Marathon, Greece Marathon, Greece Marathon (Demotic Greek: Μαραθώνας, "Marathónas"; Attic/Katharevousa: , "Marathṓn") is a town in Greece and the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. Legend has it that Pheidippides, a Greek herald at the battle, was sent running from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory, which is how the marathon running race was conceived in modern times. The name "Marathon" () comes from the herb fennel, called "marathon" () or "marathos" () in Ancient Greek, so "Marathon" literally means "a place full of fennels". It is believed
Marathon Boy Youth" dredged up off the coast of Fano, Italy; the Riace bronzes, found in 1972; the Dancing Satyr of Mazara del Vallo, in the Sicily Channel, 2003; and the "Apoxyomenos" recovered from the sea off the Croatian island of Lošinj in 1999. Marathon Boy The Marathon Boy or Ephebe of Marathon is a Greek bronze sculpture found in the Aegean Sea in the bay of Marathon in 1925. The sculpture is conserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens where it is dated to around 340–330 BC. The Museum suggests that the subject is the winner of an athletic competition.