From the place where these sounds were
heard a mist seemed to spread over the sea and envelop the ships. Others
thought that they saw spirit-forms of armed men come from Aegina, and
hold their hands before the ships of the Greeks. These it was supposed
were the Aeakid heroes, to whom prayers for help had been offered just
before the battle. The first man to capture a ship was Lykomedes, an
Athenian captain, who cut off its ensign and dedicated it to Apollo with
the laurel crown at the Temple at Phlyae.
In the narrow straits the Persians were unable to bring more than a part
of their fleet into action, and their ships got into each other's way,
so that the Greeks could meet them on equal terms, and, although they
resisted until evening, completely routed them, winning, as Simonides
calls it, that "glorious and famous victory," the greatest exploit ever
achieved at sea, which owed its success to the bravery of the sailors
and the genius of Themistokles.
XVI. After this naval defeat, Xerxes, enraged at his failure,
endeavoured to fill up the strait with earth, and so to make a passage
for his land forces to Salamis, to attack the Greeks there. Now
Themistokles, in order to try the temper of Aristeides, proposed that
the fleet should sail to the Hellespont, and break the bridge of boats
there, "in order," said he, "that we may conquer Asia in Europe." But
Aristeides disapproved of this measure, saying, "Hitherto we have fought
against the Persian king, while he has been at his ease; but if we shut
him up in Greece, and drive the chief of so large an army to despair, he
will no longer sit quietly under a golden umbrella to look on at his
battles, but will strain every nerve and superintend every operation in
person, and so will easily retrieve his losses and form better plans for
the future.
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