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Marathon's Legendary Origins

The marathon event originated from the legend of Philippides, a Greek messenger who reportedly ran from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce a Greek victory over the Persians in 490 BC, before collapsing and dying. While the historic accuracy of this legend is debated, it inspired the distance of the marathon race in the modern Olympics and led to over 800 marathon races being held worldwide each year, with tens of thousands of recreational athletes participating in larger marathons. There is also debate around the exact route Philippides may have taken from Marathon to Athens, with the traditional route being about 40 kilometers and another potential route being slightly shorter at 35 kilometers but including a steeper initial climb.

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177 views2 pages

Marathon's Legendary Origins

The marathon event originated from the legend of Philippides, a Greek messenger who reportedly ran from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce a Greek victory over the Persians in 490 BC, before collapsing and dying. While the historic accuracy of this legend is debated, it inspired the distance of the marathon race in the modern Olympics and led to over 800 marathon races being held worldwide each year, with tens of thousands of recreational athletes participating in larger marathons. There is also debate around the exact route Philippides may have taken from Marathon to Athens, with the traditional route being about 40 kilometers and another potential route being slightly shorter at 35 kilometers but including a steeper initial climb.

Uploaded by

Rajiv Bhatia
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

The marathon was one of the original modern Olympic events in 1896, though the distance did

not become standardized until 1921. More than 800 marathons are held throughout the world
each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes, as larger marathons
can have tens of thousands of participants.

The name Marathon[note 1] comes from the legend of Philippides (or Pheidippides), the


Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to
Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (in
which he had just fought),[3] which took place in August or September, 490 BC.[4] It is
said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly,
exclaiming νενικήκαμεν (nenikēkamen, "we have won!"), before collapsing and dying.
[5] The account of the run from Marathon to Athens first appears in Plutarch's On the
Glory of Athens in the 1st century AD, which quotes from Heraclides Ponticus's lost work,
giving the runner's name as either Thersipus of Erchius or Eucles.[6] Satirist Lucian of
Samosata (2nd century AD) first gives an account closest to the modern version of the
story, but is writing tongue in cheek and also names the runner Philippides (not
Pheidippides).[7][8]
There is debate about the historical accuracy of this legend.[9][10] The Greek
historian Herodotus, the main source for the Greco-Persian Wars, mentions Philippides as
the messenger who ran from Athens to Sparta asking for help, and then ran back, a
distance of over 240 kilometres (150 mi) each way.[11] In some Herodotus manuscripts,
the name of the runner between Athens and Sparta is given as Philippides. Herodotus
makes no mention of a messenger sent from Marathon to Athens, and relates that the
main part of the Athenian army, having fought and won the grueling battle, and fearing a
naval raid by the Persian fleet against an undefended Athens, marched quickly back
from the battle to Athens, arriving the same day.[12]

In 1879, Robert Browning wrote the poem Pheidippides. Browning's poem, his composite


story, became part of late 19th century popular culture and was accepted as a historic
legend.[13]
Mount Pentelicus stands between Marathon and Athens, which means that if Philippides
actually made his famous run after the battle, he had to run around the mountain, either
to the north or to the south. The latter and more obvious route matches almost exactly
the modern Marathon-Athens highway, which follows the lay of the land southwards
from Marathon Bay and along the coast, then takes a gentle but protracted climb
westwards towards the eastern approach to Athens, between the foothills of
Mounts Hymettus and Penteli, and then gently downhill to Athens proper. This route, as it
existed when the Olympics were revived in 1896, was approximately 40 kilometres
(25 mi) long, and this was the approximate distance originally used for marathon races.
However, there have been suggestions that Philippides might have followed another
route: a westward climb along the eastern and northern slopes of Mount Penteli to
the pass of Dionysos, and then a straight southward downhill path to Athens. This route is
a bit shorter, 35 kilometres (22 mi), but includes a very steep initial climb of more than 5
kilometres (3.1 mi)

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