In one of the miniatures of the 15th century manuscript devoted to the "Heroides" of Ovidius, translated into French by Octavien de Saint-Gelais, Phyllis is depicted killing herself. When Phyllis found out that her beloved Demophon would not be coming back, she cursed him and committed suicide by hanging herself from a tree out of sorrow. In terms of morphology and clothing, she bears the features of a Medieval princess.

The "Heroides" is one of the early works of the Latin poet Ovidius (25–16 BC). It includes 21 love letters written by Greek and Roman mythological women and men to their loved ones.