sent away to go round Eubœa. 9. Hearing this the Hellenes considered
the matter with one another; and after many things had been spoken,
the prevailing opinion was that they should remain there that day and
encamp on shore, and then, when midnight was past, they should set
forth and go to meet those ships which were sailing round. After this
however, as no one sailed out to attack them, they waited for the
coming of the late hours of the afternoon and sailed out themselves to
attack the Barbarians, desiring to make a trial both of their manner
of fighting and of the trick of breaking their line.[8] 10. And seeing
them sailing thus against them with few ships, not only the others in
the army of Xerxes but also their commanders judged them to be moved
by mere madness, and they themselves also put out their ships to sea,
supposing that they would easily capture them: and their expectation
was reasonable enough, since they saw that the ships of the Hellenes
were few, while theirs were many times as numerous and sailed better.
Setting their mind then on this, they came round and enclosed them in
the middle. Then so many of the Ionians as were kindly disposed to the
Hellenes and were serving in the expedition against their will,
counted it a matter of great grief to themselves when they saw them
being surrounded and felt assured that not one of them would return
home, so feeble did they think the power of the Hellenes to be; while
those to whom that which was happening was a source of pleasure, were
vying with one another, each one endeavouring to be the first to take
an Athenian ship and receive gifts from the king: for in their camps
there was more report of the Athenians than of any others. 11. The
Hellenes meanwhile, when the signal was given, first set themselves
with prows facing the Barbarians and drew the sterns of their ships
together in the middle; and when the signal was given a second time,
although shut off in a small space and prow against prow,[9] they set
to work vigorously; and they captured thirty ships of the Barbarians