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.
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
astronomerAsaph 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]