How Ancient Greeks Harnessed Winds to Defeat the Persians at the Battle of Salamis

The Battle of Salamis. Painting by Wilhelm von Kaulbach, 1868. Property of the authorities of Bavaria. Photo: Public Domain

The Battle of Salamis, fought betwixt the Persians and a vastly outnumbered Greek unit successful September of 480 BC, is considered by galore historians to beryllium 1 of the astir decisive successful history.

A probe from the Center for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology Research astatine the Academy of Athens argues that the Greeks really chose the tract of Salamis aft studying the area’s climactic conditions.

This proposal is simply a groundbreaking improvement regarding 1 of the astir well-studied and celebrated battles successful satellite history.

Had the Greeks not won the battle, galore judge that the Persian penetration of Greece would person been successful, altering the people of history arsenic we cognize it.

Greeks utilized wind, upwind to triumph Battle of Salamis

Salamis past ruins. Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture

Classical Athens, which gave america the instauration of Western culture, including philosophy, literature, and antiauthoritarian government, lone bloomed aft the Greeks yet won the Persian wars aft galore battles, some connected onshore and sea.

Much similar the Battle astatine Thermopylae, the heroics astatine the Battle of Salamis person risen to legendary status, arsenic the allied Greek city-states utilized astir 370 trireme ships, and the Persians had implicit 1,000, according to past sources.

The Persians, nether King Xerxes, planned to crush the outnumbered Greeks with the sheer unit of their monolithic fleet. The person of the Greek ships, Themistocles, alert of the fig of Persian ships, lured the Persians to the constrictive Strait of Salamis, wherever the Greek ships were waiting.

Since the monolithic Persian fleet could not acceptable successful the strait, they rapidly became disorganized, opening up a anticipation for a Greek victory.

It was not lone the large subject caput of Themistocles which led the Greeks to victory, but besides a heavy cognition of the clime of Salamis, according to an nonfiction published successful the technological diary Atmosphere by researchers astatine the Academy of Athens.

In the study, led by Professor Christos Zerefos, researchers reason that existent information gathered regarding upwind conditions successful the Strait of Salamis align with past eyewitness accounts.

Additionally, the survey contends that the Greeks indispensable person been alert of these conditions, arsenic Greeks planned a late-morning onslaught connected the Persians, which aligned with upwind conditions that made it much hard for the Persians to retreat into the unfastened oversea successful the aboriginal afternoon.

Late-night and early-morning northwest winds, oregon Etesian winds, successful the Saronic Gulf, combined with section southbound oversea breezes successful the precocious morning, trapped the Persian fleet successful the constrictive Strait of Salamis during the afternoon, starring to a Greek triumph successful the aboriginal evening.

This peculiar upwind signifier is inactive contiguous today, and takes spot chiefly from May to September, erstwhile the prima is particularly strong, heating up the atmosphere. The Battle of Salamis is traditionally believed to person taken spot astatine the extremity of September successful 480 BC, erstwhile this upwind improvement is inactive successful effect.