DOLON IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY

Dolon was a minor figure of the Trojan War, a Trojan himself, Dolon would end up with a book of the Iliad named after him. 

​Dolon the Trojan

​Dolon was a Trojan, a s on of the esteemed herald of the Trojans, Eumedes. The mother of Dolon is not named, although it is known that all five of his siblings were female. 

Dolon was described as being unremarkable in appearance, but was known to be fleet of foot, amongst the fastest of all the Trojans. The named Dolon is often translated as “trickery”. 

​Dolon the Spy

​The tenth book of the Iliad is now known as the Doloneia, which could mean the “rhapsody of Dolon”, or “the bit about Dolon”. As to whether this book was originally part of Homer’s writing or a later addition to the Iliad is under debate. Dolon of course being the chief Trojan antagonist of this chapter. 

At the time the Trojans were in the ascendency on the battlefield, with the Achaeans pushed back towards their ships. There was even a rumour that the Achaeans were preparing to leave the battlefield on their vessels. 

​Hector, the son of Priam, and leader of the Trojan army, now sought confirmation of said rumours, and called for a volunteer to enter the Achaean camp and bring back news. Of course, it was Dolon who volunteered. 

Dolon did not desire gold nor bronze, for his family were rich in both, but Dolon was greedy and asked for the horses of Achilles, the immortal Balius and Xanthus, if he proved successful, and the Trojans won the war. Now Hector himself had sought the pair of horses himself, but agreed to Dolon’s request for the greater good. 

​The Death of Dolon

​Dolon would depart the Trojan camp that night, wearing a wolf-skin over his armour, so that it would not give him away. It so happened that at the time that Dolon was leaving the Trojan camp on a spying mission, so Odysseus and Diomedes were leaving the Achaean camp to seek news on the Trojans. 

The Achaean pair observed Dolon as he left the Trojan camp, and so hid themselves amongst the unclaimed bodies on the battlefield, and so Dolon failed to notice them as he passed by. Odysseus and Diomedes would then start to follow Dolon, as he headed towards the Achaean camp. Eventually, Dolon heard noise behind him, but as it came from the direction of the Trojan camp thought it was made by allies following him. 

It was only at the last moment that he realised that it was not friends who followed him but foe. Dolon was fleet of foot, but he was cut off from a safe retreat. Diomedes would be aided by the goddess Athena, who gave the mortal extra speed to bring down Dolon. 

Diomedes and Odysseus then tortured Dolon for information about the Trojan forces. Dolon would eventually relent, believing that his life would be spared, and so Dolon told the Achaean pair everything he knew, including the arrival of Rhesus and an army to support the Trojans.

Diomedes and Odysseus would though not spare the life of Dolon, and Diomedes cut Dolon’s head off. The torture and nature of Dolon’s death do not perhaps sit well with the heroic actions normally associated with the Achaean leaders. Nevertheless, after killing Dolon, Diomedes and Odysseus would enter the Trojan camp, making for the Thracian section, where they would kill King Rhesus and take his magnificent horses. 

Dolon was survived by a son, named Eumedes, named for his grandfather. Eumedes, the younger appears in tales after the Trojan War, for he was named as a companion of Aeneas, when Aeneas travelled to Italy. This son of Dolon would be killed by Tumus, King of the Rutuli.

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Colin Quartermain - Dolon - 8th February 2026