Deiphobus- Greek FigureMortal"Prince of Troy"

Athena's Phantom

Deiphobus was a son of Priam and Hecuba, brother to Hector, Paris, and Cassandra. Throughout the Iliad, he fights capably on the Trojan side, dueling Greek champions and rallying the defenders. But when Hector stands alone outside the walls to face Achilles, Athena disguises herself as Deiphobus and approaches Hector, promising to stand with him against the Greek champion. Hector, heartened by what he believes is his brother's courage, turns to fight. When he calls upon Deiphobus for a spare spear, the phantom has vanished — and Hector realizes the gods have tricked him to his death.

Marriage to Helen

After Paris was killed by Philoctetes's arrow, Deiphobus and his brother Helenus both claimed Helen as a bride. Deiphobus prevailed, either by force or by Priam's decision. Helenus, furious at being passed over, left Troy and was eventually captured by the Greeks, revealing the conditions necessary for Troy's fall.

Betrayal and Death

On the night Troy fell, Helen betrayed Deiphobus to her first husband Menelaus. She removed the weapons from his chamber while he slept and opened the door to Menelaus and Odysseus. Menelaus killed and savagely mutilated Deiphobus, cutting off his nose, ears, and hands.

The Shade

When Aeneas descends to the underworld in Virgil's Aeneid, he encounters the shade of Deiphobus still bearing the terrible wounds of his death, barely recognizable beneath the mutilations. Deiphobus bitterly recounts how Helen betrayed him, calling her treachery the final act that sealed Troy's destruction. Aeneas weeps at the sight of his former comrade, but the Sibyl urges him onward — the living cannot linger long among the dead.