Demetrius I of Macedon Demetrius I ( Greek : Δημήτριος , 337 – 283 BC ) , called Poliorcetes ( ; Greek : Πολιορκητής , " The Besieger " ) , son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Stratonice , was a king of Macedon ( 294 – 288 BC ) . He belonged to the Antigonid dynasty . Biography . At the age of twenty - two he was left by his father to defend Syria against Ptolemy the son of Lagus ; he was defeated at the Battle of Gaza , but soon partially repaired his loss by a victory in the neighbourhood of Myus . In the spring of 310 , he was soundly defeated when he tried to expel Seleucus I Nicator from Babylon ; his father was defeated in the autumn . As a result of this Babylonian War , Antigonus lost almost two thirds of his empire : all eastern satrapies became Seleucus ' . After several campaigns against Ptolemy on the coasts of Cilicia and Cyprus , Demetrius sailed with a fleet of 250 ships to Athens . He freed the city from the power of Cassander and Ptolemy , expelled the garrison which had been stationed there under Demetrius of Phalerum , and besieged and took Munychia ( 307 BC ) . After these victories he was worshipped by the Athenians as a tutelary deity under the title of " Soter " ( σωτήρ ) ( " Preserver " ) . In the campaign of 306 BC against Ptolemy he defeated Menelaus , Ptolemy ' s brother , in the naval Battle of Salamis , completely destroying the naval power of Egypt . Demetrius conquered Cyprus in 306 BC , capturing one of Ptolemy ' s sons . Following the victory Antigonus assumed the title king and bestowed the same upon his son Demetrius . In 305 BC , now bearing the title of king bestowed upon him by his father , he endeavoured to punish the Rhodians for having deserted his cause ; his ingenuity in devising new siege engines in his unsuccessful attempt to reduce the capital gained him the title of Poliorcetes . Among his creations were a battering ram long , requiring 1000 men to operate it ; and a wheeled siege tower named " Helepolis " ( or " Taker of Cities " ) which stood tall and wide , weighing 360 , 000 pounds . In 302 BC he returned a second time to Greece as liberator , and reinstated the Corinthian League . But his licentiousness and extravagance made the Athenians long for the government of Cassander . Among his outrages was his courtship of a young boy named Democles the Handsome . The youth kept on refusing his attention but one day found himself cornered at the baths . Having no way out and being unable to physically resist his suitor , he took the lid off the hot water cauldron and jumped in . His death was seen as a mark of honor for himself and his country . In another instance , Demetrius waived a fine of 50 talents imposed on a citizen in exchange for the favors of Cleaenetus , that man ' s son . He also sought the attention of Lamia , a Greek courtesan . He demanded 250 talents from the Athenians , which he then gave to Lamia and other courtesans to buy soap and cosmetics . He also roused the jealousy of Alexander ' s Diadochi ; Seleucus , Cassander and Lysimachus united to destroy him and his father . The hostile armies met at the Ipsus in Phrygia ( 301 BC ) . Antigonus was killed , and Demetrius , after sustaining severe losses , retired to Ephesus . This reversal of fortune stirred up many enemies against him — the Athenians refused even to admit him into their city . But he soon afterwards ravaged the territory of Lysimachus and effected a reconciliation with Seleucus , to whom he gave his daughter Stratonice in marriage . Athens was at this time oppressed by the tyranny of Lachares - a popular leader who made himself supreme in Athens in 296 BC - but Demetrius , after a protracted blockade , gained possession of the city ( 294 BC ) and pardoned the inhabitants for their misconduct in 301 . In the same year he established himself on the throne of Macedonia by murdering Alexander V , the son of Cassander . He faced rebellion from the Boeotians but secured the region after capturing Thebes in 291 BC . That year he married Lanassa , the former wife of Pyrrhus . But his new position as ruler of Macedonia was continually threatened by Pyrrhus , who took advantage of his occasional absence to ravage the defenceless part of his kingdom ( Plutarch , " Pyrrhus " , 7 if . ) ; at length , the combined forces of Pyrrhus , Ptolemy and Lysimachus , assisted by the disaffected among his own subjects , obliged him to leave Macedonia in 288 BC . After besieging Athens without success he passed into Asia and attacked some of the provinces of Lysimachus with varying success . Famine and pestilence destroyed the greater part of his army , and he solicited Seleucus ' support and assistance . But before he reached Syria hostilities broke out , and after he had gained some advantages over his son - in - law , Demetrius was totally forsaken by his troops on the field of battle and surrendered to Seleucus . His son Antigonus offered all his possessions , and even his own person , in order to procure his father ' s liberty . But all proved unavailing , and Demetrius died after a confinement of three years ( 283 BC ) . His remains were given to Antigonus and honoured with a splendid funeral at Corinth . His descendants remained in possession of the Macedonian throne till the time of Perseus , when Macedon was conquered by the Romans in 168 BC . Demetrius was married five times ; his first wife was Phila daughter of Regent Antipater by whom he had two children : Stratonice of Syria and Antigonus II Gonatas . His second wife was Eurydice of Athens and his third wife was Deidamia , a sister of Pyrrhus of Epirus . Deidamia bore him a son called Alexander who is said by Plutarch to have spent his life in Egypt , probably in an honourable captivity . His fourth wife was Lanassa and fifth wife was Ptolemais , daughter of Ptolemy I Soter and Eurydice of Egypt , by whom he had a son called Demetrius the Fair . He also had an affair with a celebrated courtesan called Lamia of Athens , by whom he had a daughter called Phila . Literary references . Plutarch . Plutarch wrote a biography of Demetrius . Hegel . Hegel , in the " Lectures on the History of Philosophy " , says of another Demetrius , Demetrius Phalereus that " Demetrius Phalereus and others were thus soon after [ Alexander ] honoured and worshipped in Athens as God . " What the exact source was for Hegel ' s claim is unclear . Diogenes Laërtius in his short biography of Demetrius Phalereus does not mention this . Apparently Hegel ' s error comes from a misreading of Plutarch ' s " Life of Demetrius " which is about Demetrius Poliorcetes and not Demetrius of Phalereus . But , Plutarch describes in the work how Demetrius Poliorcetes conquered Demetrius Phalereus at Athens . Then , in chapter 12 of the work , Plutarch describes how Demetrius Poliorcetes was given honors due to the god Dionysus . Somehow this account by Plutarch was confusing not only for Hegel , but for others as well . Others . Plutarch ' s account of Demetrius ' departure from Macedonia in 288 BC inspired Constantine Cavafy to write " King Demetrius " ( ὁ βασιλεὺς Δημήτριος ) in 1906 , his earliest surviving poem on a historical theme . Demetrius appears ( under the Greek form of his name , Demetrios ) in L . Sprague de Camp ' s historical novel , " The Bronze God of Rhodes " , which largely concerns itself with his siege of Rhodes . Alfred Duggan ' s novel " Elephants and Castles " provides a lively fictionalised account of his life .