Ameinias or Aminias ( grc, Ἀμεινίας) was a younger brother of the playwright

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

and of a hero of the

battle of Marathon The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination o ...

named

Cynaegirus Cynegirus or Cynaegirus ( grc, Κυνέγειρος ''Kunégeiros'' or ''Kunaígeiros''; died 490 BC) was an ancient Greek general of Athens and had three siblings. His two brothers were the playwright Aeschylus and Ameinias, hero of the battl ...

. He also had a sister, named Philopatho, who was the mother of the Athenian tragic poet

Philocles Philocles ( el, Φιλοκλῆς), was an Athenian tragic poet during the 5th century BC. Through his mother, Philopatho ( el, Φιλοπαθώ), he had three famous uncles: Aeschylus, the famous poet, Cynaegirus, hero of the battle of Marathon ...

. His father was Euphorion. Ameinias was from the

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean S ...

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...

of Pallene according to

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

, or of that of

Decelea Decelea ( grc, Δεκέλεια, ), ''Dekéleia''), was a deme and ancient village in northern Attica serving as a trade route connecting Euboea with Athens, Greece. It was situated near the entrance of the eastern pass across Mount Parnes, which ...

according to

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

. He distinguished himself at the battle of Salamis as a

trireme A trireme( ; derived from Latin: ''trirēmis'' "with three banks of oars"; cf. Greek ''triērēs'', literally "three-rower") was an ancient vessel and a type of galley that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean S ...

commander. His brother Aeschylus also fought at the battle. According to Diodorus Siculus, Ameinias was the first to ram the flagship of the Persians, sinking it and killing the admiral. Herodotus writes that Athenians said that Ameinias charged one of the enemy vessels and his ship was entangled in combat and his men were not being able to get away, so the other Greek ships joined in the fight to assist Ameinias and this is how the battle started, but the

Aeginetans Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born on the island and b ...

say that one of their ships was the first to attack the Persian fleet. He also pursued the ship of Artemisia, and she escaped by ramming and sinking the ship of her ally Damasithymos. When Ameinias saw that he thought that her ship was Greek and he changed the direction of his Trireme to chase other Persian ships. Herodotus believed that Ameinias didn't know that Artemisia was on the ship because otherwise he would not have ceased his pursuit until either he had captured her or had been captured himself because orders had been given to the Athenian captains. Moreover, a prize had been offered of ten thousand drachmas for the man who should take her alive, since they thought it intolerable that a woman should lead an expedition against Athens. In addition, according to Plutarch, Ameinias and the Socles of Pallene were the men who killed Ariamenes (Herodotus says that his name was Ariabignes), brother of Xerxes and admiral of the Persian navy. When Ariamenes attempted to board their ship, they hit him with their spears and thrust him into the sea. Ameinias and Eumenes of Anagyrus (Anagyrus is the modern

Vari Vari ( el, Βάρη) is a southern suburb of Athens and former municipality in East Attica, Greece along the Athens coast. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which it is a municipal u ...

) were judged to have been the bravest on this occasion among all the Athenians. Aelian mentions that Ameinias prevented the condemnation of his brother Aeschylus by the

Areopagus The Areopagus () is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Its English name is the Late Latin composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Hill of Ares" ( grc, Ἄρειος Πάγος) ...

Claudius Aelianus Claudius Aelianus ( grc, Κλαύδιος Αἰλιανός, Greek transliteration ''Kláudios Ailianós''; c. 175c. 235 AD), commonly Aelian (), born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severu ...

, ''Varia Historia'' v. 19

References

Sources

* {{authority control Athenians of the Greco-Persian Wars Battle of Salamis 5th-century BC Athenians Ancient Greek military personnel

See also

References

Sources