Megistias
Sign in to saveMegistias (Greek: Μεγιστίας, "the greatest one") or Themisteas () was a soothsayer from Acarnania who voluntarily followed the Greeks to Thermopylae, along with his son. He traced his lineage to Melampus. On the last day of the Battle of Thermopylae, after the decision had been made for the retreat of the other Greeks (except for the Spartans, Thespians, and Thebans), Megistias sent his only son away with them and chose to stay until the end. The Acarnanians erected a monument in his honor, on which they praised, with an epigram that was written by Simonides of Ceos, a personal friend of Megis
Wikidata facts
- Gender
- male
- Occupation
- fortune teller
- Languages spoken
- Ancient Greek
Show 3 more facts
- date of birth
- 0600-00-00
- date of death
- 0480-00-00
- described by source
- Pauly–Wissowa
via Wikidata · CC0
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
2 sectionsContents
- In popular culture
- References
Megistias (Greek: Μεγιστίας, "the greatest one") or Themisteas () was a soothsayer from Acarnania who voluntarily followed the Greeks to Thermopylae, along with his son. He traced his lineage to Melampus. On the last day of the Battle of Thermopylae, after the decision had been made for the retreat of the other Greeks (except for the Spartans, Thespians, and Thebans), Megistias sent his only son away with them and chose to stay until the end. The Acarnanians erected a monument in his honor, on which they praised, with an epigram that was written by Simonides of Ceos, a personal friend of Megistias, to honor his courage and self-sacrifice.
==In popular culture==
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Megistias” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.