Megistias

{{Short description|5th century BC Greek soothsayer}} '''Megistias''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Μεγιστίας, "the greatest one") or '''Themisteas''' ({{langx|el|Θεμιστέας}}) was a [[Fortune-telling|soothsayer]] from [[Acarnania]] who voluntarily followed the Greeks to [[Battle of Thermopylae|Thermopylae]], along with his son.<ref>{{cite book| editor = Smith, William| title = Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology| year = 1870| pages = 1009| url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2117.html| accessdate = 2008-03-18| url-status = usurped| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20051219060645/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2117.html| archivedate = 2005-12-19}}</ref><ref name="herodotus">{{cite book| author = Herodotus| editor =Marincola, John M.| first =John M.| authorlink =Herodotus | title =The Histories| url = https://archive.org/details/histories00hero| url-access = registration| publisher =[[Penguin Books]]| year =2003| location =[[London]]| pages =[https://archive.org/details/histories00hero/page/493 493]| ISBN =0-14-044908-6 }}</ref> He traced his lineage to [[Melampus]]. On the last day of the [[Battle of Thermopylae]], after the decision had been made for the retreat of the other Greeks (except for the Spartans, Thespians, and Thebans), Megistias sent his only son away with them and chose to stay until the end.<ref name="herodotus"/> The Acarnanians erected a monument in his honor, on which they praised, with an epigram that was written by [[Simonides of Ceos]], a personal friend of Megistias, to honor his courage and self-sacrifice.<ref name ="herodotus"/><ref>{{cite book| last =Bradford| first =Ernie| title =Thermopylae: The Battle for the West| publisher =[[Da Capo Press]]|date=March 2004 | location =[[New York City|New York]]| pages =149| isbn =0-306-81360-2}}</ref>

==In popular culture==

In the 1962 movie ''[[The 300 Spartans]]'', Megistias appears as a Spartan priest and soothsayer and friend of [[Leonidas I|King Leonidas]] who, in addition to giving predictions, also acts as a physician for the Spartans at Thermopylae. Megistias was portrayed by [[Charles Fernley Fawcett]].

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:5th-century BC clergy]] [[Category:5th-century BC Greek people]] [[Category:Ancient Greek seers]] [[Category:Battle of Thermopylae]] [[Category:Ancient Greeks killed in battle]] [[Category:480 BC deaths]] [[Category:Ancient Acarnanians]] [[Category:Year of birth unknown]] [[Category:Greek people of the Greco-Persian Wars]]