Ephialtes of Trachis
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- For other uses, see Ephialtes (disambiguation).
Ephialtes (Greek: Ἐφιάλτης; but Herodotus spells without the aspiration Epialtes, Ἐπιάλτης) was the son of Eurydemus of Malis. Throughout his life, he had been abused by the Spartans[citation needed] but could not avenge himself until he grasped the chance to betray the Spartan king Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, by helping the Persian king Xerxes I find another route around the pass of Thermopylae that would allow him to outflank the Greeks. Led by Hydarnes, the Persian army advanced through this narrow pass and encountered only 1000 Phocians guarding in this area. The Phocians retreated after a short skirmish and the Persians were successful at flanking the Spartans. The news quickly circulated to the other Greeks.
This betrayal allowed the Persians to defeat the small number (around 300) of Spartan defenders and around 700 Thespian defenders. The Greek force was completely destroyed, and none of the Greeks survived. While a vengeance for Ephialtes against the Spartans, it immortalized them with their valiant stand.
Ephialtes expected to be rewarded by the Persians, but this came to nothing when they were defeated at the Battle of Salamis. He then fled to Thessaly; the Amphictyons had offered a reward for his death. According to Herodotus he was killed for an apparently unrelated reason by Athenades of Trachis, around 470 BC; whom the Spartans gave honors to.
[edit] External links
- Herodotus 7.13] from Perseus Project.
