Gylon ( grc, Γύλων), also known as Gylon of
Cerameis
Cerameis or Kerameis ( grc, Κεραμεῖς) was a deme of ancient Attica, located in the center of Athens, northeast of the Dipylon Gate, which extended both inside and outside the city walls. In its territory lay an important necropolis.
Ety ...
,
was a Greek military official and the maternal grandfather of
Demosthenes
Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual pro ...
.
He is known for his role in the capture and ultimately turning over of
Nymphaeum
A ''nymphaeum'' or ''nymphaion'' ( grc, νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a so ...
to the
Bosporans, for which he was punished.
Nymphaeum
A ''nymphaeum'' or ''nymphaion'' ( grc, νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a so ...
fell under Athenian rule when Gylon captured the city and established a garrison there,
along the strategically important grain route.
Until that time, the city was influenced by the
Scythians
The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern
* : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Cent ...
.
He was said to have lived in
Ancient Crimea
The recorded history of the Crimean Peninsula, historically known as ''Tauris'', ''Taurica'' ( gr, Ταυρική or Ταυρικά), and the ''Tauric Chersonese'' ( gr, Χερσόνησος Ταυρική, "Tauric Peninsula"), begins around th ...
(
Bosporan Kingdom
The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (, ''Vasíleio toú Kimmerikoú Vospórou''), was an ancient Greco-Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporu ...
). Gylon is said to have betrayed
Nymphaeum
A ''nymphaeum'' or ''nymphaion'' ( grc, νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event,