Dardanus- Greek HeroHero"Founder of Dardania"
Also known as: Dardanos and Δάρδανος
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Description
When Zeus struck his brother Iasion dead for lying with Demeter, Dardanus built a raft on Samothrace and crossed to Asia Minor. There he founded Dardania on the slopes of Mount Ida, the city that would become Troy and the dynasty that would end at Troy's fall.
Mythology & Lore
Samothrace
Dardanus grew up on Samothrace with his brother Iasion, both sons of Zeus and the Pleiad Electra. Together they founded the sacred rites of the Cabiri, mysteries that would draw initiates to the island for centuries. Then Iasion fell in love with Demeter and lay with her in a thrice-ploughed field. Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt. A great flood swept the island soon after, and the survivors fled to higher ground. Dardanus lashed together a raft, loaded the sacred objects of the mysteries, and crossed the strait to Asia Minor.
Foundation of Dardania
King Teucer ruled the Troad, a son of the river god Scamander and the nymph Idaea. He welcomed Dardanus and gave him both land and his daughter Bateia in marriage. On the slopes of Mount Ida, Dardanus raised a citadel and founded the city of Dardania. There he consecrated the sacred rites he had brought from Samothrace.
The Palladium
A wooden image of Athena fell from the sky and landed at Dardanus's feet. This was the Palladium. Whatever city held it could not fall. Dardanus set it in the heart of Dardania, and his descendants carried it to Troy when they built the greater city. The Palladium stood there for generations. Then Odysseus and Diomedes crept behind the walls and stole it. Troy fell, but Dardanus's bloodline survived. Aeneas, his descendant, carried the household gods westward to Italy.