PALAMEDES, a Greek chief, son of Nauplius, king of
Eubœa, by Clemene. He was sent by the Grecian princes
who were going to the Trojan war, to bring to the camp
Ulysses, who, in order to avoid the expedition, pretended
insanity, and, the better to carry on the imposition, often
harnessed different animals to a plough, and sowed salt
instead of barley. But Palamedes soon discovered the
cheat. He knew that regret to part with Penelope, whom
Ulysses had lately married, was his only reason for pre-
tending insanity; and to demonstrate this, Palamedes took
Telemachus, of whom Penelope had lately been delivered,
and put him before his father's plough. Ulysses turned
the plough a different way, not to hurt his child. He was
therefore obliged to attend the Greek princes to the war;
but a mortal enmity took place between Ulysses and Pala-
medes. The king of Ithaca determined to take every op-
portunity to distress him; and when all his attempts were
frustrated, he had recourse to a base stratagem, and had
Palamedes unjustly accused and convicted of treason, and
stoned to death by the army. Palamedes was a man of
learning as well as a soldier; and, according to some, he
completed the alphabet of Cadmus by the addition of the
four letters δ, ζ, ϕ, ψ, during the Trojan war. To him
also is attributed the invention of dice and backgammon;
and it is said that he was the first who regularly ranged an
army in order of battle, and who placed sentinels round
the camp, and excited their vigilance and attention by
giving them a watchword.