The article discusses the literary representation of naval warfare and the Greek victory against the Persian army near the island of Salamis in 480 B.C. as described in Hans Reisigers novel Aeschylos bei Salamis (1952). Comparative analysis with hypotexts—The Histories of Herodotus and Aeschylus' tragedy The Persians—is the core of the discussion. The analysis focuses on the principle of contrast in creating portraits oflhemistocles, a Greek naval leader, and the despotic King Xerxes of Persia. The article concludes that Reisigers novel can be considered a contrafacture of Aeschylus' antique tragedy.