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Written by Rik Rösken The breath-hold diver Skyllias of Skione played a important role during the battle of Salamis in 480 BC. The battle was a turning point in the war between the Greek states and the Persian Empire, led by Darius the Great. Skyllias was, according the greek historicus Herodote, one of the most experienced diver from his time. He was working for the Persian empire after he lost his ship earlier, and had recoverd many artifacts from sunken Persian ships. Nevertheless, he had plans to desert to the greek side. According the historic text, he dives trough 15 kilometers of sea to the greek base and informed them of Darius arrival and position. This gave the Greek a opportunity to deal with the Persian threat. While Herodote explains that he doesn't believe in this and other stories and suspect that he had taken a boat, he doesn't tell wich other stories exist. Altough there is not much more information from Herodote as described here, it sounds at some points similar as the dive of Giorgos Haggi Statti, who, by recovering the anchor of the dominating Italians, gained the right to fish with explosives. Giorgos Haggi Statti was a spongediver, and it could be guessed that Skyllias performed the same profession. Read also:
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