[Destro]

He did not lie. He was "optimistic". I mean if your a tiny little city-state up against the largest empire the world has ever seen and they full weight of that empire is comming to get you a leader would kind of distort things don't you think?

I humbly add the Athenian Miltiades in the honor role for his generalship at Marathon.

[ConsistentLibertarian]

He lied long before the naval battle, before anyone was even thinking of the possibility of war. He lied in order to get people on side to build up a navy.