Olympians
AphroditeApolloAresArtemisAthenaHadesHephaestusHeraHermesHestiaPoseidonZeusAll Olympians
Titans
AsteriaAstraeusAtlasClymeneCriusCronusDioneEosEpimetheusEurybiaEurynomeHyperionAll Titans
Greek Gods
AeolusAetherAmphitriteAnemoiApateAsclepiusAuraBiaChaosCirceDeimosDemeterAll Greek Gods
Myths
CreaturesElementsFiguresGigantesGreek MythsHeroesMonstersMortalsMoviesPlacesPlanetsPopularAll Myths
Plays
AeschylusAristophanesEuripidesSophoclesAll Plays
Ancient Sources
ApollodorusHomerHesiodAeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesApolloniusOvidPausaniasPindarAll Ancient Sources
Olympians
Olympians
AphroditeApolloAresArtemisAthenaHadesHephaestusHeraHermesHestiaPoseidonZeusAll Olympians
Titans
Titans
AsteriaAstraeusAtlasClymeneCriusCronusDioneEosEpimetheusEurybiaEurynomeHyperionAll Titans
Greek Gods
Greek Gods
AeolusAetherAmphitriteAnemoiApateAsclepiusAuraBiaChaosCirceDeimosDemeterAll Greek Gods
Myths
Myths
CreaturesElementsFiguresGigantesGreek MythsHeroesMonstersMortalsMoviesPlacesPlanetsPopularAll Myths
Plays
Plays
AeschylusAristophanesEuripidesSophoclesAll Plays
Ancient Sources
Ancient Sources
ApollodorusHomerHesiodAeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesApolloniusOvidPausaniasPindarAll Ancient Sources

Plutarch · c. AD 46-after 119

Life of Themistocles

Θεμιστοκλῆς
Ancient Sources / Plutarch / Life of Themistocles

Plutarch's Life of Themistocles tells of the Athenian statesman and admiral who persuaded Athens to build the fleet that won at Salamis, from his obscure birth and rivalry with Aristides to his ostracism, flight and death at Magnesia in the King of Persia's service. Alongside the political narrative it records oracles, omens, a human sacrifice before Salamis and dreams sent by gods. It is paired with the Life of Camillus.

Read from the start
Text
Greek original with English translation, 10 passages, about 12100 words in English.
Translator
Bernadotte Perrin (1914)
Edition
Bernadotte Perrin (ed. and trans.), Plutarch's Lives, vol. 2, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1914 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus)
Cite as
Plutarch, Life of Themistocles 1.1 (by chapter, section)

Contents · 10 passages

  1. 1.1–3.4Themistocles: obscure birth, early ambition and rivalry with Aristides1169 words
  2. 4.1–6.3Themistocles turns Athens to the sea with a hundred triremes and has Aristides ostracized1068 words
  3. 7.1–9.4Artemisium: Themistocles yields command to Eurybiades, and the Greeks fall back after Thermopylae1206 words
  4. 10.1–11.5The serpent omen, the wooden wall oracle and the evacuation of Athens to Troezen and Salamis1039 words
  5. 12.1–15.2The battle of Salamis: Sicinnus' message, the sacrifice to Dionysus and the Eleusinian vision1408 words
  6. 16.1–18.5After Salamis: Themistocles sends Arnaces to Xerxes and is honoured at Sparta and Olympia1121 words
  7. 19.1–22.3Themistocles has Athens' walls rebuilt and the Piraeus fortified, and is ostracized1237 words
  8. 23.1–26.4Themistocles accused of treason, flees to Admetus and dreams of a serpent at Aegae1332 words
  9. 27.1–29.7Themistocles at the Persian court: audience, the Dodona oracle and the gift of cities1362 words
  10. 30.1–32.5The Mother of the Gods warns Themistocles; his death at Magnesia and the stories of his tomb1188 words

More by Plutarch

English translation by Bernadotte Perrin (1914). Original text: Bernadotte Perrin (ed. and trans.), Plutarch's Lives, vol. 2, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1914 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.