The Runner

The 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon offers an occasion to reflect on links between the legend of Philippides running to Athens to proclaim victory over the Spartans, Walt Whitman's short poem “The Runner,” and the author's own history of running. The connection between poetry and democracy, articulated with particular urgency by Whitman, is treated in a roundabout fashion, like a run through the hills of Delphi.