While the armies were battling at Thermopylae, the two navies were playing a game of cat and mouse. The Persian navy outnumbered the Greeks about 1300 ships to 270. But the Greeks found an ally in the Aegean storms. The Greek fleet was hidden in the channel between the island of Euboea and the mainland. But a storm came up and badly damaged the Persian fleet. The main fleet sought shelter in the Gulf of Pagasae to make repairs. While anchored, the Greek fleet attacked them and caused significant damage, but the Persians still held a considerable advantage.
The Persians sent part of the fleet to head south around Euboea and come up the channel behind the Greek fleet. A second storm came up and caught the Persians in the open sea and demolished them. The survivors limped back to join up with the main fleet.
At the same time the Spartans were being killed at Thermopylae, the Greek navy was engaged in a naval battle at Artemisia, at the northern end of Euboea. The Greek navy had an advantage in the narrow channel and fought well. The Persian navy finally disengaged from the battle. The Greek navy did considerably more damage to the Persian navy but underestimated how much damage was done. They also received a lot of damage. By the end of the day news had come in that Thermopylae had fallen and that the Persian army was on its way to Athens. The Greek fleet headed for home.
With the Greek fleet gone and the pass at Thermopylae cleared, the Persians were able to march onto their objective: Athens. They arrived at Athens and found the city almost deserted. The Greek navy had evacuated the people to the island of Salamis. They also destroyed the fields to deny food to the Persian army. An oracle from Delphi declared that "the wooden wall only would not fail." Thermistocles took the oracle to mean the Greek navy would win. Some people took the oracle to mean the wooden walls at the Acropolis. These people put up a valiant effort put did not last long. The Persians routed them and then set fire to the city and destroyed the all of the temples.
The Persians knew that the Greeks were still divided over how to defend. The Pelopennesians still wanted to hold at the Corinthian line at the isthmus. Athens threatened to use their navy to relocate Athens to Italy. A spy was sent to convince the Persians that the Greeks were divided and the fleet would try to escape. The Egyptian fleet was sent to block the most likely exit. Xerxes was sitting on a marble throne overlooking the channel. A group of Greek ships feinted that they were heading around to escape. The Persian fleet pursued and soon found that much of the Greek fleet had been ready and waiting. The narrow channel favored the Greek navy and they were able to inflict heavy damage to the Persian fleet. The heavily damaged and demoralized Persian fleet withdrew. The Greeks were unaware of the condition of the Persian navy and did not pursue to destroy them.
Xerxes was concerned that the Greeks would attack the bridge over the Hellespont. He was also concerned with the Ionian Greeks revolting and decided to head back to Persia. He left his army to winter in Greece under the command of Mardonius. They quartered in Thessaly to wait for the spring for the next attack. The people of Athens moved back and started to rebuild the city before winter set in.
In the spring the people of Athens were again evacuated to Salamis and Mardonius sacked Athens again. The Spartans, lead by Pausanias, marched out and joined up with the Athenian army. They meet the Persian army outside of Plataea. Both commanders received omens that the attacking army would lose the battle. They set about positioning and trying to draw the other army out. The Greek army had the advantage of being re-supplied while the Persians were running out of food. The Persians sent their cavalry to attack the supply lines and to block up the well to cut off the water supply. Both sides were short on food and reluctant to start the attack. Then Pausanias realized that the Greeks only had supplies for one day left. He staged a withdrawal and let the Persians see him. The Persians thought that the Greeks were retreating and attacked. The Greeks quickly turned around and met the Persians.
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