Have Toga, Will Travel: Exploring Greece and Rome, Ancient and Modern

In Part Two of a two-part series on the Athens Marathon, Emily and Cam talk about what it’s like to participate in the Athens Marathon today. They discuss the first marathon race at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens; the development of the marathon as a marquee sporting event; and the route of the contemporary Athens marathon.

Links to related episodes:

• Part I of this series, "The Athens Marathon, Part I: In the Footsteps of Pheidippides?"

Links to our other related content:

• Part I of our photo essay on the Athens Marathon;
• Part II of our phot essay on the Athens Marathon;

Links to other relevant material:

• A report in the Greek Times about the 73-year-old Cretan runner, Idomeneas Avramakis.

Visit our homepage to subscribe and to find us on social media:

• https://havetogawilltravel.com/

If you liked this episode, buy us a coffee:

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• 01:11 - The early Olympic movement: de Coubertin, Bréal, and the push for a long-distance race
• 03:52 - Picking a route: the major routes from Marathon to Athens, in the ancient world and now (with a digression on the Athenian army in 490 BC and the walk of NGL Hammond)
• 08:28 - The first marathon: the achievements of Spyridon Louis and Stamata Revithi

• 13:07 - The impromptu conditions of early marathons
• 14:01 - Refinements at the 1906 intercalated games in Athens
• 14:49 - Setting the official distance at the 1921 IAAF Conference and the story of the 1908 London Olympics

• 17:45 - The history of the Athens Marathon from 1955 to the present
• 18:37 - Following in the footsteps of Pheidippides, or in the footsteps of Grigoris Lambrakis?
• 19:49 - The first 8km: the Marathon plain, the ancient Tomb of the Athenians, and the enthusiasm of the spectators
• 21:30 - The next 10km: the road to Rafina, the statue of the Runners, and the lost statue of Pheidippides
• 23:56 - From 18km to 31km: “The Hill”, and the barefoot runner Idomeneas Avromakis
• 26:27 - The final 10km: the Attic Basin, the statue of the Runner, and the finish in the Panathenaic Stadium of Herodes Atticus

• 32:36 - The road from Marathon: an ancient and historic route
• 32:58 - The ancient sanctuary of Tyche and a prayer for better days ahead

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Key Takeaways

• The modern marathon race was created for the first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens in 1896.
• Michel Bréal suggested that runners race from Marathon to Athens as a tribute to the legendary run of Pheidippides, who is said to have made the run in 490 BCE to deliver news to the Athenians about their victory at the battle of Marathon, only to die of exhaustion after making his report.
• There are two historical roads that lead from Marathon to Athens: one around the northern flank of Mount Pentelicus, and one that heads first south and then west. The first marathon followed the second route (as does the current Athens Marathon).
• The distance of the modern marathon race follows that used for the London Olympics of 1908.
• The modern Athens Marathon is dedicated each year to the peace activist Grigoris Lambrakis, who staged a peace march from Marathon to Athens in April 1963.
• Emily and Cam walked the 41st Athens Authentic Marathon in November 2024, and describe the route and their experiences.

In Part One of a two-part series on the Athens Marathon, Emily and Cam dive into ancient Greek legend and history as they explore the origins of the modern marathon race. They discuss the well-known story of the messenger (Pheidippides?) who is said to have run from Marathon to Athens with news of the Athenian victory over the Persians at Marathon in 490 BCE; the context of the Battle of Marathon itself; and the accomplishments of the Athenians, who were forced to race against the clock in order to return to their city and defend it from another Persian attack.

Links to related episodes:

• Part II of this series, "The Athens Marathon Part II: Walking the Athens Marathon"

Links to our other related content:

• Part I of our photo essay on the Athens Marathon;
• Part II of our phot essay on the Athens Marathon;

Visit our homepage to subscribe and to find us on social media:

• https://havetogawilltravel.com/

If you liked this episode, buy us a coffee:

• Our Ko-Fi page

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• 00:59 - Why do an episode about the Athens Marathon?
• 02:48 - The Origin Story: The Battle of Marathon and the Run of Pheidippides

• 05:34 - The ancient traditions about Pheidipiddes’ run: Lucian, Plutarch, and Herakleides
• 08:48 - Herodotus on Pheidippides: the run from Athens to Sparta and back, and an epiphany along the way

• 13:09 - The Battle of Marathon offered fertile grounds for the development of legends.
• 13:59 - A battle against enormous odds: ancient Athens and the Persian Empire compared
• 16:24 - The Battle of Marathon as an existential struggle: Darius, Hippias, and the threat to Athenian democracy
• 20:30 - Marathon as an Athenian achievement (with a little help from the Plataians)
• 21:56 - Aeschylus’ tombstone: the impact of the Battle of Marathon on the ancient Athenian imagination

• 26:21 - The Battle of Marathon and its physical and mental toll
• 28:34 - The long march back: the race to save Athens

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Key Takeaways:

• In the modern version of the Pheidippides story, Pheidippides is said to have run from Marathon to Athens carrying news about the Athenian victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon (490 BCE).
• Herodotus, who wrote only 40 years or so after the Battle of Marathon, tells a different story. In his version, Pheidippides ran from Athens to Sparta and back to ask for an alliance against the Persians.
• The modern version of the Pheidippides story is almost certainly a legend that developed long after the battle. Its evolution can be traced in a series of different stories that we find in ancient authors like Heraclides of Pontus, Plutarch, and Lucian of Samosata, all of whom wrote long after Herodotus.
• The modern version developed the way that it did because Marathon was a pivotal moment in Athenian history and became important to the self-perception of the Athenians.
• The Pheidippides story obscures an even more impressive achievement: the Athenians, after winning an exhausting and hard-fought battle, marched the 25 miles from Marathon back to the Athens area to prevent the Persians from capturing their city while it was undefended.