Download Τόπος και Χρόνος Γέννησης Τόπος και Χρόνος Θανάτου Κύρι

IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ
Συγγραφή :
Μπίκα Γεωργία
,
Μπίκα Γεωργία
Κούτρας Νικόλαος
Για παραπομπή :
Μπίκα Γεωργία , Μπίκα Γεωργία , "Themistocles",
Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Κωνσταντινούπολη
URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=8459>
Μετάφραση :
Περίληψη :
Athenian statesman and general. He was the leader of the democratic party. He completed the preparation of Athens’ army and
navy so as to withstand the Persian threat. In 471 BC he was ostracized and later sought refuge in Asia Minor, where he died.
Τόπος και Χρόνος Γέννησης
524 BC - Athens
Τόπος και Χρόνος Θανάτου
460 BC - Magnesia ad Meandrum
Κύρια Ιδιότητα
statesman and general
1. Birth and origin
Themistocles was born between 527 and 524 BC; he was the son of Neocles of the deme of Phrearria . The information on his
mother’s descent is contradictory: she possibly originated from Thrace or Halicarnassus or from Acarnania.1 Themistocles was not
educated in the schools of the pure Athenians but in Cynosarges, a gymnasium for children of mixed families. At the age of 30 he
became an archon (493-2 BC) and when he was 33 he was elected general (490-89).
He made a big family. From his first marriage he had five sons and three daughters, plus two more daughters from his second wife. In
the 2nd c. AD people still claimed descent from Themistocles, and in Magnesia they continued to enjoy certain privileges.
2. Activity
Themistocles entered Athenian politics by siding with the democrats. In 493 BC he was elected archon, and then he accomplished
the completion of Athens’ military and especially naval preparation. Thanks to him, in 481 BC representatives from all the Greek
cities met at the Isthmus, where it was decided that the Greeks would jointly fight against Persian aggression. The victory at Salamis is
considered his personal success.
In 471 BC Themistocles was ostracized.2 The exiled politician settled in Argos and from there he sought refuge in Corfu, chased
away by the Spartans and the Athenians. Then he travelled to Epirus, as a supplicant in the court of Admetus, king of the Molossians,
and thence he went to Pydna of Macedonia. He reached the shores of Ionia by ship, but Themistocles was not safe there, so he
sought refuge at Nicogenes in Aegae. Nicogenes, after offering him hospitality for some time, sent him further into Asia and
introduced him to some Persian nobleman from Susa. From there he addressed a letter to the new king of the Persians, Artaxerxes
I,3 with requesting asylum. The king marvelled at the man’s courage and agreed to give him what he had requested: a one-year period
during which Themistocles would learn the Persian language and the country’s customs so as to be able to converse with the king.
He was honoured like no other Greek. Among others he was given the government of Magnesia, which afforded him a yearly income
of 50 talents and supplied him with bread; he also governed Lampsacus, which provided him with wine and Myous which provided
him with meat. Neanthes from Cyzicus and Phanias add two more cities to Themistocles’ domain, Percote of Mysia between Abydus
and Lampsacus, and Palaiskepsis in the Troad close to Kebrene. Both these cities produced textiles for clothes and bed sheets. Thus
Themistocles led a life of leisure, receiving large income from his estates in Asia Minor, and traveling frequently inside and outside
Magnesia. In these areas he maintained a sort of a satrapy, possibly with the obligation of defending them against Greek attacks from
the west.
Δημιουργήθηκε στις 11/5/2017
Σελίδα 1/3
IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ
Συγγραφή :
Μπίκα Γεωργία
,
Μπίκα Γεωργία
Κούτρας Νικόλαος
Για παραπομπή :
Μπίκα Γεωργία , Μπίκα Γεωργία , "Themistocles",
Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Κωνσταντινούπολη
URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=8459>
Μετάφραση :
Themistocles showed special concern for Magnesia. He established the festival of the Panathenaea and the ‘feast of the choai’. He
also built a temple dedicated to Cybele, where he appointed his daughter Mnesiptoleme as a high-priestess; it was because of one
prophetic dream of hers, sent by the goddess, that Themistocles had managed to avoid the assassins sent against him by Epixyes,
satrap of Upper Phrygia. In Magnesia we also have signs of Themistocles’ minting silver didrachms as a ruler.
3. Death
Themistocles lived as ruler of Magnesia until 460 BC. During this year Egypt rebelled and the Athenians rushed to its aid. The Persian
king asked for Themistocles' assistance; the Athenian, not wishing to fight against Greece, poisoned himself by drinking bull's blood.
This is the version Plutarch gives us. Thucydides, on the other hand, simply mentions that he died of some disease. 4 Themistocles
passed away at the age of 65, in 460 BC. The Magnesians allocated a site outside their city’s walls as his final resting place.
Furthermore they honoured him as a hero, erecting a naked statue (andrias) which depicted him pouring a libation on an altar, under
which there was a bull.
Some argue that his friends secretly carried his body and buried him in his fatherland, which would have been illegal as he had been
convicted with treason. It is said that his grave was found on the promontory of Alcimus, in the port of Piraeus. This grave, however,
would have been constructed after the naval battle of Cnidus, when Conon rebuilt the walls of Athens using Persian gold as a source
for the works.
4. Assessment
Plutarch reports that Themistocles was intelligent, vigorous, a true democrat, insightful and blessed with many spiritual gifts. He was
an excellent administrator and a brilliant statesman.5 In a series of anecdotes, Herodotus presents Themistocles as exhibiting a series
of minor and major shortcomings.6 Thucydides offers us a characteristic image of the man: he was a very gifted person. Thanks to his
innate perceptiveness (which was not the result of education) he was able to quickly come upon the best solution on the issues at
hand and was able to foretell what would follow.7 Yet, this outstanding politician was bound to cause resentment. Thus the
machinations of his opponents on the conservative and aristocratic side, combined with his high-handed manner, led to his ostracism.
1. On Themistocles’ early years see Ehrenberg, V., Ost und West: Studien zur geschichtlichen Problematik der Antike (Brünn 1935), pp. 114.
2. The date 472/1 BC is derived from Eusebius’ Chronicle.
3. He had ascended to the Achaemenid throne in 465 BC, following Xerxes’ murder.
4. Thuc. 138.
5. Plut., Them. 3.
6. Hdt. VII 143.
7. Thuc. 138.3
Βιβλιογραφία :
Δημιουργήθηκε στις 11/5/2017
Σελίδα 2/3
IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ
Συγγραφή :
Μπίκα Γεωργία
,
Μπίκα Γεωργία
Κούτρας Νικόλαος
Για παραπομπή :
Μπίκα Γεωργία , Μπίκα Γεωργία , "Themistocles",
Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Κωνσταντινούπολη
URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=8459>
Μετάφραση :
Bengtson H., Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die Römische Kaiserzeit, 4, München 1969
Wilcken U., Griechische Geschichte im Rahmen der Altertumsgeschichte, München 1958
Meiggs R., Bury J.B., History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great, London 1975
Stoll H.W., Die Helden Griechenlands im Krieg und Frieden. Geschichte der Griechen in biographischer
Form, für Schulen und die reifere Jugend, Leipzig 1878
Κορδάτος Γ., Ιστορία της Αρχαίας Ελλάδος τόμ. II, Αθήνα 1956
Παπασταύρου Ι.Σ., Θεμιστοκλής Φρεάρριος, Αθήνα 1970
Δικτυογραφία :
Ostraka of Themistokles
http://www.davidgill.co.uk/attica/ostraka_them.htm
Themistocles
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Themistocles*.html
Themistocles
http://www.gottwein.de/Lat/nepos/themist01.php
Γλωσσάριo :
satrap, the
The title designated a representative of the Persian king, and was widely used in the Persian language. In ancient writers the term usually designates
an official of the Persian empire who assumes highest political and military power within the limits of his satrapia, the division under his command.
Alexander the Great introduced the institution to the administrative organisation of his empire in the East.
In the Roman empire, the office of the satrap was hereditary for Armenian nobles who administered an Armenian klima (=canton, a historicgeographical unit); in the case of the Armenian territories inside the Roman Empire, the satrap yielded limited power under the suzerainty of the
Roman emperor.
talent, the
Numismatic weight unit. The silver talent equaled 60 mnai or 6000 silver drachmas.
Δημιουργήθηκε στις 11/5/2017
Σελίδα 3/3