Deimos (deity)
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Deimos (Ancient Greek: Δεῖμος, pronounced [dêːmos], meaning "dread"), is the Greek god of terror.
Mythology
Deimos was the son of Ares and Aphrodite. He is the twin brother of Phobos and nephew of the goddess Enyo who accompanied her brother Ares into battle, as well as his father's attendants, Trembling, Fear, Dread and Panic. Deimos is more of a personification and an abstraction of the sheer terror that is brought by war and he never appeared as an actual character in any story in Greek Mythology. His Roman equivalent was Formido or Metus.
Asaph Hall, who discovered the moons of Mars, named one Deimos, and the other Phobos - although the moons are very different and not twins like their namesakes.
On the modern monument to the battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas' shield has a representation of Deimos.
Deimos and Phobos in Sparta
The two brothers Deimos and Phobos were particularly worshiped in the city state of Sparta as they were the sons of Ares, the god of war.[citation needed]
In popular culture
Deimos appears in The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan: Deimos and his brother Phobos (God of Terror and Fear), are the half-brothers of Clarisse La Rue, a demigod child of Ares.
He appears in the fantasy novel Devil May Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon.
He also appears in God of War: Ghost of Sparta, although here he is the brother of Kratos. An oracle had foretold that the demise of Olympus would come not by the revenge of the Titans, but by a marked warrior. Ares interrupts the childhood training of Kratos and Deimos, Athena at his side, and kidnapped Deimos due to his strange birthmarks. After Kratos becomes the God of War, he learns from his mother that his brother isn't dead, but trapped and tortured by Thanatos, God of Death. Kratos goes out to rescue his brother but when he frees him, Deimos is enraged that he was taken in Kratos' place and they end up fighting. Thanatos intervenes and takes Deimos to Suicide Bluffs, where Kratos saves Deimos from falling to his death. Kratos and Deimos set out to fight Thanatos, Thanatos kills Deimos and is then destroyed by Kratos.
Deimos is referenced in the name for a class of powerful corvettes in the 3D space shooter Freespace 2, as the Deimos-class.
Deimos appears in the animated Wonder Woman film. Here, he is sent by Ares to kill Wonder Woman, but is defeated by her in battle. Held by Wonder Woman's lasso which forces men to tell the truth, and asked where Ares is, he commits suicide rather than reveal his master's location.
References
- The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan
- Devil May Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon
