318 HERODOTUS
away to the defence of their city, and succeeded in reaching Athens before the appearance of the barbari- ans ; and as their camp at Marathon had been pitched in a precinct of Hercules, so now they encamped in an- other precinct of the same god at Cynosarges. The barbarian fleet arrived, and lay to off Phalerum,^ which was at that time the haven of Athens ; but after rest- ing awhile upon their oars,^ they departed and sailed away to Asia.
There fell in this battle of Marathon, on the side of the barbarians, about six thousand and four hun- dred men ; on that of the Athenians, one hundred and ninety-two. Such was the number of the slain on the one side and the other. A strange prodigy likewise happened at this fight. Epizelus, the son of Cupha- goras, an Athenian, was in the thick of the fray, and behaving himself as a bra"e man should, when sud- denly he was stricken with blindness, without blow of sword or dart, and this blindness continued thenceforth during the whole of his after life. The following is the account which he himself, as I have heard, gave of the matter : he said that a gigantic warrior, with a huge beard, which shaded all his shield, stood over against him, but the ghostly semblance passed him by, and slew the man at his side. Such, as I under- stand, was the tale which Epizelus told.
^ The bay of Phalerum is nearer Athens than the Piraeus, but is not so well sheltered nor so deep.
'■^ Better, perhaps, " lying at anchor off Phalerum for a while."
