Download 3 - Myth Note: Fill in the Blanks

The Myth of Pheidippides and the Marathon
November 04, 2011 12:00 PM
by Denis Cummings
As estimated 47,000 people will run 26.2 miles Sunday in the New
York City Marathon. The marathon race was created in 1896 to honor
the legendary run of Greek messenger Pheidippides from Marathon
to Athens. Though the story is almost certainly a myth, it is based on
an even more impressive feat of endurance.
The Myth and First Marathon
In 490 B.C., the Athenian army defeated the invading ____________
army in a battle in the plain of Marathon, located roughly 26 miles
north of Athens. According to legend, the Athenians then ordered the
messenger ___________________ to run ahead to Athens and
announce the ____________ to the city.
Pheidippides raced back to the city in intense late
summer heat. Upon reaching the Athenian agora, he
exclaimed “Nike!” (“Victory!”) or “Rejoice! We Conquer”
and then collapsed dead from _____________________.
During plans for the 1896 _________________, the first
Persian
Pheidippides
Exhaustion
Olympics
Race
Gold
Spartans
Marathon
Olympic Games
Commander
Sparta
40 Hours
Spartathalon
Greek
Father
Castle
Poem
Victory
modern Games, organizers wanted an event to celebrate
Greek history. French historian Michel Breal suggested a long-distance ____________ from Marathon to Athens to
honor Pheidippides’ run. Greek runner Spiridon Louis won the race—winning Greece’s only ___________ medal of
the Games—and the local excitement over the race ensured that it would be included in later Games.
The first marathon was 39.9 kilometers (24.8 miles), according to the Boston Athletic Association, but the distance
was changed to 42.195 kilometers (26.2 miles) at the 1908 London Olympics. It was based not on the distance from
Marathon to Athens, but rather the distance from Windsor ____________ to London’s Olympic Stadium, the route
of the 1908 marathon.
The Evolution of the Marathon Myth
The myth of Pheidippides (also referred to as Phidippides or Philippides) is likely based on other stories with
stronger historical foundations.
Fifth century B.C. Greek historian Herodotus, the “____________ of history,” made no mention of Pheidippides
running to Athens in his account of the Battle of Marathon. He did write that before the battle the Pheidippides was
sent to Sparta to ask the ______________ for assistance. He completed the run (estimated to be between 140 and
153 miles) in two days and then immediately raced back to _________________.
In 1879, English poet Robert Browning wrote the _________ “Pheidippides,” which stated:
“Unforeseeing one! Yes, he fought on the Marathon day:
So, when Persia was dust, all cried ‘To Akropolis!
Run, Pheidippides, one race more! the meed is thy due!
“Athens is saved, thank Pan,” go shout!’ He flung down his shield, 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 thro’ clay,
Joy in his blood bursting his heart, he died—the bliss!”
Nineteen years after the poem, the marathon race was created. “It is probable that this poem, and not the actual
historical facts, would have been in the minds of those, who not twenty years later, would be concerned with the
revival of the __________ _________ and the formation of any possible events which could provide a link with the
past,” wrote R. Grogan in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The Spartathalon
In 1982, British RAF Wing _______________ John Foden organized a race from Marathon to ___________ to see if
Pheidippides’ run could be repeated. He and four other RAF members attempted the race, and three of them
completed it in under ____________. The 246-kilometer (152.85-mile) “__________________” has become an
annual race; the current record is held by ____________ runner Yiannis Kouros, who ran the race in 20 hours and 25
minutes in 1984.
Persian
Pheidippides
Exhaustion
Olympics
Race
Gold
Spartans
Marathon
Olympic Games
Commander
Sparta
40 Hours
Spartathalon
Greek
Father
Castle
Poem
Victory