[PHEIDIPPIDES]
Χαιρετε, νικωμεν. Rejoice we conquer!
2. Dæmons. In Greek mythology a superior order of beings between men and the gods.
4. Her of the ægis and spear. Athena, whose ægis was a scaly cloak or mantle bordered with serpents and bearing Medusa's head.
5. Ye of the bow and the buskin. Artemis or Diana, the huntress. Ancient statues represent her as wearing shoes laced to the ankle.
8. Pan. The god of nature, half goat and half man. To him was ascribed the power of causing sudden fright by his voice and appearance. He came suddenly into the midst of the Persians on the field of Marathon—so the legend runs—and threw them into such a "panic" that, for this reason, they lost the battle.
9. Archons of Athens, topped by the tettix. Archon. One of the nine rulers of Athens. Tettix. A grasshopper. "The Athenians sometimes wore golden grasshoppers in their hair as badges of honor, because these insects are supposed to spring from the ground, and thus they showed they were sprung from the original inhabitants of the country." (Berdoe, Browning Cyclopædia, p. 336.)
12. Reach Sparta for aid. The distance between Athens and Sparta is about 135 miles.
18. Persia bids Athens proffer slaves'-tribute, water and earth. The Persians sent to those states which they wished to subject, messengers who were to ask earth and water as symbols of submission.
19. Eretria. An important city on the island of Eubœa.