History and Origin of Marathon
Luc-Olivier Merson's 1869 painting depicting the runner
announcing the victory at the Battle of Marathon to the people
of Athens
The name Marathon comes from
the legend of Pheidippides,
the Greek messenger. The legend states that while he was taking part in
the Battle of Marathon, which took place in
August or September 490 BC, he witnessed a Persian vessel changing its course
towards Athens as
the battle was near a victorious end for the Greek army. He interpreted this as
an attempt by the defeated Persians to
rush into the city to claim a false victory or simply raid, hence claiming
their authority over Greek land. It was said that he ran the entire distance to
Athens without stopping, discarding his weapons and even clothes to lose as
much weight as possible, and burst into the assembly, exclaiming "we have
won!", before collapsing and dying.
The account of the run from Marathon to Athens
first appeared in Plutarch's On
the Glory of Athens in the first century AD, which quoted from Heraclides Ponticus's lost work, giving
the runner's name as either Thersipus of Erchius or Eucles. This was the
account adopted by Benjamin Haydon for
his painting 
Eucles
Announcing the Victory of Marathon, published as an engraving
in 1836 with a poetical illustration by Letitia Elizabeth Landon. Satirist Lucian of
Samosata gave one of the earliest accounts similar to the
modern version of the story, but its historical veracity is disputed based on
its tongue-in-cheek writing and the runner being referred to as Philippides and
not Pheidippides.
There is debate about the historical accuracy
of this legend. The Greek historian Herodotus, the main source for the Greco-Persian Wars, mentioned
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. 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.
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 historical
legend.
Mount Pentelicus stands between Marathon and Athens,
which means that Philippides would have had to run around the mountain, either
to the north or to the south. The latter and more obvious route is followed by
the modern Marathon-Athens highway (EO83–EO54), 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. As it existed when the Olympics were
revived in 1896, this route was approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) long.
It 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 slightly
shorter, 35 kilometres (22 mi), but includes a very steep climb over the
first 5 kilometres (3.1 mi).
MARATHON
DISTANCE
|
Olympic
marathon distances |
||
|
Year |
Distance |
Distance |
|
1896 |
40 |
24.85 |
|
1900 |
40.26 |
25.02 |
|
1904 |
40 |
24.85 |
|
1906 |
41.86 |
26.01 |
|
1908 |
42.195 |
26.22 |
|
1912 |
40.2 |
24.98 |
|
1920 |
42.75 |
26.56 |
|
1924 onward |
42.195 |
26.22 |
