Dares Phrygius

Dares Phrygius (dâr'ēz frij'ēus) [key], supposed author of a history of the Trojan War. Dares of Phrygia is mentioned by Homer in the Iliad as a priest of Troy. During the Middle Ages he was widely regarded as the author of De excidio Troiae historia [history of the destruction of Troy], which reputedly had been translated into Latin in the 5th cent. A.D. This work and the supposed diary of Dictys Cretensis became, through Benoît de Sainte-More's Roman de Troie, the most popular sources for medieval stories of the Trojan War.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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