DEMOPHON, DEMOPHOUN. Demophoön was the son of Theseus and Phedra. On his way home from Troy, he was shipwrecked on Rhodope, where Phyllis the queen repaired his ships and entertained him. He promised to marry her but forgot all about her once he was back in Athens (Heroides II). In despair Phyllis hanged herself, RR 13211-13214.

The Man of Law mentions this story as one of Chaucer's poems, MLI 65. The Dreamer tells the Man in Black that he will be as surely damned, if he kills himself, as Phyllis was for hanging herself for Demophoun, BD 725-728. The story is told in HF I.388-396; Phyllis, hanging for her Demophoun, appears in the catalogue of faithful women, LGW F 264, LGW G 218. There is no one falser than Demophon, except his father Theseus, LGW 2398-2400. The gods Thetis, Chorus, Triton, and Neptune cast Demophon up on the shore of Phyllis's kingdom, but he travels the same road as his father, Theseus. He deceives and betrays Phyllis just as Theseus betrayed Ariadne, LGW 2419-2496. Chaucer seems to have taken some details from Filippo Ceffi's translation of the Heroides for his own version. [Adriane: Phillis: Theseus]

Demophon occurs four times in medial positions, HF I.388; LGW 2405, 2427, 2486; four times in final rhyming position, MLI 65; LGW 2398, 2462, 2496; Demophoun appears three times in final rhyming position, BD 728; LGW F 264, LGW G 218.