PHILLIS. Phyllis, daughter of Lycurgus of Thrace, ruled the kingdom after her father's death. She welcomed Demophoön to Rhodope when he was shipwrecked on the beach. Demophoön accepted the young queen's hospitality, married her, then left for Athens, promising to return. He did not keep his promise, and Phyllis committed suicide. She contemplated several ways to die: to drown herself, to use the knife, or to hang herself, but had not decided by the end of the letter (Heroides II).

Chaucer tells the story, LGW 2394-2561. Indebted mainly to Ovid, he also possibly used RR 13211-13214, where Phyllis hangs herself. Phillis hangs herself on a tree, MLI 65, with a cord, LGW 2485. She is love's martyr, BD 727-728; HF I.388-397. Chaucer may have been influenced by an Italian translation of the Heroides for his portrait of Phyllis. [Demophon]

The name appears in medial positions only, MLI 65; BD 728; HF I.390; LGW F 264, LGW G 217; LGW 2424, 2452, 2465, 2469, 2482, 2494, 2497.