Dares

Was, according to the Iliad,¹ a priest of Hephaestus at Troy.

There existed in antiquity an Iliad or an account of the destruction of Troy, which was believed to be more ancient than the Homeric poems, and in fact to be the work of Dares, the priest of Hephaestus.² Both these writers state, on the authority of Antipater of Acanthus, that Dares advised Hector not to kill Patroclus, and Eustathius adds, that Dares, after deserting to the Greeks, was killed by Odysseus, which event must have taken place after the fall of Troy, since Dares could not otherwise have written an account of the destruction of the city.

In the time of Aelian³ the Iliad of Dares, which he calls Phrygia Ilias (Φρυγία Ἰλιάς), was still known to exist; he too mentions the belief that it was more ancient than Homer, and Isidorus states that it was written on palm-leaves. But no part or fragment of this ancient Iliad has come down to us, and it is therefore not easy to form a definite opinion upon the question.

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