Artemisia I of Halicarnassus was born in Halicarnassus, an ancient Greek city in modern-day Bodrum in Turkey, Artemisia was the daughter of Lygdamis of Halicarnassus ( 520–484 BC) and a Cretan mother. Who Artemisia’s mother was, has never been historically documented.
Artemisia came to the throne of Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum in Turkey) upon the death of her unnamed husband. As Halicarnassus lay in Ionia, along the western coast of Turkey, it was under the suzerainty of the Persian Empire. Thus when in 480 BC Xerxes organized his expedition to invade Greece, he called on all his subjects to provide military aid. As the Ionians were descendants of Greek colonists, it is difficult to know how motivated Artemisia may have been, but she provided five ships that she commanded. She had a son of sufficient age to rule and command, but the Greek historian Herodotus says that she led this force because of her "spirit of adventure and manly courage."
Artemisia distinguished herself in the campaign's first major naval action, off the coast of Euboea. As Xerxes' army was forcing the pass at Thermopylae, the Persian fleet was skirmishing with the Greek fleet based at Artemisium. After losing some ships to bad weather and to raids, the Persian fleet closed with the Greeks, and both sides lost heavily. News came of the Spartan defeat at Thermopylae, convincing the Greeks to withdraw their fleet. No details are given of Artemisia's skill during this first encounter, but no one contradicted her when she alluded to it in conference with Xerxes. It was at that conference that Artemisia began to make herself remarkable. Contradicting the advice given Xerxes by his other advisors, Artemisia told him not to attack the Greek fleet. They were too skilled, she argued, and there was no need either for hurry or a naval battle. The Greek fleet would disperse, she argued, as many of the provincial leaders had little desire to fight to save Athens; also, food was becoming scarce and the Greek defense could not last much longer. She advised that if Xerxes threatened targets on land, the Greek forces would disintegrate. Xerxes admired Artemisia's courageous stand, but conceded to the majority and ordered his fleet to pursue the Greek fleet into the narrow channel between the island of Salamis and Attica.
The division among the Greeks almost proved their undoing, as the naval commanders could not agree on a strategy. One of the Athenian commanders, Themistocles, sent a secret message to Xerxes claiming a desire to abandon the squabbling Greeks and join the Persians. Hearing this, Xerxes ordered his ships to attack, and the battle was joined on 20 September 480 все. The offer of Athenian assistance was a ruse to force the battle, and the fight soon justified Artemisia's caution. The narrow waters off Salamis negated the superior numbers of the Persian fleet, and the small and more maneuverable Greek ships soon gained the upper hand.
In the midst of the ensuing Persian confusion, Artemisia stood out. Chased by an Athenian ship, she took the desperate measure of ramming an allied ship. This convinced the pursuers that she was either a Greek commander or had changed sides, so they turned away in search of other targets. This saved her from possible capture or death and at the same time was noticed onshore. Xerxes sat on a golden throne on high ground overlooking the battle; Artemisia's action was pointed out to him, and he assumed that the ship she rammed was Greek. Seeing her success in the midst of his fleet's defeat, he made the famous remark "My men have turned into women, my women into men." Her escape cost Ameinias, the Greek who had been chasing her, 10,000 drachmae, for the Athenians had put a price on her head for daring to "fight like a man."
The Persian ships that could escape returned to their base at Phaleron. Artemisia made one final appearance before Xerxes. His general Mardonius had suggested that the emperor leave for Persia and leave behind 300,000 men with which he would deliver the Greeks in chains. Should he take this course? Artemisia advised that he go home, for Mardonius could be blamed if the Greeks were not defeated, but Xerxes could take the credit if they were. He found this counsel agreeable and sent Artemisia to Ephesus with his sons while he made the final dispositions for his return to Persia. What became of Artemisia after the great naval battle, like her life previous to it, is unrecorded. Apparently she returned home to Halicarnassus and turned the reins of power over to her son. Her name was bestowed on many later queens in the area.
Artemisia was a resolute, courageous, and heroic woman with great presence of mind and pragmatism, and one of the wisest advisers to Xerxes.
Artemisia married the king of Halicarnassus in 500 BC, just prior to the Ionian Revolt that helped trigger the war between Greece and Persia. Her husband, whose name has been lost to history, probably died only a few years later. She had a son, named Pisindelis.
