Literary notes about ephialtes (AI summary)
The term "Ephialtes" appears in literature with a remarkable range of meanings and associations. On one hand, it serves as the proper name for notable figures—from a military man involved in the campaigns of Alexander ([1]) to a notorious traitor whose actions at Thermopylae altered the course of history ([2], [3]). On the other hand, the name carries a mythic and even supernatural resonance: it adorns giant characters who defy even the gods ([4], [5], [6]), while also evolving into a term for unsettling dreams and nightmares, as seen in discussions of disease and sleep disturbances ([7], [8], [9], [10]). Additionally, authors such as Dante employ it to evoke images of formidable, almost otherworldly beings ([11], [12]), thereby enriching its literary legacy by linking themes of betrayal, terror, and myth.
- 96 All these nine men were orators except Chares, Charidemus, and Ephialtes, who were military men.
— from The Anabasis of Alexander by Arrian - It was a necessity, given all the conditions— the treachery of Ephialtes included—that the Persians should force the pass of Thermopylae.
— from Lectures and Essays by Goldwin Smith - “He is the traitor Ephialtes, who will lead the Persian King to Thermopylae.”
— from Historical Miniatures by August Strindberg - nd giants, Mars was so eager to prove his skill in warfare that he engaged in a fierce battle with Otus and Ephialtes.
— from Stories of Old Greece and Rome by Emilie K. (Emilie Kip) Baker - Other famous Giants were Mimas, Polybotes, Ephialtes, Rhœtus, Clytius.
— from The Classic Myths in English Literature and in Art (2nd ed.) (1911) Based Originally on Bulfinch's "Age of Fable" (1855) by Thomas Bulfinch - The sea-god was the father of two giant sons called Otus and Ephialtes.
— from Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome by E. M. Berens - "What natural effects can reasonably be expected, when, to prevent the Ephialtes, or Nightmare, we hang a hollow stone in our stables?"
— from Rookwood by William Harrison Ainsworth - Under this class is placed the ephialtes , or night-mare.
— from Curiosities of Medical Experience by J. G. (John Gideon) Millingen - [13] Ephialtes , which the Phisitions call the Maare, is a disease of the stomacke, concerning which, reade Paulus Aegineta li.3.cap.6 .
— from Of Ghostes and Spirites, Walking by Night And of Straunge Noyses, Crackes, and Sundrie Forewarnings, Which Commonly Happen Before the Death of Men: Great Slaughters, and Alterations of Kingdoms by Ludwig Lavater - they that have the hinder part of their brain clogged, with viscous humours, called by physicians Ephialtes incubus, dream that they are suffocated.
— from Thaumaturgia; Or, Elucidations of the Marvellous by Oxonian - He is not, as he was fabled, a monster with a hundred hands, but is like Ephialtes, only fiercer to see.
— from The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: The Inferno by Dante Alighieri - ’Tis Ephialtes, [789] mightily who strove What time the giants to the gods caused fright: The arms he wielded then no more will move.’
— from The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
