Dares Phrygius (Ancient Greek:Δάρης), according toHomer,[1] was aTrojan priest ofHephaestus. He was later thought to have been the author of an account of the destruction of Troy.[2] A work inLatin, purporting to be a translation of this, and entitledDaretis Phrygii de excidio Troiae historia, was much read in theMiddle Ages, and was then ascribed toCornelius Nepos, who is made to dedicate it toSallust; but the language better fits a period much later than the time of Nepos (probably the 5th century AD).
It is unknown whether the existing work is an abridgment of a larger Latin work or an adaptation of aGreek original. Together with the similar work ofDictys Cretensis (with which it is generally printed), theDe excidio forms the chief source for the numerous medieval accounts of the Trojan legend, the so-calledMatter of Troy. Dares claimed 866,000 Greeks and 676,000 Trojans were killed in this war, but archaeology has uncovered nothing that suggests a war this large was ever fought on that site.[3]
The work was a significant source forJoseph of Exeter'sDe bello Troiano.[4] It was also completely reworked in the 8th century inMerovingian Gaul into the work entitledHistoria de origine Francorum ('History of the Origins of the Franks'), which purports to describe the descent of theFranks from the Trojans and is attributed to Dares.[5] The work is also translated into Norse,Trójumanna saga, which appears quite unique as it appears to deviate quite considerably from the Latin translation ascribed to Cornelius Nepos in the 5th century. The 12th or 13th century Trójumanna saga (dating uncertain) begins with the story of Frey, the vanir-god, as a young poor man living on Crete at the time of the biblical Josva. The saga begins with how he steals the secret of gold from theGyðinga people – the People of Guðř, and becomes the riches man on earth and let his subject believe he is a god. The saga tells that the romans knowFrey asSaturnus of Crete. One of his sons isThor, which the saga explains the Romans know asJupiter. It appears quite clear that the author of the Norse saga is aware that the Roman names are translations as well. The Norse saga can hardly be said to be a translation of the Latin version, but seems likely aware of the Dares PhrygiusHistory of the Fall of Rome and appears even more in concord with the humanistic philosophy of Euhemerius in the Norse version than that of theCornelius Nepos. Jupiter's sonMercurius is not explained asOðin, although the names of the seven days reveals that the fourth day as Oðin's day, among Norse and Germanic languages. Mercurius is not the son of Juno, which indeed is identified asSif, who in many other medieval Norse sources are explained as the mythical first oracular Sibyl. Mercurius is the son of the concubine Maya. Mercurius is the father ofErkules in Trojumanna saga, with Ío, which Sif tries to let some snakes kill. Trojumanna saga refers to Dares asMeistari Dares. It appears that the Icelandic author at least pretends to know, or know of a different source than the Latin translation of Master Dares.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dares Phrygius".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 829.
