Demophilus of Thespiae
- For others with the same name see also Demophilus (disambiguation)
Demophilus (died 480 BC) was a general of Thespiae and the son of Diadromes. He led a contingent of about 600 Thespians at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.
On August 11, Leonidas, the Spartan king and commander of the Greek army at Thermopylae, realized that further fighting would be futile, so he dismissed all but the 300 Spartans. However, a contingent of about 600 Thespians, led by Demophilus, refused to leave with the other Greeks. Instead, they chose to stay in the suicidal effort to delay the advance.
The Spartans, brave as their sacrifice indubitably was, were professional soldiers, trained from birth to be ready to give their lives in combat. Conversely, the Thespians were citizen-soldiers (Demophilus, for example, made his living as an architect) who, in true Greek fashion, voted to add whatever they could to the fight, rather than allow the Spartans to be annihilated alone. They fought alongside the Lacedaimonians and, like them, died to a man. Though their bravery is often overlooked by history, it was most certainly not overlooked by the Spartans, who are said to have exchanged cloaks with the Thespians and promised to be allies for eternity.
Demophilus and the Battle of Thermopylae were described in The Histories of Herodotus.