from the south, so as to cut off the retreat of the
Greeks in that quarter. They thought that by this plan the Greek fleet
would be surrounded, and could have no possible mode of escape. They
remained, therefore, with the principal fleet, at the outer entrance of
the northern strait for some days, before attacking the Greeks, in order
to give time for the detachment to pass round the island.

The Persians sent off the two hundred galleys with great secrecy, not
desiring that the Greeks should discover their design of thus
intercepting their retreat. They did discover it, however, for this was
the occasion on which the great diver, Scyllias, made his escape from
one fleet to the other by swimming under water ten miles, and he brought
the Greeks the tidings.[E]

[Footnote E: There is reason to suppose that Scyllias made his escape by
night in a boat, managing the circumstances, however, in such a way as
to cause the story to be circulated that he swam.]

The Greeks dispatched a small squadron of ships with orders to proceed
southward into the Euripus, to meet this detachment which the Persians
sent round; and, in the mean time, they determined themselves to attack
the main Persian fleet without any delay. Notwithstanding their absurd
dissensions and jealousies, and the extent to which the leaders were
influenced by intrigues and bribes, the Greeks always evinced an
undaunted and indomitable spirit when the day of battle came. It was,
moreover, in this case, exceedingly important to defend the position
which they had taken. By referring to the map once more, it will be seen
that the Euripus was the great highway to Athens by sea, as the pass of
Thermopylae was by land. Thermopylae was west of Artemisium, where the
fleet was now stationed, and not many miles from it. The Greek army had
made its great stand at Thermopylae, and Xerxes was fast coming down the
country with all his forces to endeavor to force a passage there. The
Persian fleet, in entering Artemisium, was making the same attempt by
sea in respect to the narrow passage of Euripus; and for either of the
two forces, the fleet or the army, to fail of making good the defense of
its position, without a desperate effort to do so, would justly be
considered a base betrayal and abandonment of the other.

The Greeks therefore advanced, one morning, to the attack of the
Persians, to the utter astonishment of the latter, who believed that
their enemies were insane when