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Pheidippides

American  
[fahy-dip-i-deez] / faɪˈdɪp ɪˌdiz /
Or Phidippides

noun

  1. the Athenian runner who secured aid from Sparta in the struggle between the Athenians and the Persians 490 b.c.


Pheidippides British  
/ faɪˈdɪpɪˌdiːz /

noun

  1. 5th century bc . Athenian athlete, who ran to Sparta to seek help against the Persians before the Battle of Marathon (490 bc )

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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In “The Clouds,” playwright Aristophanes depicts the philosopher in the comic play as teaching Pheidippides how to build up arguments that justify him striking and assaulting his father.

From Washington Post

The race followed the legendary route that Pheidippides, a military runner, ran about 2,500 years ago from the Greek town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Greeks had defeated the invading Persian army.

From Washington Post

There were 241 athletes from 14 countries competing in 43 events in Athens, but one mattered most to the host Greeks: The cross-country race retracing the steps of the messenger Pheidippides, who in 490 B.C. ran to Athens to deliver news of the victory in the Battle of Marathon before dying.

From Washington Times

Spyridon Louis, an unheralded competitor in an unknown event, ran 25 miles from Marathon to Athens, following the path not just of the ancient messenger Pheidippides but also some more contemporary couriers on horseback and bicycle who announced his arrival at the Panathenian Stadium with the cry: “A Greek! A Greek!”

From Washington Times

That first modern Olympics had included a new road race, inspired by the legend of the military messenger Pheidippides, from the plains of Marathon to the city of Athens, a distance of about 24.5 miles.

From New York Times