In Greek mythology, Deimos /ˈdaɪmɒs/ (Ancient Greek: Δεῖμος, lit. 'fear'^[1] pronounced [dêːmos]) is the personification of fear.^[2] He is the son of Ares and Aphrodite, and the brother of Phobos. Deimos served to represent the feelings of dread and terror that befell those before a battle, while Phobos personified feelings of fear and panic in the midst of battle.

Genealogy

In Hesiod's Theogony, Deimos is the son of Ares and Cytherea (Aphrodite), and the sibling of Phobos and Harmonia.^[3] According to the Greek antiquarian Semus of Delos, Deimos is the father of the monster Scylla.^[4]

Mythology

Deimos mainly appears in an assistant role to his father, who causes disorder in armies.^{[citation needed]} In the Iliad, he accompanied his father, Ares, into battle with the Goddess of Discord, Eris, and his brother Phobos (fear).^[5] In the Shield of Herakles, Phobos and Deimos accompany Ares into battle and remove him from the field once Herakles injures him.^[6] The poet Antimachus, in a misrepresentation of Homer's account, portrays Deimos and Phobos as the horses of Ares.^[7] In Nonnus' Dionysiaca, Zeus arms Phobos with lightning and Deimos with thunder to frighten Typhon.^[8] Later in the work, Phobos and Deimos act as Ares' charioteers to battle Dionysus during his war against the Indians.^[9]

Namesake

In 1877, the American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered the two satellites of the planet Mars. Hall named the two moons Phobos and Deimos. Deimos is the smaller of the two satellites.^[10]