Da'mophon
（
δαμοφῶν), a sculptor of Messene, was the only Messenian artist of any note. (
Paus. 4.31.8.) His time is doubtful. Heyne and Winckelmann place him a little later than Phidias; Quatremère de Quincy from B. C. 340 to B. C. 300. Sillig (
Catal. Art. s. v. Demophon) argues, from the fact that he adorned Messene and Megalopolis with his chief works, that he lived about the time when Messene was restored and Megalopolis was built. (B. C. 372-370.) Pausanias mentions the following works of Damophon: At Aegius in Achaia, a statue of Lucina, of wood, except the face, hands, and toes, which were of Pentelic marble, and were, no doubt, the only parts uncovered: also, statues of Hygeia and Asclepius in the shrine of Eileithyia and Asclepius, bearing the artist's name in an iambic line on the base: at Messene, a statue of the Mother of the Gods, in Parian marble, one of Artemis Laphria, and several marble statues in the temple of Asclepius: at Megalopolis, wooden statues of Hermes and Aphrodite, with faces, hands, and toes of marbie, and a great monolith group of Despoena (
i. e. Cora) and Demeter, seated on a throne, which is fully described by Pausanias.
He also repaired Phidias's colossal statue of Zeus at Olympia, the ivory plates of which had become loose. (
Paus. 4.31. §§ 5, 6, 8, 8.31. §§ 3, 5, 37.2.)
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