Ephialtes

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See the Aloadae article for information about the giant Ephialtes of Greek mythology
For Ephialtes, the prominent Athenian politician see Ephialtes of Athens

Ephialtes (Greek: Ἐφιάλτης) was the son of Eurydemus of Malis. Throughout his life, he had been abused by the Spartans but could not avenge himself until he grasped the chance to betray the Spartan king Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, by helping the Persian king Xerxes I find another route around the pass of Thermopylae. The main role that Ephialtes played in this battle was informing Xerxes about a narrow pass that would allow him to outflank the Greeks. Led by Hydarnes, the Persian army advanced through this narrow pass and encountered only 1000 Phocians guarding in this area. The Phocians retreated after a short skirmish and the Persians were successful at flanking the Spartans. The news quickly circulated to the other Greeks.

This betrayal allowed the Persians to defeat the small number (around 300) of Spartan defenders, and around 600 Thespian defenders. The Greek force was completely destroyed, and none of the Greeks survived. While a vengeance for Ephialtes against the Spartans, it immortalized them with their valiant stand.

Ephialtes expected to be rewarded by the Persians, but this came to nothing when they were defeated at the Battle of Salamis. He then fled to Thessaly, with a bounty on his head. According to Herodotus he was killed for an apparently unrelated reason by Athenades of Trachis, around 479 BC.

Ephialtes (lit. "he who jumps upon") is rather appropriately the Greek word for "nightmare," and the mythological giant Ephialtes was sometimes considered the demon of nightmares.

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