{{cite book |last=Sears |first=Edward Seldon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vxxOw3FvOgwC&q=Pheidippedes |title=Running through the Ages |publisher=McFarland |year=2001 |isbn=9780786450770 |access-date=2012-04-08}}</ref> (translated as 'day-runner',<ref name=" Donald G. Kyle ">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tEbcu-sDkFEC&q=Marathon+runner+Philippides+Pheidippides&pg=PA100 |first=Donald G. |last=Kyle |title=Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World |date=18 September 2006 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |access-date=2012-04-08 |isbn=0631229701}}</ref> 'courier',<ref>{{cite book |author=Herodotus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4wY9AAAAYAAJ&dq=hemerodrome&pg=PA374 |via=Google Books |title=Histories |volume=3 |translator1=Southeby, Leigh |translator2=Southeby, S. |year=1806 |access-date=2012-04-08}}</ref><ref name="Pierre Henri Larcher">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/larchersnotesonh02larc |author-link1=Pierre Henri Larcher |last1=Larcher |first1=Pierre Henri |author-link2=William Desborough Cooley |last2=Cooley |first2=William Desborough |title=Larcher's Notes on Herodotus: Historical and critical comments on the History of Herodotus, with a chronological table; translated from the French |year=1844 |publisher=London, Whittaker |access-date=2012-04-08}}</ref> 'professional-running courier'<ref name="Edward Seldon Sears"/> or 'day-long runner'<ref name="Mill's">{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Stephen G. |author-link=Stephen G. Miller |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC&q=Marathon+runner+Philippides+Pheidippides&pg=PA46 |title=Ancient Greek Athletics |date=1 Aug 2006 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0300115296 |access-date=2012-04-08}}</ref>), was sent to [[Sparta]] to request help before the [[Battle of Marathon]] against Persia in 490 BC. He ran about {{convert|240|km|mi|abbr=on}} in two days, and then ran back. His account is as follows:<ref name="Herodotus-Guttenberg-105">{{cite book |author=[[Herodotus]] |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2456/2456-h/book6.htm |title=Histories |at=Book&nbsp;VI, 105–106 |via=Gutenberg.org}}</ref>


{{Blockquote|multiline=yes|Before they left the city, the [[Athens (Greece)|Athenian]] generals sent off a message to [[Sparta]]. The messenger was an Athenian named Pheidippides, a professional long-distance runner. According to the account he gave the Athenians on his return, Pheidippides met the [[Pan (god)|god Pan]] on [[Mount Parthenium]], above [[Tegea]]. Pan, he said, called him by name and told him to ask the Athenians why they paid him no attention, in spite of his friendliness towards them and the fact that he had often been useful to them in the past, and would be so again in the future. The Athenians believed Pheidippides's story, and when their affairs were once more in a prosperous state, they built a shrine to Pan under the [[Acropolis of Athens|Acropolis]], and from the time his message was received they held an annual ceremony, with a torch-race and sacrifices, to court his protection.
{{Blockquote|multiline=yes|Before they left the city, the [[Athens (Greece)|Athenian]] generals sent off a message to [[Sparta]]. The messenger was an Athenian named Pheidippides, a professional long-distance runner. According to the account he gave the Athenians on his return, Pheidippides met the [[Pan (god)|god Pan]] on [[Mount Parthenium]], above [[Tegea]]. Pan, he said, called him by name and told him to ask the Athenians why they paid him no attention, in spite of his friendliness towards them and the fact that he had often been useful to them in the past, and would be so again in the future. The Athenians believed Pheidippides's story, and when their affairs were once more in a prosperous state, they built a shrine to Pan under the [[Acropolis of Athens|Acropolis]], and from the time his message was received they held an annual ceremony, with a torch-race and sacrifices, to court his protection.
On the occasion of which I speak – when Pheidippides, that is, was sent on his mission by the Athenian commanders and said that he saw Pan – he reached Sparta the day after he left Athens and delivered his message to the Spartan government. "Men of Sparta" (the message ran), "the Athenians ask you to help them, and not to stand by while the most ancient city of Greece is crushed and subdued by a foreign invader; for even now [[Eretria]] has been enslaved, and Greece is the weaker by the loss of one fine city." The Spartans, though moved by the appeal, and willing to send help to Athens, were unable to send it promptly because they did not wish to break their law. It was the ninth day of the month, and they said they could not take the field until the moon was full. So they waited for the full moon, and meanwhile [[Hippias (tyrant)|Hippias]], the son of [[Peisistratos (Athens)|Pisistratus]], guided the Persians to Marathon.|author=Herodotus<ref name=Herodotus-Guttenberg-105/>}}
On the occasion of which I speak – when Pheidippides, that is, was sent on his mission by the Athenian commanders and said that he saw Pan – he reached Sparta the day after he left Athens and delivered his message to the Spartan government. "Men of Sparta" (the message ran), "the Athenians ask you to help them, and not to stand by while the most ancient city of Greece is crushed and subdued by a foreign invader; for even now [[Eretria]] has been enslaved, and Greece is the weaker by the loss of one fine city." The Spartans, though moved by the appeal, and willing to send help to Athens, were unable to send it promptly because they did not wish to break their law. It was the ninth day of the month, and they said they could not take the field until the moon was full. So they waited for the full moon, and meanwhile [[Hippias (tyrant)|Hippias]], the son of [[Peisistratos (Athens)|Pisistratus]], guided the Persians to Marathon.|author=Herodotus<ref name=Herodotus-Guttenberg-105/>}}


According to Miller (2006), Herodotus, only 30–40 years removed from the events in question, based his account on eyewitnesses,<ref name="Mill's">{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Stephen G. |author-link=Stephen G. Miller |date=1 Aug 2006  |title=Ancient Greek Athletics |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0300115296 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC&q=Marathon+runner+Philippides+Pheidippides&pg=PA46 |access-date=2012-04-08}}</ref> so it seems altogether likely that Pheidippides was an actual historical figure.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-greece/pheidippides-marathon-runner-battle-athens-persia-sparta/ | title=Pheidippides: Is the ancient Greek marathon runner remembered for the wrong run? }}</ref> However, Miller also asserts that Herodotus did not ever mention a Marathon-to-Athens runner in any of his writings. Whether the story is true or not it has no connection with the Battle of Marathon itself, and Herodotus's silence on the evidently dramatic incident of a herald running from Marathon to Athens suggests that no such event occurred.{{original research inline|date=April 2021}}
However, according to the version of the story written much later by Lucian, Pheidippides was only claimed to have run from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory at the [[Battle of Marathon]]. After announcing "Joy, we win!", he collapsed and died.<ref name="Edward Seldon Sears" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Archive |first=Internet Sacred Text |title=Works of Lucian, Vol. II: A Slip Of The Tongue In Salutation {{!}} Sacred Texts Archive |url=https://sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl204.htm |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=Internet Sacred Text Archive |language=English}}</ref><ref name="John A. Lucas">{{cite book |last=Lucas |first=John A. |title=A History of the Marathon race 490&nbsp;BC to 1975 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University & Los Angeles 1984 Foundation |quote=Philippides, the one who acted as messenger, is said to have used it first in our sense when he brought the news of victory from Marathon and addressed the magistrates in session when they were anxious how the battle had ended; "Joy to you, we've won" he said, and there and then he died, breathing his last breath with the words "Joy to you".}}</ref>
 
In 1879, [[Robert Browning]] wrote the poem ''Pheidippides''. Browning's poem is a composite story, combining the Athens–Sparta–Athens run of Herodotus and the Marathon–Athens run of Lucian.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Browning's Shorter Poems by Robert Browning: Pheidippides |url=https://www.online-literature.com/robert-browning/shorter-poems/6/ |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=www.online-literature.com}}</ref> Browning's poem became part of late 19th-century popular culture and was accepted as a historical legend.<ref name="pheidip">{{cite magazine |last=Burfoot |first=Amby |date=26 October 2010 |title=The Truth about Pheidippides and the Early Years of Marathon History |url=http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/oct-26-truth-about-pheidippides-and-early-years-marathon-history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225062715/http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/oct-26-truth-about-pheidippides-and-early-years-marathon-history |archive-date=25 December 2014 |access-date=25 December 2014 |magazine=Runner's World}}</ref>


====Later embellishments====
== Historicity ==
The first known written account of a run from Marathon to Athens occurs in the works of the Greek writer [[Plutarch]] (46–120&nbsp;AD), in his essay "On the Glory of Athens". Plutarch attributes the run to a herald called either {{translit|grc|Thersippus}} or {{translit|grc|Eukles}}. [[Lucian]], a century later, credits one "Philippides". It seems likely that in the 500&nbsp;years between Herodotus's time and Plutarch's, the story of Pheidippides had become muddled with that of the Battle of Marathon (in particular with the story of the Athenian forces making the march from Marathon to Athens in order to intercept the Persian ships headed there), and some fanciful writer had invented the story of the run from Marathon to Athens.{{original research inline|date=April 2021}}
[[File:Soldat Marathon Cortot Louvre LP243.jpg|thumb|''The Soldier of Marathon Announcing the Victory'' (1834) by [[Jean-Pierre Cortot]]; [[Louvre]], Paris]]


The first recorded account showing a courier running from Marathon to Athens to announce victory is from within [[Lucian]]'s prose on the first use of the word "joy" as a greeting in ''A Slip of the Tongue in Greeting'' (2nd century&nbsp;AD).<ref name="Edward Seldon Sears">{{cite book |last=Sears |first=Edward Seldon |year=2001 |title=Running through the Ages |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786450770 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vxxOw3FvOgwC&q=Pheidippedes |access-date=2012-04-08}}</ref><ref name="John A. Lucas">{{cite book |last=Lucas |first=John A. |title=A History of the Marathon race 490&nbsp;BC to 1975 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University & Los Angeles 1984 Foundation|quote=Philippides, the one who acted as messenger, is said to have used it first in our sense when he brought the news of victory from Marathon and addressed the magistrates in session when they were anxious how the battle had ended; "Joy to you, we've won" he said, and there and then he died, breathing his last breath with the words "Joy to you".}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Lucian |title=Pro lapsu inter salutandum |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl204.htm |translator1=Fowler, F.G. |translator2=Fowler, H. W. |year=1905 |website=Sacred-texts.com |access-date=2013-12-14 |quote=The modern use of the word dates back to Philippides the dispatch-runner. Bringing the news of the victory in Marathon, he found the [[archon]]s seated, in suspense regarding the issue of the battle. 'Joy, we win!' he said, and died upon his message, breathing his last in the word 'joy'&nbsp;...}}</ref>
According to Miller (2006), Herodotus, only 30–40 years removed from the events in question, based his account on eyewitnesses,<ref name="Mill's" /> so it seems altogether likely that Pheidippides was an actual historical figure.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pheidippides: Is the ancient Greek marathon runner remembered for the wrong run? |url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-greece/pheidippides-marathon-runner-battle-athens-persia-sparta/}}</ref> However, Miller also asserts that Herodotus did not ever mention a Marathon-to-Athens runner in any of his writings. Herodotus's silence on the evidently dramatic incident of a herald running from Marathon to Athens suggests that no such event occurred.{{original research inline|date=April 2021}}


Most accounts incorrectly attribute Lucian's story to Herodotus, who wrote the history of the [[Persian Wars]] in his ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' (composed about 440&nbsp;BC). However, Magill and Moose (2003) suggest that the story is likely a "romantic invention". They point out that Lucian is the only classical source with all the elements of the story known in modern culture as the "Marathon story of Pheidippides": a messenger running from the fields of Marathon to announce victory, then dying on completion of his mission.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Magill |first1=Frank Northen |last2=Moose |first2=Christina J. |date=23 Jan 2003 |series=Dictionary of World Biography |title=The Ancient World |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=1579580408 |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyKaVFZqbdUC&q=Marathon+runner+Philippides+Pheidippides&pg=PA820 |access-date=2012-04-08}}</ref>
The first-known written account of a run from Marathon to Athens occurs in the works of the Greek writer [[Plutarch]] (46–120&nbsp;AD), in his essay "On the Glory of Athens". Plutarch attributes the run to a herald called either {{translit|grc|Thersippus}} or {{translit|grc|Eukles}}. [[Lucian]], a century later, credits one "Philippides". It seems likely that in the 500 years between Herodotus's time and Plutarch's, the story of Pheidippides had become muddled with that of the Battle of Marathon (in particular with the story of the Athenian forces making the march from Marathon to Athens in order to intercept the Persian ships headed there), and some fanciful writer had invented the story of the run from Marathon to Athens.{{original research inline|date=April 2021}}


== Modern reception ==
Magill and Moose (2003) suggest that the story of the Marathon–Athens run and Pheidippides's death is likely a "romantic invention". They point out that Lucian is the only classical source with all the elements of the story known in modern culture as the "Marathon story of Pheidippides": a messenger running from the fields of Marathon to announce victory, then dying on completion of his mission.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Magill |first1=Frank Northen |last2=Moose |first2=Christina J. |date=23 Jan 2003 |series=Dictionary of World Biography |title=The Ancient World |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=1579580408 |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyKaVFZqbdUC&q=Marathon+runner+Philippides+Pheidippides&pg=PA820 |access-date=2012-04-08}}</ref>
{{Main|Marathon}}
[[Robert Browning]] 's 1879 poem "Pheidippides" retold the traditional story.


{{Poem quote|So, when Persia was dust, all cried, "To [[Acropolis of Athens|Acropolis]]!
== Modern influence ==
Run, Pheidippides, one race more! the meed is thy due!
{{See also|Marathon}}
[[Athens]] is saved, thank [[Pan (god)|Pan]], go shout!" He flung down his shield
The idea of the modern marathon race came from [[Michel Bréal]], who wanted the event to feature in the [[1896 Summer Olympics|first modern Olympic Games]] in 1896 in Athens. Bréal was inspired by Robert Browning's poem ''Pheidippides.'' The idea of a marathon race was strongly supported by [[Pierre de Coubertin]], the founder of the modern Olympics, and by the [[Greeks]].<ref name="m-run-ency-2002">{{cite book |author1=Richard Benyo |url=https://archive.org/details/runningencyclope00rich |title=Running Encyclopedia |author2=Joe Henderson |publisher=Human Kinetics |year=2002 |isbn=9780736037341 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/runningencyclope00rich/page/250 250] |access-date=6 April 2017 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
ran like fire once more: And the space 'twixt the fennel-field
and Athens was stubble again, a field which a fire runs through,
'till in he broke: "Rejoice, we conquer!" Like wine through clay,
joy in his blood bursting his heart – the bliss!
}}


Based on Herodotus's account, British RAF Wing Commander John Foden and four other RAF officers travelled to Greece in 1982 on an official expedition to test whether it was possible to cover the nearly 250&nbsp;kilometres (155&nbsp;miles) in a day and a half (36&nbsp;hours). Three runners were successful in completing the distance: John Scholtens (34<sup>h</sup>30<sup>m</sup>), John Foden (37<sup>h</sup>37<sup>m</sup>), and John McCarthy (39<sup>h</sup>00<sup>m</sup>). Since 1983, it has been an annual footrace from Athens to Sparta, known as the [[Spartathlon]], celebrating Pheidippides's run across {{cvt|246|km|0}} of the Greek countryside.
Based on Herodotus's account, British RAF Wing Commander John Foden and four other RAF officers travelled to Greece in 1982 on an official expedition to test whether it was possible to cover the nearly 250 kilometres (155 miles) in a day and a half (36&nbsp;hours). Three runners were successful in completing the distance: John Scholtens (34<sup>h</sup>30<sup>m</sup>), John Foden (37<sup>h</sup>37<sup>m</sup>), and John McCarthy (39<sup>h</sup>00<sup>m</sup>). Since 1983, it has been an annual footrace from Athens to Sparta, known as the [[Spartathlon]], celebrating Pheidippides's run across {{cvt|246|km|0}} of the Greek countryside.


Another run inspired by Herodotus's account, the Authentic Pheidippides Run, makes a round trip from Athens to Sparta and back.<ref>{{cite web | title=Route Information | website=authenticphidippidesrun.com | url=https://www.authenticphidippidesrun.com/registrations/index.php/en/route-information | access-date=2024-11-09}}</ref>
Another run inspired by Herodotus's account, the Authentic Pheidippides Run, makes a round trip from Athens to Sparta and back.<ref>{{cite web | title=Route Information | website=authenticphidippidesrun.com | url=https://www.authenticphidippidesrun.com/registrations/index.php/en/route-information | access-date=2024-11-09}}</ref>
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==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
==Sources==
* {{cite book |author=[[Herodotus]] |translator1=de&nbsp;Sélincourt, Aubrey |translator2=Burn, A.R. |title=Herodotus: The Histories |publisher=Penguin Classic |orig-year=1954 |year=1972}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
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==External links==
==External links==
{{Sister project links|d=Q313728|c=category:Pheidippides|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|q=no|wikt=no}}
{{Sister project links|d=Q313728|c=category:Pheidippides|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|q=no|wikt=no}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.spartathlon.gr/ |title=Spartathlon |website=spartathlon.gr |place=Hellas (Greece) |type=home page}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.lucabelcastro.it/cat_1896.html |id=1896 |title=Pheidippides ... run again! |series=Olympic Opera |author-link=Luca Belcastro |first=Luca |last=Belcastro |place=Italy}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.lucabelcastro.it/cat_1896.html |id=1896 |title=Pheidippides ... run again! |series=Olympic Opera |author-link=Luca Belcastro |first=Luca |last=Belcastro |place=Italy}}
* [http://www.authenticphidippidesrun.com Αυθεντικός Φειδιππίδειος Δρόμος Authentic Pheidippides Run] {{In lang|en|el}}


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Latest revision as of 08:42, 5 October 2025

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Pheidippides (Template:IPAc-en; Template:Respell; Template:Langx, Script error: No such module "IPA"., Script error: No such module "IPA". Template:Lit) or Philippides (Script error: No such module "Lang".) was a 5th-century-BC Athenian running courier who was the central figure in the story that inspired the marathon race.

The best-known version of this story is the 1879 poem Pheidippides by Robert Browning,[1] in which Pheidippides is said to have run approximately Template:Convert from Athens to Sparta (and back to Athens) before the Battle of Marathon (490 BC), in order to seek Spartan help against the Persians in the upcoming battle. Pheidippides then fought at the Battle of Marathon, and after the Athenian victory, he ran approximately Template:Convert from Marathon to Athens to deliver the news. He died immediately after announcing the Athenian victory.[2]

Browning's poem is a composite of two earlier versions of Pheidippides's story. According to the earliest-known version of the story by the historian Herodotus, Pheidippides is said to have made an Athens-to-Sparta (and return) run before the battle, but Herodotus does not mention Pheidippides fighting at Marathon, a subsequent Marathon–Athens run, or his death. A much-later version of the story by the satirist Lucian mentions only a Marathon–Athens run and Pheidippides's death; this version has been called a "[likely] romantic invention".[3]

Pheidippides's legendary Marathon–Athens run was the inspiration for the modern Template:Convert marathon race. Pheidippides's Athens–Sparta run inspired two ultramarathon races, the Template:Convert Spartathlon and Template:Convert Authentic Pheidippides Run.

Name

The name Philippides is reported by Pausanias, Plutarch, and Lucian, writers who had read this name in their versions of Herodotus, while in most of Herodotus's manuscripts the form appears Pheidippides.[4]

Other than Herodotus's manuscripts, the form Pheidippides is only attested in Aristophanes's The Clouds (423 BC). Many historians argue that Aristophanes willfully distorted the actual name so as not to use the name of the hero of Marathon in his play or as a play on words meaning "save horses". However, given that the name Pheidippo is attested in the Iliad, the existence of a Pheidippides cannot be excluded. Still, according to many, this form remains an error of the copyists of the manuscripts.[5]

Accounts

File:Phidippides.jpg
Painting of Pheidippides as he gave word of the Greek victory over Persia at the Battle of Marathon to the people of Athens. Luc-Olivier Merson (1869)

The original story by Herodotus relates that Pheidippides, an Athenian runner, or Template:Translit[6] (translated as 'day-runner',[7] 'courier',[8][9] 'professional-running courier'[6] or 'day-long runner'[10]), was sent to Sparta to request help before the Battle of Marathon against Persia in 490 BC. He ran about Template:Convert in two days, and then ran back. His account is as follows:[11]

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Before they left the city, the Athenian generals sent off a message to Sparta. The messenger was an Athenian named Pheidippides, a professional long-distance runner. According to the account he gave the Athenians on his return, Pheidippides met the god Pan on Mount Parthenium, above Tegea. Pan, he said, called him by name and told him to ask the Athenians why they paid him no attention, in spite of his friendliness towards them and the fact that he had often been useful to them in the past, and would be so again in the future. The Athenians believed Pheidippides's story, and when their affairs were once more in a prosperous state, they built a shrine to Pan under the Acropolis, and from the time his message was received they held an annual ceremony, with a torch-race and sacrifices, to court his protection.

On the occasion of which I speak – when Pheidippides, that is, was sent on his mission by the Athenian commanders and said that he saw Pan – he reached Sparta the day after he left Athens and delivered his message to the Spartan government. "Men of Sparta" (the message ran), "the Athenians ask you to help them, and not to stand by while the most ancient city of Greece is crushed and subdued by a foreign invader; for even now Eretria has been enslaved, and Greece is the weaker by the loss of one fine city." The Spartans, though moved by the appeal, and willing to send help to Athens, were unable to send it promptly because they did not wish to break their law. It was the ninth day of the month, and they said they could not take the field until the moon was full. So they waited for the full moon, and meanwhile Hippias, the son of Pisistratus, guided the Persians to Marathon.

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However, according to the version of the story written much later by Lucian, Pheidippides was only claimed to have run from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory at the Battle of Marathon. After announcing "Joy, we win!", he collapsed and died.[6][12][13]

In 1879, Robert Browning wrote the poem Pheidippides. Browning's poem is a composite story, combining the Athens–Sparta–Athens run of Herodotus and the Marathon–Athens run of Lucian.[2] Browning's poem became part of late 19th-century popular culture and was accepted as a historical legend.[1]

Historicity

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The Soldier of Marathon Announcing the Victory (1834) by Jean-Pierre Cortot; Louvre, Paris

According to Miller (2006), Herodotus, only 30–40 years removed from the events in question, based his account on eyewitnesses,[10] so it seems altogether likely that Pheidippides was an actual historical figure.[14] However, Miller also asserts that Herodotus did not ever mention a Marathon-to-Athens runner in any of his writings. Herodotus's silence on the evidently dramatic incident of a herald running from Marathon to Athens suggests that no such event occurred.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

The first-known written account of a run from Marathon to Athens occurs in the works of the Greek writer Plutarch (46–120 AD), in his essay "On the Glory of Athens". Plutarch attributes the run to a herald called either Template:Translit or Template:Translit. Lucian, a century later, credits one "Philippides". It seems likely that in the 500 years between Herodotus's time and Plutarch's, the story of Pheidippides had become muddled with that of the Battle of Marathon (in particular with the story of the Athenian forces making the march from Marathon to Athens in order to intercept the Persian ships headed there), and some fanciful writer had invented the story of the run from Marathon to Athens.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Magill and Moose (2003) suggest that the story of the Marathon–Athens run and Pheidippides's death is likely a "romantic invention". They point out that Lucian is the only classical source with all the elements of the story known in modern culture as the "Marathon story of Pheidippides": a messenger running from the fields of Marathon to announce victory, then dying on completion of his mission.[3]

Modern influence

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". The idea of the modern marathon race came from Michel Bréal, who wanted the event to feature in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. Bréal was inspired by Robert Browning's poem Pheidippides. The idea of a marathon race was strongly supported by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, and by the Greeks.[15]

Based on Herodotus's account, British RAF Wing Commander John Foden and four other RAF officers travelled to Greece in 1982 on an official expedition to test whether it was possible to cover the nearly 250 kilometres (155 miles) in a day and a half (36 hours). Three runners were successful in completing the distance: John Scholtens (34h30m), John Foden (37h37m), and John McCarthy (39h00m). Since 1983, it has been an annual footrace from Athens to Sparta, known as the Spartathlon, celebrating Pheidippides's run across Template:Cvt of the Greek countryside.

Another run inspired by Herodotus's account, the Authentic Pheidippides Run, makes a round trip from Athens to Sparta and back.[16]

References

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Further reading

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External links

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  1. a b Template:Cite magazine
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  4. Lazenby, John Francis. The Defence of Greece 490-479 BC, Aris & Phillips Ltd, 1993, p. 52, ISBN 0-85668-591-7.
  5. Dennis L. Fink, The Battle of Marathon in Scholarship, McFarland, 2014, p. 138, ISBN 978-0-7864-7973-3.
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