Deiphobus (dē-if´ob-us).—Son of Priam and Hecuba. After the death of Paris he married Helen. He was killed in a barbarous manner by Menelaus, Helen’s first husband.
Delos (dē´los).—The smallest of the Cyclades (islands), the birthplace of Apollo and Diana, and the most holy seat of the worship of the former.
Delphi (del´fī).—A small town in Phocis, very celebrated on account of its oracle of Apollo. Homer always refers to it under its old name, Pytho. It was looked upon as the central point of the whole earth, and was hence called “the navel of the earth.” The oracle was consulted in the center of the splendid temple of Apollo. Here there was a small opening in the ground, from which a mephitic vapor occasionally arose. A tripod was placed over this opening, and the priestess—called Pythia, from Pytho—sat on it. In this way she inhaled the vapor, and the words she then uttered were believed to be inspired by Apollo. The priests took the words down and communicated them to the persons who had desired to consult the oracle.
Demeter (dē-mē-tēr). See “[Ceres].”
Deucalion (dū-kā´li-on).—Son of Prometheus, king of Phthia, in Thessaly, and husband of Pyrrha. He and his wife were the only human survivors of a great deluge which Jupiter sent to destroy mankind. They were preserved during the nine days’ flood in a ship which Deucalion built on the advice of his father. The ship finally rested on Mount Parnassus, in Phocis. On the direction of Themis, Deucalion and his wife threw “the bones of their mother,” i. e. the stones of the earth, behind them, those thrown by Deucalion becoming men, and those thrown by Pyrrha becoming women. In this way the earth was repeopled.
Diana (dī-ā´na).—Twin-sister of Apollo, the virgin goddess of the moon and of hunting, called by the Greeks Artemis (ar´te-mis). She was the daughter of Jupiter and Latona, and was born on the island of Delos. She is represented as armed with a bow, quiver and arrows, and was also regarded as identical with the moon (in Greek, Selene), her brother Apollo being looked upon as the sun (or Helois).
Dido (dī´dō).—Daughter of the Tyrian king Belus, and reputed founder of Carthage. Æneas, on his journey from Troy, landed at Carthage, and was handsomely entertained by Dido. She fell in love with the hero, and, on his leaving her to proceed to Italy, she, in despair, destroyed herself on a funeral pile. Dido is also called Elissa.
Diomedes (di-o-mē´dēz).—A famous hero at the siege of Troy. He was the son of Tydeus and Deïpyle, and is hence frequently called Tydides (ti-dī´dēz). Next to Achilles, he was the bravest hero in the Greek army. The gods themselves were supposed to be taking part in this memorable siege, some being ranged on one side and some on the other. Diomedes was under the special protection of Minerva. He not only engaged in conflict with the Trojan heroes, Hector and Æneas, but even wounded both Venus and Mars, who had espoused the cause of the Trojans. Diomedes and Ulysses carried off the palladium from the city of Troy, the safety of which was contingent on its possession (see “[Troy]”). At the end of the Trojan war he returned to Argos, where he found his wife (Ægialea) living in adultery with Hippolytus—a punishment visited upon him by the angry Venus. He consequently left Argos, and went to Ætolia. He afterwards settled at Daunia, in Italy, where he married Evippe, the daughter of Daunus, and died at an advanced age.
Dione (di-ō´nē).—A female Titan who became, by Jupiter, the mother of Venus.
Dirce (dir´sē).—Wife of Lycus, king of Thebes, who married her after divorcing his former wife, Antiope (an´ti-o-pē). On account of the cruelty with which she treated Antiope, Amphion and Zethus—Antiope’s sons by Jupiter—took terrible vengeance on Dirce. They tied her to a wild bull, which dragged her about till she perished, and then threw her body into a fountain near Thebes, which was from that time called the Fountain of Dirce.