Douris, of Samos, makes a lamentable story of this, accusing
Perikles and the Athenians of great cruelty, no mention of which is to
be found in Thucydides, Ephorus, or Aristotle. He obviously does not
tell the truth when he says that Perikles took the captains and marine
soldiers of each ship to the market-place at Miletus, bound them to
planks, and after they had been so for ten days and were in a miserable
state, knocked them on the head with clubs and cast out their bodies
without burial. But Douris, even in cases where he has no personal bias,
prefers writing an exciting story to keeping to the exact truth, and in
this instance probably exaggerated the sufferings of his countrymen in
order to gratify his dislike of the Athenians.
Perikles, after the reduction of Samos, returned to Athens, where he
buried those who had fallen in the war in a magnificent manner, and was
much admired for the funeral oration which, as is customary, was spoken
by him over the graves of his countrymen. When he descended from the
rostrum the women greeted him, crowning him with garlands and ribbons
like a victorious athlete, and Elpinike drawing near to him said, "A
fine exploit, truly, Perikles, and well worthy of a crown, to lose many
of our brave fellow-citizens, not fighting with Persians or Phoenicians,
as my brother Kimon did, but in ruining a city of men of our own blood
and our own allies.
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