not the Persians so done. Depart then, therefore, if thou art so minded, but let me choose out three hundred thousand men of the army, with whom I may conquer these Greeks.”
Xerxes when he heard these words was very glad, and made answer to Mardonius that he would deliberate about these things. And because before Artemisia only had perceived what should be done, he sent for her, and when she was come, sent away his other counselors, and inquired of her what he should do, setting before her the counsel of Mardonius. To this she made answer in these words: “I counsel thee to depart straightway, O King. And if Mardonius promises to conquer Greece for thee, let him stay behind and do it. For if he succeed, thine will be the gain; and if he fail, there will follow no great damage, so that thou and thy house be safe. For of a surety, so long as these remain, the Greeks will often be in peril of their lives. And if they prevail over this Mardonius, he is nothing more than thy slave.” This counsel seemed very good to the King, being altogether to his mind, and if all the men and women in the world had counseled him to remain, hardly would he have done it, so terrified was he. He commended therefore Artemisia, and sent her on to Ephesus with certain of his children in her charge, in which charge was joined also one Hermotimus of Pedasus. The people of Pedasus say that when a mischance is about to befall any of their neighbors the priestess of Athene in their city has a beard, and that this has happened twice.
The next day Xerxes commanded the ships to sail with all speed to the Hellespont, that they might guard the bridges against his coming. So they departed; and sailing by Cape Zoster, where certain rocks jut out from the land, they took the rocks for ships, and fled far away. But afterward, when they knew the truth, they gathered themselves together again.
For awhile the Greeks, seeing the army of the barbarians in the same place, supposed that the ships also remained, and made ready for battle.