Marathon (
Demotic Greek: Μαραθώνας, Marathónas;
Attic/
Katharevousa: Μαραθών, Marathṓn) is a town in
Greece and the site of the
Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, in which the heavily outnumbered
Athenian army defeated the
Persians. Legend has it that
Pheidippides, a Greek
herald at the battle, was sent running from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory, which is how the
marathon running race was conceived in modern times.[n 1] Today it is part of East Attica regional unit, in the outskirts of Athens and a popular resort town and center of agriculture.
History
The name "Marathon" (Μαραθών) comes from the
herbfennel, called márathon (μάραθον) or márathos (μάραθος) in Ancient Greek,[2][n 2] so Marathon literally means "a place full of fennel".[4]
It is believed that the town was originally named so because of an abundance of fennel plants in the area.
In ancient times, Marathon (
Ancient Greek: Μαραθών) occupied a small plain in the northeast of
ancient Attica, which contained four places, Marathon,
Probalinthus,
Tricorythus, and
Oenoe, which originally formed the
Tetrapolis, one of the 12 districts into which Attica was divided before the time of
Theseus. Here
Xuthus, who married the daughter of
Erechtheus, is said to have reigned; and here the
Heracleidae took refuge when driven out of
Peloponnesus, and defeated
Eurystheus.[5][6] The Marathonii claimed to be the first people in Greece who paid divine honours to
Heracles, who possessed a sanctuary in the plain.[7] Marathon is also celebrated in the legends of Theseus, who conquered the ferocious bull, which used to devastate the plain.[8][9] Marathon is mentioned in
Homer'sOdyssey in a way that implies that it was then a place of importance.[10] In mythology, its name was derived from an eponymous hero
Marathon, who is described by Pausanias as a son of
Epopeus, king of
Sicyon, who fled into Attica in consequence of the cruelty of his father[11]Plutarch calls him an
Arcadian, who accompanied the
Dioscuri in their expedition into Attica, and voluntarily devoted himself to death before the battle.[12]
After Theseus united the 12 independent districts of Attica into one state, the name of Tetrapolis gradually fell into disuse; and the four places of which it consisted became Attic demi, Marathon, Tricorythus, and Oenoë belonging to the tribe
Aeantis, and Probalinthus to the tribe
Pandionis; but Marathon was so superior to the other three, that its name was applied to the whole district down to the latest times. Hence
Lucian speaks of "the parts of Marathon about Oenoë".[13]
Few places have obtained such celebrity in the history of the world as Marathon, on account of the victory which the Athenians here gained over the
Persians in 490 BCE (
Battle of Marathon). After
Miltiades (the general of the Greek forces) defeated
Darius' Persian forces, the Persians decided to sail from Marathon to Athens in order to sack the unprotected city. Miltiades ordered all his
hoplite forces to march "double time" back to Athens, so that by the time Darius' troops arrived they saw the same Greek force waiting for them.
Although the name Marathon had a positive resonance in Europe in the nineteenth century, for some time that was sullied by the
Dilessi murders, which happened nearby in 1870.
In the 19th century and beginning of twentieth century the village was inhabited by an
Arvanite population.[14][15]
The
sophist and magnate
Herodes Atticus was born in Marathon. In 1926, the American company ULEN began construction on the
Marathon Dam in a valley above Marathon, in order to ensure water supply for
Athens. It was completed in 1929. About 10 km2 of forested land were flooded to form
Lake Marathon.
The beach of Schinias is located southeast of the town. The beach is popular as a spot for
windsurfing and the
Olympic Rowing Center used for the
2004 Summer Olympics is also located there. At the
1896 and
2004 Summer Olympics, Marathon was the starting point of the
marathon races (for both women and men in 2004).[16][17] The area is susceptible to
flash flooding, because of forest fires having denuded parts of the eastern slopes of Mount
Penteli especially in 2006.
Municipality
The municipality Marathon was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 4 former municipalities, that became municipal units:[18]
The municipality has an area of 222.747 km2, the municipal unit 97.062 km2.[19]
Population
Year
Town
Municipal unit
Municipality
1981
4,841
-
-
1991
5,453
12,979
-
2001
4,399
8,882
-
2011
7,170
12,849
33,423
2021
-
10,063
31,331
The other settlements in the municipal unit are Agios Panteleimonas, Kato Souli, Vranas, Avra, Vothon, Ano Souli and Schinias.
Points of interest
The Soros, a
tumulus (Greek Τύμβος, tymbos, tomb), or burial mound, erected to the 192 Athenian fallen at the Battle of Marathon, is a feature of the coastal plain, now marked by a marble memorial
stele and surrounded by a small park.[20]
^In
modern Greek the sports event is called Marathonios Dromos (Μαραθώνιος Δρόμος) or simply Marathonios.
^The Greek word for fennel is first attested in
MycenaeanLinear B on tablets
MY Ge 602, MY Ge 606 + fr., MY Ge 605 + 607 + frr. + 60Sa + 605b - as 𐀔𐀨𐀶𐀺, ma-ra-tu-wo.[3]
^Pausanias (1918).
"15.3". Description of Greece. Vol. 1. Translated by
W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via
Perseus Digital Library., 1.35.4.
^Pausanias (1918).
"1.1". Description of Greece. Vol. 2. Translated by
W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via
Perseus Digital Library., 2.6.5, 1.15.3, 1.32.4
^Chase, Thomas, Hellas, her monuments and scenery, Sever and Francis, Cambridge, pp. 102–103
[1]
^Hichens, The Near East, Dalmatia, Greece and Constantiople, Hodder and Stoght, London, 1913, p. 116.
[2]
^Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2008). "Track & Field (Men): Marathon". In The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 133.
^Aerial photograph in John Boardman, Jasper Griffin and Oswyn Murray, Greece and the Hellenistic World (Oxford History of the Classical World) 1988, vol. I p. 34.