1. The Persian Wars

2. The Battle of Marathon

3. Our Plan 5 W’s Who (Who was fighting who?) Where? Why? When?
What happened?

4. The Battle of Marathon Who? The Persian Army vs. Athenian Army
King Darius I of Persia

5. The Battle of Marathon Where?
Marshy plains of Marathon outside of Athens

7. The Battle of Marathon Why? When?
The Persians wanted to invade & conquer Greece.
When?
490 B.C.

8. The Battle of Marathon What happened?
In 490 B.C.E., the Persian navy sailed down the coast of Greece and landed at the bay of Marathon, about 40 miles north of Athens. The Athenian army, led by General Miltiades, moved to block the Persians' advance and trapped them on the plains around the bay. This led an Athenian victory and was the first major victory for Greece in the Persian Wars.

9. Pheidippedes
The battle is most famous for the myth of Pheidippedes. The story has been told that he ran 40 miles form Marathon to Athens in order to tell the people of the victory. This led to the idea of running marathons today.

10. The Battle of Marathon
Who won?
Athens! (The Greeks)

11. The Battle of Thermopylae

12. The Battle of Thermopylae
Who?
Xerxes (Son of Darius) & The Persians
King Leonidas & 300 Spartans
Where?
A mountain pass called Thermopylae or the Hot Gates

13. The Battle of Thermopylae
When?
480 B.C.

14. The Battle of Thermopylae
Why?
Xerxes was eager to defeat Greece after their loss at Marathon ten years earlier.
When?
480 B.C.

15. The Battle of Thermopylae
What happened?
10,000 Greeks led by Leonidas met the Persians at Thermopylae
The Greeks led the Persians into the narrow pass.
A Greek traitor showed the Persians an alternate route.
Leonidas and 300 Spartans stayed to defend the pass.
All of the Spartans and Leonidas were killed.

16. The Battle of Thermopylae
Who Won?
The Persians…
Xerxes burned Athens to the ground
But…
The Spartans had held on long enough to allow many others to get to safety.

17. The Battle of Salamis

18. The Battle of Salamis: Who?
Athenian Admiral Themistocles
Persian King Xerxes

19. The Battle of Salamis
Who:
Athenian Admiral Themistocles & the Athenian Navy
Vs.
Xerxes and the Persian Navy

20. Greek Triremes

21. The Battle of Salamis Why:
Xerxes burned Athens down after his victory at Thermopylae
He chased the Athenians
Greeks were protecting Greece!

22. The Battle of Salamis When: 480 B.C. Where:
The narrow straights of Salamis west of Athens (Saronic Gulf)

25. The Battle of Salamis What happened:
Themistocles evacuated Athens and knew the Athenians were better at naval warfare
Positioned his fleet near the island of Salamis west of Athens
Themistocles lured the Persians in
The Persians had trouble turning in the narrow channel
Greek triremes destroyed over 1/3rd of Xerxes ships
Now the Persians were on the defensive, not offensive