Phobos

Phobos is the personification of fear and panic in battle in Greek mythology, a son of Ares and Aphrodite who goes to war beside his father. His name is the Greek word for “fear” or “flight”, and he is usually named together with his brother Deimos, “terror”.

Parents and siblings

Hesiod says that Aphrodite bore to Ares, the shield-breaker, Phobos and Deimos, the two dread gods who drive in disorder the close ranks of men in chilling war, with Ares the sacker of cities; she also bore him Harmonia, whom Cadmus married (Theogony 933–937). Homer calls Phobos the dear son of Ares, strong and unafraid, who can put even a steadfast warrior to flight (Iliad 13.299–300). The sources give Phobos no wife and no children.

Phobos in battle

In the Iliad Phobos and Deimos belong to the company of Ares. In the fighting of Book 4, Ares urges on the Trojans and Athena the Achaeans, and Terror (Deimos), Fear (Phobos) and relentless Strife (Eris) urge on both armies (Iliad 4.439–440). When Ares learns that his son Ascalaphus has been killed, he orders Deimos and Phobos to yoke his horses (Iliad 15.119–120). Phobos is also set as a decoration on the terrible aegis of Athena (Iliad 5.739), and Deimos and Phobos stand around the Gorgon on the shield of Agamemnon (Iliad 11.36–37).

The Shield of Heracles, a poem ascribed to Hesiod, describes Phobos at the centre of the hero’s shield, made of adamant: a terrible sight, looking backward with eyes blazing with fire, with his mouth full of white teeth, fearsome and unapproachable, while Strife hovers above his brow, rousing the press of men (Shield 144–149). On the same shield Ares stands in his chariot, with Deimos and Phobos beside him, eager to enter the fight (Shield 191–196), and when Heracles wounds Ares in the thigh and throws him to the ground, Phobos and Deimos drive the chariot up, lift the god into it and whip the horses on to Olympus (Shield 459–466).

Worship

Phobos had a temple at Sparta. Plutarch tells how, when King Cleomenes had the ephors attacked, one of them escaped by creeping into a small building that was the temple of Fear, which was usually kept closed (Cleomenes 8.2). He explains that the Spartans had temples of Death, Laughter and similar powers as well as of Fear, and honoured Fear not as a baleful power to be averted, but because they believed fear to be the chief support of their state (Cleomenes 9.1).

In Aeschylus’ Seven against Thebes, the seven champions sacrifice a bull and swear an oath by Ares, Enyo and bloodthirsty Phobos to sack the city or die in the attempt (Seven against Thebes 42–48). Later in the play the messenger says that Phobos is already boasting at the gates (500).

Phobos Sources

Homer, Iliad 4.439–440, 5.739, 11.36–37, 13.299–300, 15.119–120; Hesiod, Theogony 933–937, and Shield of Heracles 144–149, 191–196, 459–466; Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes 42–48, 500; Plutarch, Cleomenes 8.2, 9.1.

See Also: Ares, Aphrodite, Deimos, Harmonia, Enyo, Eris, Heracles