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oa Herodotus en het wonder van Salamis
- Amsterdam University Press
- Source: Lampas, Volume 55, Issue 2, Aug 2022, p. 103 - 118
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- 01 Aug 2022
Abstract
Abstract
The battle of Salamis can be considered a ‘miracle’ in three respects. There is the ‘David and Goliath’ kind of miracle that a much smaller Greek fleet manages to defeat the Persian opponent. There is the miracle that the Greeks offer battle at all, after their endless debates. But the biggest miracle is Artemisia, called a literal θαῦμα by Herodotus himself. My close-reading of her bravura martial feat, which makes her even more esteemed in Xerxes’ eyes, shows why for Herodotus such events are quintessentially historical stuff, more than exact numbers or military strategies.
© Irene de Jong