The father of Dymas was given as one
Eioneus, son of
Proteus, by some ancient mythographers.[1] According to
Dictys, he was a descendant of
Phoenix, son of
Agenor, as recounted by
Helen to
Hecuba to prove their kinship.[2][3] Dymas' wife was called as
Eunoë[4] or the
naiadEvagora,[1] a daughter of the river god
Sangarius. In fact, Dymas and his Phrygian subjects are closely connected to the
River Sangarius, which empties into the
Black Sea.
By his wife, Eunoë or Evagora, Dymas was the father of
Hecuba (also called Hecabe), wife to King
Priam of
Troy.[5] King Dymas is also said by
Homer to have had a son named
Asius, who fought (and died) during the
Trojan War - not to be confused with his namesake,
Asius son of
Hyrtacus, who also fought (and died) before Troy. The scholiasts credited Dymas with another son, named
Otreus, who fought the
Amazons a generation before the
Trojan War.[citation needed]
The etymology of the name Dymas is obscure, although it is probably non-Hellenic.
^Scholia ad
Homer, Iliad 16.718 with Pherecydes as the authority
^Homer, Iliad16.717;
Apollodorus,
3.12.5;
Quintus Smyrnaeus,
7.606; Scholia ad Homer, Iliad 16.718 with Pherecydes as the authority; Scholia ad Euripides, Hecuba3 from Pherecydes, fr. 136 (Fowler 2013, p. 42)