Phyllis: the love story of an ancient princess
Phyllis and Demophon
The story of Phyllis and Demophon is one of the more tragic love stories that have survived from Ancient Greece and has inspired the creation of our candle ‘Phyllis’.
Phyllis was a princess in ancient Thrace, daughter of king Sithon, by some accounts, or Philander, Ciasus, or Thelus by some others. Demophon, was the son of Theseus, king of Athens, and Phaidra, a princess from ancient Crete.
Phyllis, Louise Joppling, (1843-1933)
The story begins when Demophon was on his way back to Athens from Troy, after participating in the war on the side of the Achaeans. As he was passing through Thrace, he came upon a beach where a group of girls where lounging and playing about.
When the girls saw the men draw nearer, they were initially frightened but Demophon, the leader of the group, implored them to not be alarmed as him and his group had only stopped to refill their waterskins.
Unbeknownst to Demophon, Phyllis the princess of the country he stopped in, was charmed by his polite manners. She offered to host the group of warriors in her father’s palace where they received all the honours that befit them as guests of a king.
As the two spent more time together they fell in love with each other and soon asked the Thracian king if they could marry. The king gave them his blessing, thus granting Demophon a place of honour in the Thracian court.
The tragic separation
As time passed however, Demophon was struck by a strong sense of nostalgia to see his father again, as well as his home country. He had been away at war for ten years after all, the Trojan War being one of the longest conflicts to be recorded in Greek myth. After some deliberation he was able to travel back home, despite feeling torn at having to leave Phyllis behind.
On her part, Phyllis did not begrudge her husband his desire to see his homeland, even though she abhorred having to be separated from him. Despite her sadness, Phyllis sent Demophon away with a casket which contained a sacrament of Rhea, the Mountain Mother, known also as the Mistress of Animals, and mother of Zeus, Poseidon, Plouton (Hades), Hera, Demeter, and Hestia.
Almond blossom, Henry Ryland (1856-1924)
None of the accounts describe what this sacrament of Rhea, this sacred object, could have been, but they do record that Phyllis asked Demophon to only open it if he had given up hope of returning to her. At this point, the story diverges into numerous variants, since the accounts that have survived to our day and that record the story of Phyllis and Demophon do not agree as to what happened next.
It is also unclear as to why Phyllis could not travel with him in the first place;
but that is the beauty of mythology, and so we leave it up to you to fill in the blanks!
The end
In any case, some say that Phyllis went into a prolonged state of sadness and loneliness since Demophon was detained in Athens for some time. After coming to the conclusion that her husband will not return to her, she committed suicide by hanging herself from a tree.
At the place where she was buried an almond tree grew. When Demophon eventually returned he found the grave and the tree and in his grief rushed to hug the tree as if it were Phyllis.
At that point the tree which had been bare before, blossomed, its pretty white (or pink) flowers blooming as if Phyllis were hugging her husband back.
Phyllis Deserted, Thomas Mathews Rooke RWS, (1842-1942)
Other accounts of the myth
Others say that Phyllis had lost hope of her husband returning to her and had waisted away growing thin, gaunt, and pale as the years went by until the gods took pity on her and turned her into the bare almond tree. In this version too, Demophon eventually returned and was so grief-stricken that he embraced the tree which then bloomed for him.
Some others record that Demophon opened the casket he was given by Phyllis and was so horrified by what he saw in it that he rode off in such great haste that his horse lost its footing, and he was killed by accidentally falling on his own sword.
Thus, he never returned to Phyllis who hopeless and forlorn wasted away only to be transformed in one way or another into the almond tree.
Some accounts mention that she had gone back to the beach where they first met nine times, which was why the area where the city of Amphipolis was to be built was first called Nine Ways.
The message of the story: the power of passion
No matter how different this story’s minute details can be, one can see certain elements that transcend the narrative proper. Like the power of eros and how all-consuming it can be, whether in a good way or a bad way.
Phyllis and Demophon were happy and stronger when together, but when separated they each made their own mistakes, blinded by the loss of the love and passion for one another. How formidable indeed is the power of Aphrodite. How easily she is able to grant life but also take it away in a torturously slow manner.
Whichever version you choose to follow, these core elements of love and passion and what they can do to change a person’s life remain unchanged.
If you’re currently away from your loved one, light Phyllis to bring the scent of their embrace!
(Ancient Sources: Servius commenting on Virgil’s Eclogue 5. 10; Ovid, Remedia Amoris 605; Heroides 2.59-60; Pseudo-Apollodorus in Bibliotheca Epitome, Books 4, 6. 16-17; Hyginus, Fabulae 59. For more information check out theoi.com)