PHYLLIS IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY

​Phyllis was a Thracian princess in Greek mythology. Phyllis would fall in love with the Greek hero Demophon, but believing that he had abandoned her, Phyllis would commit suicide. 

​Phyllis the Thracian Princess

​Phyllis was a Thracian princess, and although one surviving source tells of her father being Sithon, the eponym of Sithonia, most sources do not name Phyllis’ father. 

Phyllis comes to prominence when the Achaean hero of the Trojan War, Demophon, landed in Phyllis’ father’s kingdom. 

​Phyllis and Demophon

​The Achaeans would leave Troy, and many would have further adventures before they reached home, if they ever did. 

Demophon and his ships would land in the territory of the Bisaltae in Thrace. Phyllis saw the stranger, and fell immediately in love with him; and him with her. Phyllis’ father consented toe marriage between Phyllis and Demophon, with Phyllis’ dowry being the Thracian kingdom. 

Demophon could not stay in Thrace whilst his own affairs in Athens were outstanding; and so Demophon departs, perhaps on the day of the wedding ceremony, leaving Phyllis behind, but promised to return by a certain date. As a parting gift, Phyllis presents a chest to Demophon, telling him not to open it unless all hope of returning to Thrace was lost. Phyllis would tell Demophon that within the chest was a sacrament of Rhea. 

Time would pass, and yet on the appointed date there was no sign of Demophon’s return to Thrace. Phyllis cam to believe that Demophon had abandoned her, although he had been unavoidably delayed. 

Thinking that she was forsaken, Phyllis would commit suicide, hanging herself from a tree. 

Some sources tell of Demophon being on Cyprus when he eventually opens the chest given to him by Phyllis. What exactly was in Phyllis’ chest is not entirely clear, even if it was a sacrament of the goddess Rhea, for, upon opening it, Demophon, was sent mad, and eventually he fell from his horse falling on his own sword. Other tales of Demophon though tell of him ruling in Athens for a number of years. 

​The Metamorphosis of Phyllis

​Some tell of how an almond tree would grow from the burial mound of Phyllis, other tells that it was the gods who transformed Phyllis into an almond tree (or possibly a hazelnut tree).

If Demophon eventually returned to Thrace, it was said that he embraced the almond tree, and the tree promptly blossoms. 

Contents

Colin Quartermain - Phyllis - 8th February 2026