Artemisia I of Caria

The Battle of Salamis, at which Artemisia commanded five ships

Artemisia I of Caria (in Greek, Αρτεμισία) (fl. 480 BC) became the ruler, after the death of her husband, as a client of the Persians – who in the 5th century BC ruled as the overlords of Ionia.

Artemisia is best remembered for her participation in the Battle of Salamis.

Family and name

The name Artemisia derives from Artemis (Diana, n, f. Greek). According to Jablonski, the name is also Phrygian and could be "compared with the royal appellation Artemas of Xenophon. However according to Charles Anthon the primitive root of the name is probably of Persian origin from arta*, art*, arte*,.. all meaning great, excellent, holy,.. thus Artemis (i.e. Diana) "becomes identical with the great mother of Nature, even as she was worshipped at Ephesus".^[1] According to Herodotus (Histories, Books 7 and 8), Artemisia was Halicarnassian on her father Lygdamis' side and Cretian on her mother's.^[2]

Battle of Salamis

The only one of his commanders to be female, Artemisia counselled the Persian king Xerxes to coordinate a joint land-sea offensive. She wanted the Persian army to march to the Isthmus of Corinth and attack the Greek coalition that was fortifying there, while moving the fleet to attack the Greek triremes. In this, Artemisia hoped that the Greek ships would scatter to their city-states, leaving them vulnerable to an intact Persian fleet. Xerxes refused this plan, instead moving to attack the assembled Greek fleet at Salamis. Artemisia participated in the Battle of Salamis in September, 480 BC as a Persian ally commanding five ships. At one point in the battle, with an Athenien ship captained by Aminias on the point of capturing her trireme, Artemisia managed to escape in an unusual way. By design or accident, she turned and bore down on a ship from her own side, a Calyndian vessel, and ramming it amidships sank it with all hands. The Athenian ship then left her alone, presuming she must be fighting on the Greek side.

Xerxes watching from a distant hill-side assumed the Calyndian ship to be one of the enemy and was full of praise for Artemisia's bravery. Apparently none of the Calyndians survived to tell the real story. She escaped back to the Persians, where, according to Herodotus, Xerxes declared "My men have turned into women and my women into men!"

Artemisia convinced Xerxes to retreat back to Asia Minor after the defeat at Salamis, contrary to the advice of Mardonius, who wanted Xerxes to stay. Xerxes then sent her to Ephesus to take care of his sons. In return, Artemisia's lands did well by their alliance with the Persians.

Death and legacy

A legend, quoted by Photius,^[3] claims that Artemisia fell in love with a man named Dardanus, and when he ignored her, an oracle told her to jump to her death into the Aegean Sea from the rock of Leucas. In contrast, Herodotus had a favourable opinion of Artemisia, despite her support of Persia, possibly because he too came from Halicarnassus.

An Iranian destroyer (in Persian: Naav-Shekan) built during the Pahlavi dynasty was named Artemis in her honor.^[4]

In popular culture

• In the movie The 300 Spartans (1962), Artemisia is portrayed by Anne Wakefield.

• In the Playstation 2 Role-playing game Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, Artemisia is the Ascendant Persona of Mitsuru Kirijo.

Notes and references

Primary sources

• Vitruvius, De architectura ii,8.10-11, 14-15
• Pliny the Elder, Naturalis historia xxxvi.4.30-31
• Orosius, Historiae adversus paganos ii.10.1-3
• Valerius Maximus, Factorum et dictorum memorabilium iv.6, ext. I
• Justinus, Epitome Historiarum philippicarum Pompei Trogi ii.12.23-24

Secondary sources

• Herodotus, The Histories, trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt, Penguin Books, 1954.
• Nancy Demand, A History of Ancient Greece. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1996. ISBN 0070162077

External links

• Livius.org: Artemisia of Halicarnassus