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Danaides
A term used to identify the fifty daughters of Danaus; although they lived in Egypt, the girls were Greek because they were the descendants of the Heifer-Maiden, Io.
One daughter, Amymone, became the consort of Poseidon (lord of the Sea) and the mother of Nauplios (Nauplius).
The remainder of the girls had to flee Egypt because their uncle, Aegyptus, was trying to force them to marry his sons; to avoid the forced marriages, Danaus took his daughters to Argos and received sanctuary but, in an unexplained turn of events, the girls were eventually forced to marry their cousins.
Danaus was enraged and commanded his daughters to murder their husbands on their wedding night; one of the girls, Hypermnestra, loved her husband, Lynkeus, and refused to kill him; the other girls did as their father had ordered and stabbed their husbands to death.
As punishment for this heinous crime, when the girls finally went to the Underworld, they were condemned to forever pour water into a leaky vessel.
The Danaides are also called: Danaidae, Danaids and the Danaidean.

Darius I
dah REE os
King of the Persian Empire from 522 to 485 BCE; also known as Darius the Great and Darius Hystaspes, i.e. the son of Hystaspes; he was a descendant of Achaemenes.
In Greece, he was known as The Doer; Darius was the king of the Persian Empire for thirty-six years; his ascension to the throne of the Persian Empire was foretold in a dream of the first Persian king, Cyrus the Great; just before Cyrus met his death on the battlefield, he dreamt that Darius had wings and that one wing cast a shadow over Europe and the other cast a shadow over Asia; Cyrus commanded Darius’ father, Hystaspes, to return to the capital city of Susa and to detain Darius; Cyrus intended to charge Darius with treason on the basis of the obviously divinely inspired dream.
Cyrus never returned from the war and the matter of the dream was forgotten when Cyrus’ son, Kambyses (Cambyses), took the throne; the dream would eventually come true but not in a manner which could have been imagined by Cyrus or anyone else.
Kambyses ruled for seven years and five months; after his death, the throne of the Persian Empire was temporally usurped by a Mede known as false-Smerdis.
Darius and six other Persians attacked and killed the false-Smerdis and thus regained the throne; the other six Persians involved in the revolt were: Gobryas, Otanes, Intaphrenes, Megabyzus, Aspathines and Hydarnes (sometimes they are listed as: Vindapana, Utana, Gaubaruwa, Vidarna, Bagabuchsa and Ardumanis).
The question arose as to which form of government they would adopt because the reign of Kambyses had been one of cruelty and indulgence; Darius wanted to re-establish the monarchy and, after much debate, the other six revolutionaries agreed; they also agreed that one of them should be the next king; the seven men rode their horses to a hill-top at dawn and, as pre-agreed, the man who sat atop the horse that neighed first would be the new king; Darius’ horse neighed first and he became the third king of the Persian Empire.
Darius attached himself to the lineage of Cyrus the Great by marrying Cyrus’ daughters, Atossa and Artystone; he also married Parmys, the daughter of Kambyses’ brother who was named Smerdis (but not the Median false-Smerdis that Darius had killed), and the daughter of Otanes, Phaedyme.
After taking the throne, Darius brought the Persian Empire to new levels of organization; the historian, Herodotus, carefully documented Darius’ effective and efficient system of taxation; because of his obsession with organization, the Persians referred to Darius as The Huckster.
Darius faced several daunting challenges to his authority after he assumed the throne:
1) The city of Babylon took advantage of the turmoil caused by the change of government and declared its independence from the Persian Empire; when Darius’ army marched against the Babylonians they were unable to breach the walls of the mighty city; the Babylonians taunted the Persians by saying, “You will take the city when a mule bears an offspring,” meaning of course that the city would never fall to the Persians; after nineteen months of unsuccessful assaults, a miraculous thing happened: a mule belonging to one of the Persian commanders, Zopyrus, gave birth to a foal; Zopyrus devised a clever but painful plan by which Babylon could be captured; he cut off his nose and ears and surrendered to the Babylonians saying that Darius had mutilated him and that he would assist in the Babylonian defeat of the Persians; Zopyrus gained the trust of the Babylonians and, when the time was right, opened the gates of the city and allowed the Persian army to enter and capture the city;
2) Another trial that Darius was forced to endure was the subjugation of the island of Samos; Darius ordered the Persian commander, Otanes, to subdue Samos without bloodshed or enslavement and to install a man named Syloson as the new ruler of the island; Syloson was the brother of the recently deposed tyrant, Polykrates (Polycrates); when the Persians arrived the ruler of Samos, Maeandrius, willingly handed over control of the island but after prompting from his brother, Charilaus, he decided to ferment an armed resistance against the Persians and then flee the island with his riches; the result was disastrous for the Samiots and for Darius; Otanes was caught off guard by the uprising and, after the death of many of the Persian captains, he ordered his troops to kill everyone they encountered; Otanes’ overreaction made Syloson the new tyrant of an uninhabited island;
3) Darius also successfully quelled the Ionian Revolt (circa 500-493 BCE) and subjugated the islands of the Aegean Sea;
4) Darius then turned his attention towards the conquest of Greece; after sending spies to Greece to survey the country and defenses, Darius began a full scale invasion; he was stopped by the Athenians in a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE and retreated back into Asia Minor.
Darius was succeeded by his son, Xerxes, who ruled from 485-465 BCE.
Histories, book 1.209; book 2.158; book 3.38 and 3.70-160; book 4.1, 4.4, 4.7, 4.39, 4.83-98, 4.118-143 and 4.200-204; book 5.12-15, 5.24 and 5.105-107; book 6.24, 6.30, 6.48-49, 6.70, 6.94, 6.98 and 6.119; book 7.2-4, 7.28 and 7.194

Death
Thanatos, the personification of Death; the child of Nyx (Night) and the brother of Hypnos (Sleep).
Thanatos has a page in the Immortals section of this site ... click on his photo to view that page

Demeter
The goddess of agriculture and the protector of marriage and social order.
Demeter has a page in the Immortals section of this site ... click on her photo to view that page.

Demosthenes
deh mos THEE nees
(384-322 BCE) An Athenian statesman and orator; his father was also named Demosthenes but the name of his mother is unknown.
At the age of seven, Demosthenes’ father died and left him an inheritance which should have allowed him to get an excellent education but greedy relatives squandered the money and left him too poor to pay for quality teachers; his frail physique and lisping speech earned him several unflattering nicknames but the disdain of the other children did not diminish his willingness to learn and improve himself; while listening to a court session in the Athenian assembly, he became inspired by the orators and dedicated his life to becoming a skilled public speaker; he successfully brought charges against the relatives who had defrauded him of his inheritance but he was only able to collect a small fraction the money his father had left him.
Demosthenes studied under a tutor named Isaeus and began to work studiously on the art of declamation and rhetoric; his lisp was still prevalent and his attempts at public speaking were disappointing and embarrassing; although he was discouraged by his obvious limitations, Demosthenes received advice from Eunomus (a retired admiral) and Satyrus (an actor); both of these men gave Demosthenes the encouragement he needed to prefect his speaking style; Demosthenes used an underground room to practice his oratory so that no one could see or hear him; it’s said that he would shave one side of his head so that he would be too embarrassed to go out in public and thus remained indoors to hone his skills; he rehearsed his speeches in front of a large looking-glass and did things like placing pebbles in his mouth and speaking for as long as possible without taking a breath; he would also recite verse while going up steep inclines and running.
His hard work eventually paid off; he became a much sought after speaker and speech writer; on several occasions, he actually wrote speeches for men arguing against one another in the Athenian assembly; although he was skilled and clever, he was also a fervent patriot; his love of Athens overshadowed any and all other objectives; he would never use his abilities to say or do anything that was contrary to what he considered to be the best interests of his beloved city.
When King Phillip II of Macedon was trying to gain control of all the Greek cities, Demosthenes spoke out eloquently and forcefully against him; many influential Athenians took bribes from Phillip but Demosthenes would not; he did, however, accept money from the Persians because they shared his distrust for Phillip and it served the Persians to hinder Phillip before he invaded Asia Minor and it served Demosthenes in his efforts to save Athenian autonomy; his anti-Phillip stance was taken to heart by the Athenian people and even earned him the respect of Philip who admired Demosthenes’ style and patriotism; when the Athenians took the field against the Macedonians, Demosthenes joined the army; his military service painfully demonstrated that he was a man of words and not a man of valor or courage; the Macedonians won the war and the Athenians became the unwilling but submissive subjects of Phillip.
When Phillip died and Alexander became king, Demosthenes referred to the young, and not yet Great, Alexander as a silly madman; other Greek cities adopted Demosthenes’ disdain for the young Alexander; the most notable and tragic occurrence took place at the city of Thebes in 335 BCE; with the exception of the Spartans, the Theban army was the most formidable in all of Greece, Alexander literally slaughtered the Theban army, enslaved the women and children and leveled the city; Alexander then demanded that Demosthenes and other outspoken Athenians be surrendered to him; the Athenians were terrified and sent an envoy to seek a compromise that would spare Demosthenes; Alexander agreed and Demosthenes was given a temporally reprieve from the revenge of the Macedonians.
While Alexander was occupied in Asia Minor and India, the Greeks, urged on by Demosthenes and led by the Spartan king, Agis, staged another revolt against the Macedonians; the Macedonian commander, Antipater, subdued all military resistance and Demosthenes kept his anti-Macedonian sentiments to himself; when Alexander was returning from India he found out that several of the trusted men he had left in charge of the conquered Persian cities had been acting in an unscrupulous manner; Alexander’s retribution was swift and fatal; one of the unscrupulous men, Harpalus, fled to Athens and sought sanctuary; at first, Demosthenes spoke out against Harpalus but, after accepting a bribe from Harpalus, Demosthenes feigned laryngitis and would not repeat his negative arguments; Demosthenes was given a trial and found guilty of accepting the bribe; he was fined fifty talents and banished from Athens. (a talent is worth about 57 pounds of gold)
When Alexander died in May, 323 BCE, the Greek cities were again given a chance to revolt from Macedonian domination; Greece was now ruled by Antipater and he sent non-military representatives to the various cities to argue for their continued submission to Macedonian rule; Demosthenes, still in exile, went to the Greek cities and argued for another revolt; the Athenians were delighted with Demosthenes’ behavior and voted to withdraw his banishment; he was greeted with celebration upon his return to the city but the law stated that the fifty talent fine could not be remitted by an act of grace; the Athenians found a clever way to get around the law; Demosthenes was given the contract to prepare and adorn the altar of Zeus and he was paid fifty talents which he promptly used to pay his fine.
The joy and celebration of the Athenians was short lived; the Macedonians were still in control of Greece and an order was given that trouble makers, such as Demosthenes were to be hunted down and killed; Demosthenes was finally found in the temple of Poseidon at Kalauria (Calauria) by the notorious bounty hunter, Archias; by law, he could not be forced to leave the temple so Archias made false promises saying that no harm would come to him if he surrendered peacefully; Demosthenes saw through the lies and, rather than have Archias bring his soldiers into the temple and violate civil and moral law, Demosthenes agreed to surrender but, before he could walk from the temple, he died; there is no sure way to know why he died so suddenly but the general assumption was that he took a quick acting poison; there was also the belief that Demosthenes was spared the cruelty of the Macedonians and given a quick and painless death as a reward from the gods for his public spirited and noble life.
Plutarch’s Lives, Demosthenes
Diodorus Siculus, book 16.84 and 16.85; book 17.3, 17.4, 17.5, 17.8, 17.15 and 17.108
Arrian, Campaigns of Alexander, book 1.10

Digamma
dy GAMMA
The Double-Gamma; an obsolete letter of the Greek alphabet; a consonant, equivalent to the English W.
The digamma gets its name from its appearance; the letter looks like the letter Γ (Gamma) with an extra bar in the center.
The digamma began to disappear circa 1000 BCE in the Attic and Ionic dialects and eventually fell into disuse throughout Greece; however, circa 1720 CE, an Englishman named Richard Bentley made the brilliant observation that certain metrical patterns in The Iliad and The Odyssey could only be preserved if the digamma had been present in the original poems which were composed circa 750 BCE; it is assumed that the digamma was deleted by the scholars of Alexandria, Egypt when the poems were copied and preserved (circa the second century BCE).

Dike (Justice)
DIE kee
The goddess of Justice; a daughter of Zeus and Themis; Dike is one of the Horae (The Hours), i.e. the goddesses of the Seasons; the keepers of Heaven’s Gate; her sisters are Eunomia (Harmony) and Eirene (Peace).
The Horae assist the Olympians by organizing the Seasons and adding balance to Nature; the Horae guard Mount Olympos (Olympus) with a dark veil and open and close the gates of the sky for the other Immortals as they travel to and from their domains.
In The Iliad, we see the Horae personally attending Hera and her horses; they open the sky and Hera zooms from her home on Mount Olympos to Mount Ida to distract Zeus from the battle for Troy.
In The Iliad, we see the Horae personally attending Hera and her horses; they open the sky and Hera zooms from her home on Mount Olympos to Mount Ida to distract Zeus from the battle for Troy.
Iliad (Lattimore), book 5, (Hours) lines 749 and 750; book 8, (Hours) lines 393 and 433
Iliad (Loeb), book 5, (Hours) line 749; book 8, (Hours) lines 393 and 433
Iliad (Fagles), book 5, (Seasons) line 859; book 8, (Seasons) lines 449 and 498
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 5, (Hours) line 856; book 8, (Hours) lines 444 and 488
Theogony, line 902

Diomedes 1
dee oh MEE des
A Greek hero in the Trojan War; the husband of Aigialeia; the son of Tydeus and the captain of the army from Argos.
Before the Trojan War, Diomedes was considered a heroic figure; as the son of Tydeus, Diomedes inherited the obligation of fighting with Polyneikes (Polyneices) to reclaim the city of Thebes from Polyneikes’ brother, Eteokles (Eteocles); after the exile of King Oedipus from Thebes, Eteokles took the throne and banished Polyneikes; an army, known as the Seven Against Thebes, was assembled and unsuccessfully tried to capture Thebes and dethrone Eteokles; Diomedes’ father, Tydeus, was one of the commanders of the Seven and was killed at Thebes; ten years later, Polyneikes assembled another army known as the Epigoni which means After-Born, i.e. the sons of the Seven; Diomedes was one of the Epigoni and they successfully took Thebes.
Diomedes is mentioned often in The Iliad and demonstrated his bravery on many occasions; Diomedes was the youngest commander to take the field against the Trojans but repeatedly demonstrated a maturity and sobriety; one of his many astonishing accomplishments was the wounding of Aphrodite (goddess of Love); the goddess, Athene (Athena), was clearly on the side of the Greeks and during one of the final battles of the Trajan War intervened to assist Diomedes; Athene “lifted the mist from his eyes” and allowed him to perceive the Immortals on the battlefield; Diomedes could clearly see the numerous gods and goddesses in the battle-lines; when Aphrodite attempted to protect her son, Aineias (Aeneas), Diomedes lunged at her and wounded her on the hand.
Diomedes also had a confrontation with Ares (god of War) on the battlefield at Troy; Ares saw the thunderous assaults that Diomedes was making on the Trajan defenses and decided to put an end to Diomedes’ life; Ares turned his chariot towards Diomedes and charged; just as Ares’ spear was about to strike Diomedes, the goddess, Athene, turned it aside and guided Diomedes’ spear into Ares’ midsection; Ares bellowed with the sound of ten thousand men and ascended into the clouds.
Another incident involving Diomedes was the encounter with a Trojan spy named Dolon; the Trojans had a victorious day on the battlefield and the Trojan commander, Hector, was anxious to know if the Greeks were discouraged and preparing to withdraw; he asked for a volunteer to secretly go to the Greek camp as a spy; Hector promised to give the volunteer the chariot and horses of Achilles after the Greeks were defeated; Dolon stepped forward and accepted the job but he made Hector swear a solemn oath that he would fulfill his word and give the chariot and horses of Achilles as a reward.
On the other side of the battlefield, the Greek commander, Agamemnon, wanted to send two spies into the Trojan camp to assess their intentions and strength; Diomedes and Odysseus were chosen for the task; after the decision had been made, the goddess, Athene, sent a heron to fly above them to show her approval; while crossing the no-man’s-land between the encamped armies, Diomedes and Odysseus saw Dolon coming their way very quickly; the two men hid until Dolon ran past and then raced to catch him; their intention was to force him towards the Greek encampment and not let him escape back to the Trojan camp or to the city; Dolon was a fast runner but Athene put determination in Diomedes’ heart and swiftness in his legs; he shouted at Dolon to stop and then threw his spear just above Dolon’s shoulder; Dolon stopped and fell to his knees; he begged Diomedes to spare his life and said that his wealthy father would pay a large ransom for the return of his only son; Odysseus calmed Dolon with some sly words and made him reveal the situation at the Trojan camp; Dolon told Odysseus that some Thracians troops had just arrived and their commander, Rhesos (Rhesus), had golden armor and the finest horses on the battlefield; after Odysseus had finished questioning Dolon, Diomedes drew his sword and, as Dolon begged for his life, chopped off his head; Diomedes attacked Dolon with such speed and violence that Dolon’s head was still speaking when it hit the ground.
Odysseus stripped Dolon of his gear and the two spies continued on towards the Trojan camp; they easily found the Thracians and devised a plan where Odysseus would steal the magnificent horses of Rhesos and Diomedes would kill as many of the sleeping Thracians as he could; Diomedes killed twelve Thracian soldiers and then pulled their bodies out of the way so that he and Odysseus could lead the horses away without stepping in the blood and gore; lastly, Diomedes killed the Thracian commander, Rhesos, and the two heroes fled back to the Greek encampment with the beautiful white horses and the gear they had stripped from Dolon; book ten of The Iliad tells the story of Dolon.
The Greeks were destined to win the Trojan War but Zeus had many preconditions that had to be accomplished before the walls of Troy could be breached; the final requirements was to have the archer, Philoktetes (Philoctetes), rejoin the army after he had been left on the island of Lemnos at the beginning of the war; when the Greek fleet was on their way to Troy, they stopped at Lemnos; Philoktetes was bitten by a snake and the Greeks left him on Lemnos and apparently forgot about him; during the tenth year of the war, Odysseus captured the Trojan seer, Helenos (Helenus), and was told that Troy would never be captured without Philoktetes and his bow; Diomedes was dispatched to Lemnos and brought Philoktetes back to Troy where he was treated by Machaon and healed of the still festering snake wound; Philoktetes joined the fighting and killed the man who had started the war, Alexandros (Paris).
Not in The Iliad but in The Little Iliad, it was recorded that Odysseus secretly entered Troy and stole the statue of the goddess Athene called the Palladium; with the help of Diomedes, Odysseus was able to get the statue out of the city before the walls were breached; this act assured that the Palladium would not be damaged or desecrated when the Greeks finally entered the city.
When the Trojan War was finally over, Diomedes sailed home but not without incident; Diomedes and the aged warrior, Nestor, left Troy and crossed the windless sea to the island of Tenedos; they made sacrifices and asked Poseidon (lord of the Sea) for a sign as to which way they should proceed home; Poseidon answered that they should sail directly across the Aegean Sea and make for the island of Euboia; they did as the god commanded and Diomedes safely reached Argos in four days.
Little Iliad, fragment 1
The Returns, fragment 1
Odyssey (Lattimore), book 3, line 180
Odyssey (Loeb), book 3, line 181
Odyssey (Fagles), book 3, line 186
Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 3, line 180

Dionysos (Dionysus)
The god of Wine; also called Bacchus; the son of Zeus and Thyone (a.k.a. Semele).
Dionysos has a page in the Immortals section of this site ... click on his image to view that page.

Dolon
DOH lon
A scout and spy for the Trojan army; Dolon had five sisters and was the only son of a wealthy herald named Eumedes; Dolon is variously described as: 1) evil looking, 2) ill-favored to look on, 3) puny and 4) no feast for the eyes.
During the last days of the Trojan War, the fighting between two armies was particularly fierce; the Trojans had a victorious day on the battlefield and their commander, Hector, was anxious to know if the Greeks were discouraged and preparing to withdraw; he asked for a volunteer to secretly go to the Greek camp as a spy; Hector promised to give the volunteer the chariot and horses of Achilles after the Greeks were defeated; Dolon stepped forward and accepted the job but he made Hector swear a solemn oath that he would fulfill his word and give the chariot and horses of Achilles as a reward; Dolon realized that, second only to the armor of Achilles, the horses and chariot that Hector was offering was the greatest trophy any Trojan soldier could hope to own.
Dolon prepared himself for the mission by donning a cap of marten’s hide, the pelt of a gray wolf and carrying a curved bow over his shoulder; he was a fleet runner and was confident that he could easily penetrate the Greek picket lines and spy on the commanders without being seen; he would then simply sneak out and run back to the Trojan camp before anyone could catch him.
On the other side of the battlefield, the Greek commander, Agamemnon, wanted to send two spies into the Trojan camp to assess their intentions and strength; Diomedes and Odysseus were chosen for the task; after the decision had been made, the goddess Athene (Athena) sent a heron to fly above them to show her approval; while crossing the no-man’s-land between the encamped armies, Diomedes and Odysseus saw Dolon coming their way very quickly; the battlefield was still littered with bodies and equipment from the day’s fighting so Odysseus and Diomedes at first thought that the man they saw was collecting armor or looking for a particular dead man; Odysseus and Diomedes hid until Dolon ran past and then raced to catch him; their intention was to force him towards the Greek encampment and not let him escape back to the Trojan camp or to the city; Dolon soon realized that he was being pursued and picked up his pace.
Dolon was a fast runner but Athene put determination in Diomedes’ heart and swiftness in his legs; as he began to overtake Dolon, he shouted for Dolon to stop and then purposely threw his spear just above Dolon’s shoulder as a warning; Dolon stopped running and fell to his knees; he begged Diomedes to spare his life and said that his wealthy father would pay a large ransom for the return of his only son; Odysseus calmed Dolon by saying that they had no intention of killing him, they only wanted information about the Trojan camp and the disposition of the troops; Dolon believed Odysseus and held back nothing; he gave a complete description of the Trojan camp and also told him that Hector was having a strategy meeting a little ways back from the main camp; Dolon finally told Odysseus that some Thracian troops had just arrived and their commander, Rhesos (Rhesus), had golden armor and the finest horses he had ever seen; after Odysseus had finished questioning Dolon, Diomedes drew his sword and Dolon realized that his life was now on the line; Dolon begged for mercy but Diomedes unhesitatingly drew back his sword and chopped off Dolon’s head with a single stroke; Diomedes attacked Dolon with such speed and violence that Dolon’s head was still speaking when it hit the ground; Odysseus stripped Dolon of his gear and the two spies continued on towards the Trojan camp.
Odysseus and Diomedes easily found the Thracian camp just as Dolon had described it; Diomedes killed twelve Thracian soldiers as they slept and then pulled their bodies out of the way so that he and Odysseus could lead the commander’s chariot horses away without stepping in the blood and gore; lastly, Diomedes killed the Thracian commander, Rhesos, and the two heroes fled back to the Greek encampment with the beautiful white horses and the war-gear they had stripped from Dolon.
The above image is when Dolon was taken prisoner by Diomedes (left) and Odysseus (right).
Iliad (Loeb), book 10, lines 314, 390, 412, 426, 447, 478 and 570
Iliad (Fagles), book 10, lines 366, 456, 478, 493, 523, (the rascal) 552 and 660
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 10, lines 347, 436, 457, 472, 513, 530 and 631

Doric Order
One of the architectural orders developed in ancient Greece.
The Doric style consists typically of a channeled column without a base, having as a capital a circular echinus supporting a square abacus, above which is a plain architrave, a frieze of triglyphs and metopes, a cornice, the corona of which has mutules on its soffit.
This style of architecture is more solid looking than the Corinthian or Ionic styles and has few aspects which might be described as flowing or graceful; the picture shown above is from the Temple of Hephaistos (Hephaestus) in Athens and is a stunning example of the durability of this architectural style.

Dryas 2
DREE as
The son of the king of Thrace who was killed by his father; Dionysos (a.k.a. Bacchus, god of Wine) drove the king mad and the confused man mistook his son, Dryas, for a grape vine and killed him.
The above image shows Dionysos (left) watching as the king attacks his wife (center) after he has murdered Dryas (right); the winged goddess of Madness, Lyssa, hovers above the tragic scene.