. The eastern nations and Greece. artists, and oratorsall vied with one another in com-memorating the deeds of the heroeswhose valor had warded off the im-pending danger. The poet Simon-ides ^ composed immortal coupletsfor the monuments of the fallenheroes of Thermopylae and Salamis;the dramatist yEschylus, who hadfought at Marathon and perhapsat Salamis and Plataea, erected aneternal monument in literature inhis Persians^ which, eight years after the battle, was presented at Athens before twenty thousandspectators, many of whom had had part in the fight; and the greatartist Polygnotus painted
. The eastern nations and Greece. artists, and oratorsall vied with one another in com-memorating the deeds of the heroeswhose valor had warded off the im-pending danger. The poet Simon-ides ^ composed immortal coupletsfor the monuments of the fallenheroes of Thermopylae and Salamis;the dramatist yEschylus, who hadfought at Marathon and perhapsat Salamis and Plataea, erected aneternal monument in literature inhis Persians^ which, eight years after the battle, was presented at Athens before twenty thousandspectators, many of whom had had part in the fight; and the greatartist Polygnotus painted on the walls of a public porch at Athensthe battle of Marathon. In truth, the great literature and art of thegolden age of Athens were an imperishable memorial of the war. Nor did the pious Greeks think that the marvelous deliverancehad been effected without the intervention of the gods in their god, sang Pindar, hath turned away the Tantalus stone hangingover Hellas. Upon the Acropolis at Athens was erected a colossal. Fig. 102. HoPLiTE, or Heavy-armed Greek Warrior 1 On the very day of the battle of Salamis, according to tradition, Gelo, tyrant ofSyracuse, gained a great victory in Sicily over the Carthaginians, who had arrangedwith Xerxes to attack the Greeks in the West at the same time that the Persians madetheir attack in the East. So that was a memorable day for Hellas. 2 Simoni4es of Ceos (556-467 ). 8 This is the only Greek drama preserved to us which deals with contem[)orary history. 2o6 THE PERSIAN WARS [§229 statue of Athena, made from the brazen arms gathered from the fieldat Marathon, while within the sanctuary of the goddess were placedthe broken cables of the Hellespontine bridges,at once a proud trophy of victory and a signalillustration of the divine punishment that hadbefallen the audacious and impious attemptto lay a yoke upon the sacred waters of theHellespont. Lastly, to Apollo at Delphi was gratefullyconsecrated a tenth of the immense spoil
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