英语词汇marathon的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

marathon. This grueling 26-mile, 385-yard footrace honors a peerless runner but is named after a prosaic vegetable. It re- calls the historic battle of Marathon. Marathon means “field of fennel” in Greek, the word deriving from the Greek marathon, a fennel plant. In 490 b.c. on the great plain of Marathon cov- ered with this yellow-flowered plant, 20,000 invading Persians tried to establish a beachhead and defeat the armies of the Greek city states before launching an assault on Athens itself. Led by General Datis, the Persians were under the orders of King Darius to enslave Athens and “bring the slaves into his presence.” Legend has it that the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a champion of the old Olympic games and the best runner in Greece, was dispatched from Athens to Sparta to announce the arrival of the invading Persians at Marathon and seek a prom- ise of help. Pheidippides covered the distance of 150 miles over mountain trails in two days, only to find that the Spartans were unwilling to send help until after the conclusion of an ongoing religious festival. He then ran back to join his forces in the de- fense of Athens. Although the bronze-clad Greeks were out- numbered two to one, their commander, Miltiades, employed revolutionary tactics to defeat the Persians on the marshy plain near Marathon village. Another story has Pheidippides (or an- other runner) racing 22 or 23 miles to Athens from Marathon to announce that the Greeks had won, his dying words, “Greet- ings! We win!” The standard marathon distance today was set in 1896, the distance from London’s Windsor Castle to the sta- dium where the Olympic games were held. See fennel.

词汇	marathon
词源	marathon. This grueling 26-mile, 385-yard footrace honors a peerless runner but is named after a prosaic vegetable. It re- calls the historic battle of Marathon. Marathon means “field of fennel” in Greek, the word deriving from the Greek marathon, a fennel plant. In 490 b.c. on the great plain of Marathon cov- ered with this yellow-flowered plant, 20,000 invading Persians tried to establish a beachhead and defeat the armies of the Greek city states before launching an assault on Athens itself. Led by General Datis, the Persians were under the orders of King Darius to enslave Athens and “bring the slaves into his presence.” Legend has it that the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a champion of the old Olympic games and the best runner in Greece, was dispatched from Athens to Sparta to announce the arrival of the invading Persians at Marathon and seek a prom- ise of help. Pheidippides covered the distance of 150 miles over mountain trails in two days, only to find that the Spartans were unwilling to send help until after the conclusion of an ongoing religious festival. He then ran back to join his forces in the de- fense of Athens. Although the bronze-clad Greeks were out- numbered two to one, their commander, Miltiades, employed revolutionary tactics to defeat the Persians on the marshy plain near Marathon village. Another story has Pheidippides (or an- other runner) racing 22 or 23 miles to Athens from Marathon to announce that the Greeks had won, his dying words, “Greet- ings! We win!” The standard marathon distance today was set in 1896, the distance from London’s Windsor Castle to the sta- dium where the Olympic games were held. See fennel.
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