LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
Academy · Biography & Mythology

Demophon

or DEMOPHOON (Δημοφῶν or Δημοφόων

1. The youngest son of Celeus and Metaneira, who was entrusted to the care of Demeter. He grew up under her without any human food, being fed by the goddess with her own milk, and ambrosia. During the night she used to place him in fire to secure to him eternal youth; but once she wais observed by Metaneira, who disturbed the goddess by her cries, and the child Demophon was consumed by the flames. (Apollod. 1.5.1; Ov. Fast. 4.512, &c.; Hyg. Fab. 147; Hom. Hymn. in (Cer 234.)

From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.