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{{Short description|Herd of horses in Greek mythology}}
{{refimprove|date=March 2018}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
{{Infobox mythical creature
|image = Mosaico Trabajos Hércules (M.A.N. Madrid) 08.jpg
|image = Mosaico Trabajos Hércules (M.A.N. Madrid) 08.jpg
|caption = [[Heracles]] before capturing the Mares of Diomedes. Roman mosaic, 3rd century AD
|caption = [[Heracles]] before capturing the Mares of Diomedes. Roman mosaic, 3rd century AD
|Mythology = Greek mythology
|Folklore = Greek mythology
|Grouping = [[Legendary creature]]
|Grouping = [[Legendary creature]]
|Sub_Grouping = Man-eating horses
|Sub_Grouping = Man-eating horses
Line 10: Line 11:
}}
}}


The '''Mares of Diomedes''' ({{lang-grc-gre|Διομήδους ἵπποι}}), also called the '''Mares of Thrace''', were a herd of man-eating [[horses]] in [[Greek mythology]]. Magnificent, wild, and uncontrollable, they belonged to [[Diomedes of Thrace|Diomedes]] (not to be confused with [[Diomedes]], son of [[Tydeus]]), king of [[Thrace]], son of [[Ares]] and [[Cyrene (mythology)|Cyrene]] who lived on the shores of the [[Black Sea]]. [[Bucephalus]], [[Alexander the Great]]'s horse, was said to be descended from these mares.
The '''Mares of Diomedes''' ({{langx|grc|Διομήδους ἵπποι|Diomēdous hippoi}}), also called the '''Mares of Thrace''', were a herd of man-eating [[horses]] in [[Greek mythology]]. Magnificent, wild, and uncontrollable, they belonged to [[Diomedes of Thrace]] (not to be confused with [[Diomedes]], son of [[Tydeus]]), king of [[Thrace]], son of [[Ares]] and [[Cyrene (mythology)|Cyrene]] who lived on the shores of the [[Black Sea]]. [[Bucephalus]], [[Alexander the Great]]'s horse, was said to be descended from these mares.<ref>{{cite book| last=Moncrieff| first=Ascott Robert Hope| author-link=Robert Hope Moncrieff| year=1992| title=A Treasury of Classical Mythology| page=41| publisher=Barnes & Noble| place=New York| isbn=9781566191197}}</ref>


== Mythology ==
== Mythology ==
As the eighth of his [[Labours of Hercules|Twelve Labours]], also categorised as the second of the Non-[[Peloponnese|Peloponnesian]] labours<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morford, Mark P. O., 1929-|title=Classical mythology|date=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|others=Lenardon, Robert J., 1928-|isbn=0-19-515344-8|edition=7th|location=New York|oclc=49421755}}</ref>, [[Heracles]] was sent by [[Eurystheus|King Eurystheus]] to steal the Mares from [[Diomedes of Thrace|Diomedes]]. The mares’ madness was attributed to their unnatural diet which consisted of the flesh<ref>Horse madness (hippomania) and hippophobia, Yiannis G. Papakostas, Michael D. Daras, Ioannis A. Liappas and Manolis Markianos, History of Psychiatry 2005; 16; 467</ref> of unsuspecting guests or strangers to the island<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22381/22381-h/22381-h.htm#page234|title=Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome.|website=www.gutenberg.org|access-date=2020-03-24}}</ref>. Some versions of the myth say that the mares also expelled fire when they breathed<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Monsters/Mares_of_Diomedes/mares_of_diomedes.html|title=Mares of Diomedes|website=www.greekmythology.com|language=en|access-date=2020-03-24}}</ref>. The Mares, which were the terror of Thrace, were kept tethered by iron chains to a bronze manger in the now vanished city of Tirida<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Graves, Robert, 1895-1985|title=The Greek myths : the complete and definitive edition|date=28 September 2017|isbn=978-0-241-98235-8|edition=Complete and definitive|location=[London], UK|oclc=1011647388}}</ref> and were named Podargos (the swift), Lampon (the shining), Xanthos (the yellow) and Deinos (or Deinus, the terrible)<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]]. ''Fabulae 30:'' Latinized [http://www.theoi.com/Heros/DiomedesThrakios.html here] as "Podargus, Lampon, Xanthus, and Dinus".</ref>. Although very similar, there are slight variances in the exact details regarding the mares’ capture. 
As the eighth of his [[Labours of Hercules|Twelve Labours]], also categorised as the second of the Non-[[Peloponnese|Peloponnesian]] labours,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morford, Mark P. O., 1929-|title=Classical mythology|date=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|others=Lenardon, Robert J., 1928-|isbn=0-19-515344-8|edition=7th|location=New York|oclc=49421755}}</ref> [[Heracles]] was sent by [[Eurystheus|King Eurystheus]] to steal the Mares from [[Diomedes of Thrace|Diomedes]]. The mares’ madness was attributed to their unnatural diet which consisted of the flesh<ref>Horse madness (hippomania) and hippophobia, Yiannis G. Papakostas, Michael D. Daras, Ioannis A. Liappas and Manolis Markianos, History of Psychiatry 2005; 16; 467</ref> of unsuspecting guests or strangers to the island.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22381/22381-h/22381-h.htm#page234|title=Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome.|website=www.gutenberg.org|access-date=2020-03-24}}</ref> Some versions of the myth say that the mares also [[fire-breathing monster|expelled fire when they breathed]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Monsters/Mares_of_Diomedes/mares_of_diomedes.html|title=Mares of Diomedes|website=www.greekmythology.com|language=en|access-date=2020-03-24}}</ref> The Mares, which were the terror of Thrace, were kept tethered by iron chains to a bronze manger in the now vanished city of [[Tirida]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Graves, Robert, 1895-1985|title=The Greek myths : the complete and definitive edition|date=28 September 2017|isbn=978-0-241-98235-8|edition=Complete and definitive|location=[London], UK|oclc=1011647388}}</ref> and were named Podargos (the swift), Lampon (the shining), Xanthos (the yellow) and Deinos (or Deinus, the terrible).<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]]. ''Fabulae 30:'' Latinized [http://www.theoi.com/Heros/DiomedesThrakios.html here] as "Podargus, Lampon, Xanthus, and Dinus".</ref> Although very similar, there are slight variances in the exact details regarding the mares’ capture.


In one version, Heracles brought a number of volunteers to help him capture the giant horses<ref name=":1" />. After overpowering Diomedes’ men, Heracles broke the chains that tethered the horses and drove the mares down to sea. Unaware that the mares were man-eating and uncontrollable, Heracles left them in the charge of his favored companion, [[Abderus]], while he left to fight Diomedes. Upon his return, Heracles found that the boy was eaten. As revenge, Heracles fed Diomedes to his own horses and then founded [[Abdera, Thrace|Abdera]] next to the boy's tomb<ref name=":0" />.
In one version, Heracles brought a number of volunteers to help him capture the giant horses.<ref name=":1" /> After overpowering Diomedes’ men, Heracles broke the chains that tethered the horses and drove the mares down to sea. Unaware that the mares were man-eating and uncontrollable, Heracles left them in the charge of his favored companion, [[Abderus]], while he left to fight Diomedes. Upon his return, Heracles found that the boy was eaten. As revenge, Heracles fed Diomedes to his own horses and then founded [[Abdera, Thrace|Abdera]] next to the boy's tomb.<ref name=":0" />


In another version, Heracles, who was visiting the island, stayed awake so that he didn't have his throat cut by Diomedes in the night, and cut the chains binding the horses once everyone was asleep. Having scared the horses onto the high ground of a knoll, Heracles quickly dug a trench through the peninsula, filling it with water and thus flooding the low lying plain. When Diomedes and his men turned to flee, Heracles killed them with an axe (or a club<ref name=":1" />), and fed Diomedes’ body to the horses to calm them.
In another version, Heracles, who was visiting the island, stayed awake so that he didn't have his throat cut by Diomedes in the night, and cut the chains binding the horses once everyone was asleep. Having scared the horses onto the high ground of a knoll, Heracles quickly dug a trench through the peninsula, filling it with water and thus flooding the low-lying plain. When Diomedes and his men turned to flee, Heracles killed them with an axe (or a club<ref name=":1" />), and fed Diomedes’ body to the horses to calm them.


In yet another version, Heracles first captured Diomedes and fed him to the mares ''before'' releasing them. Only after realizing that their King was dead did his men, the [[Bistones|Bistonians]]<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />, attack Heracles. Upon seeing the mares charging at them, led in a chariot by Abderus, the Bistonians turned and fled.
In yet another version, Heracles first captured Diomedes and fed him to the mares ''before'' releasing them. Only after realizing that their King was dead did his men, the [[Bistones|Bistonians]],<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> attack Heracles. Upon seeing the mares charging at them, led in a chariot by Abderus, the Bistonians turned and fled.


All versions have eating human flesh make the horses calmer, giving Heracles the opportunity to bind their mouths shut, and easily take them back to King Eurystheus, who dedicated the horses to [[Hera]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rose, H. J. (Herbert Jennings), 1883-1961.|title=A handbook of Greek mythology : including its extension to Rome|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|year=1958|isbn=1-4286-4307-9|location=[Whitefish, Montana]|pages=|oclc=176053883}}</ref>. In some versions, they were allowed to roam freely around [[Argos]], having become permanently calm, but in others, Eurystheus ordered the horses taken to Olympus to be sacrificed to Zeus, but Zeus refused them, and sent wolves, lions, and bears to kill them<ref>{{Cite book|last=Leeming, David Adams, 1937-|title=Mythology : the voyage of the hero|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-802810-9|edition=3rd|location=New York|oclc=252599545}}</ref>. [[Roger Lancelyn Green]] states in his ''Tales of the Greek Heroes'' that the mares’ descendants were used in the [[Trojan War]], and survived even to the time of Alexander the Great<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Godfrey, Linda S.|title=Mythical creatures|date=2009|publisher=Chelsea House Publishers|others=Guiley, Rosemary.|isbn=978-0-7910-9394-8|location=New York|oclc=299280635}}</ref>. After the incident, Eurystheus sent Heracles to bring back [[Hippolyta|Hippolyta's Girdle]].
All versions have eating human flesh make the horses calmer, giving Heracles the opportunity to bind their mouths shut, and easily take them back to King Eurystheus, who dedicated the horses to [[Hera]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rose, H. J. (Herbert Jennings), 1883-1961.|title=A handbook of Greek mythology : including its extension to Rome|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|year=1958|isbn=1-4286-4307-9|location=[Whitefish, Montana]|oclc=176053883}}</ref> In some versions, they were allowed to roam freely around [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], having become permanently calm, but in others, Eurystheus ordered the horses taken to Olympus to be sacrificed to Zeus, but Zeus refused them, and sent wolves, lions, and bears to kill them.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Leeming, David Adams, 1937-|title=Mythology : the voyage of the hero|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-802810-9|edition=3rd|location=New York|oclc=252599545}}</ref> [[Roger Lancelyn Green]] states in his ''Tales of the Greek Heroes'' that the mares’ descendants were used in the [[Trojan War]], and survived even to the time of Alexander the Great.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Godfrey, Linda S.|title=Mythical creatures|date=2009|publisher=Chelsea House Publishers|others=Guiley, Rosemary.|isbn=978-0-7910-9394-8|location=New York|oclc=299280635}}</ref> After the incident, Eurystheus sent Heracles to bring back [[Hippolyta|Hippolyta's Girdle]].


== Classical Literature Sources ==
== In classical literature ==
[[File:Gustave Moreau - Diomède dévoré par ses chevaux.jpg|thumb|''Diomedes Devoured by his Horses'', by [[Gustave Moreau]] (1865), oil on canvas, 140 x 95.5 cm., Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen]]
[[File:Diomedes Devoured by his Horses - Gustave Moreau (1866).jpg|thumb|''Diomedes Devoured by his Horses'', by Gustave Moreau (1866), watercolor, 19.1 x 17.1 cm., private collection]]
Chronological listing of classical literature sources for the Mares of Diomedes:
Chronological listing of classical literature sources for the Mares of Diomedes:


* Pindar, fr. 169a M. (Greek lyric poem C5th BC)
* Euripides, ''The Madness of Hercules'', 379 ff (trans. Way) (Greek tragedy C5th BC)
* Euripides, ''The Madness of Hercules'', 379 ff (trans. Way) (Greek tragedy C5th BC)
* Euripides, ''Alcestis'' 479 ff (trans. Coleridge) (Greek tragedy C5th BC)
* Euripides, ''Alcestis'' 479 ff (trans. Coleridge) (Greek tragedy C5th BC)
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Library of History'' 4. 15. 3 - 4 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st BC)
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Library of History'' 4. 15. 3 - 4 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek history C1st BC)
* Lucretius, ''Of the Nature of Things'' 5 Proem 1 (trans. Leonard) (Roman philosophy C1st BC)
* Ovid, ''Heroides'' 9. 69 ff (trans. Showerman) (Roman poetry C1st BC to C1st AD)
* Ovid, ''Heroides'' 9. 69 ff (trans. Showerman) (Roman poetry C1st BC to C1st AD)
* Ovid, ''Heroide''s 9. 87 ff
* Ovid, ''Heroide''s 9. 87 ff
* Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' 9. 194 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman poetry C1st BC to C1st AD)
* Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' 9. 194 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman poetry C1st BC to C1st AD)
* Strabo, ''Geography'' 7 Fragment 43 (44) (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st BC to C1st AD)
* Strabo, ''Geography'' 7 Fragment 43 (44) (trans. Jones) (Greek geography C1st BC to C1st AD)
* Strabo, ''Geography'' 7 Fragment 46 (47) Seneca, Agamemnon 850 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
* Strabo, ''Geography'' 7 Fragment 46 (47)
* Lucan, ''The Pharsalia of Lucan'' 2. 149 ff (trans. Riley) (Roman poet C1st AD)
* Philippus of Thessalonica, ''The Twelve Labors of Hercules'' (''The Greek Classics'' ed. Miller Vol 3 1909 p.&nbsp;397) (Greek epigrams C1st AD)
* Seneca, ''Agamemnon'' 842 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
* Lucan, ''The Pharsalia of Lucan'' 2. 149 ff (trans. Riley) (Roman poetry C1st AD)
* Seneca, ''Hercules Furens'' 226 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
* Seneca, ''Agamemnon'' 850 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
* Seneca, ''Hercules Oetaeus'' 20 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
* Seneca, ''Agamemnon'' 842 ff
* Seneca, ''Hercules Furens'' 226 ff (trans. Miller)
* Seneca, ''Hercules Oetaeus'' 20 ff (trans. Miller)
* Seneca, ''Hercules Oetaeus'' 1538 ff
* Seneca, ''Hercules Oetaeus'' 1538 ff
* Seneca, ''Hercules Oetaeus'' 1814 ff
* Seneca, ''Hercules Oetaeus'' 1814 ff
* Seneca, ''Hercules Oetaeus'' 1894 ff
* Seneca, ''Hercules Oetaeus'' 1894 ff
* Seneca, ''Troades'' 1105 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
* Seneca, ''Troades'' 1105 ff (trans. Miller)
* Statius, ''Thebaid'' 12. 154 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st AD)
* Statius, ''Thebaid'' 12. 154 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic poetry C1st AD)
* Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''The Library'' 2. 5. 8 (trans. Frazer) (Greek mythographer C2nd AD)
* Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''The Library'' 2. 5. 8 (trans. Frazer) (Greek mythography C2nd AD)
* Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 3. 18. 12 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd AD)
* Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 3. 18. 12 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd AD)
* Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 5. 10. 9
* Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 5. 10. 9
* Pseudo-Hyginus, ''Fabula''e 30 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd AD).
* Pseudo-Hyginus, ''Fabula''e 30 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythography C2nd AD).
* Pseudo-Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 159
* Pseudo-Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 159
* Ptolemaei Hephaestionis, ''Novarum historiarum'' Lib. 2 (trans. Roulez 1834 p.70) (Alexandrine historian C2 AD)
* Ptolemaei Hephaestionis, ''Novarum historiarum'' Lib. 2 (trans. Roulez 1834 p.&nbsp;70) (Alexandrine history C2 AD)
* Gellius, ''The Attic Nights'' 3. 9 (trans Beloe) (Greek historian C2AD)
* Gellius, ''The Attic Nights'' 3. 9 (trans Beloe) (Greek history C2AD)
* Philostratus the Elder, ''Imagines'' 1. 17 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd AD)
* Philostratus the Elder, ''Imagines'' 1. 17 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetoric C3rd AD)
* Philostratus the Elder, "The Burial of Abderos" ''Imagine''s 2. 25
* Philostratus the Elder, ''Imagine''s 2. 25 The Burial of Abderos
* Quintus Smyrnaeus, ''Fall of Troy'' 6. 245 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th AD)
* Philostratus, ''Life of Apollonius'' of Tyana 5. 5 (trans. Conyreare) (Greek sophistry C3rd AD)
* Quintus Smyrnaeus, ''Fall of Troy'' 6. 245 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic poetry C4th AD)
* Stephanus Byzantium, ''Ethnicorum Quae Supersunt'', s.v. Abdêra (ed. Meinekii) (Byzantinian mythographer C6AD)
* Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Histories'' 299 ff (trans.Untia et. al.) (Byzantine historian C12 AD)
* Stephanus Byzantium, ''Ethnicorum Quae Supersunt'', s.v. Abdêra (ed. Meinekii) (Greco-Byzantine mythography C6AD)
* Boethius, ''The Consolation of Philosophy'' 4. 7. 13 ff (trans. Rand & Stewart) (Roman philosophy C6th AD)
⚫
* Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Histories'' 499
* Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Histories'' 799 ff
* Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Histories'' 2. 299 ff (trans. Untila et al.) (Greco-Byzantine history C12 AD)
⚫
* Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Histories'' 2. 499 ff
* Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' or ''Book of Histories'' 2. 799 ff


==See also==
== Mares of Diomedes in modern fiction ==
* [[Glaucus (son of Sisyphus)|Glaucus]]

* [[List of fictional horses]]
# Percy Jackson and the Olympians- The Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan<ref>{{Cite book|last=Riordan, Rick.|title=The battle of the Labyrinth|isbn=1-4231-0149-9|oclc=907293730}}</ref>.

Although not referred to directly as the Mares of Diomedes in the book, Diomedes himself is mentioned in chapter eight (We Visit the Demon Dude Ranch), and the horses, who are mentioned in chapters eight and nine (I Scoop Poop), are described as both fire-breathing and flesh-eating.


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
<references/>


==Sources==
==Sources==
Line 74: Line 81:


==External links==
==External links==

*[http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Heracles/12Labours 12 Labours]
*[http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Heracles/12Labours 12 Labours]
*[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/horses.html Hercules' Eighth Labor: the Horses of Diomedes]; Perseus Project, Tufts University
*[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/horses.html Hercules' Eighth Labor: the Horses of Diomedes]; Perseus Project, Tufts University


{{Twelve tasks of Hercules}}
{{Labours of Heracles}}


[[Category:Greek mythology of Thrace]]
[[Category:Greek mythology of Thrace]]
[[Category:Labours of Hercules]]
[[Category:Labours of Hercules]]
[[Category:Monsters in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Monsters in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological horses]]
[[Category:Horses in mythology]]
[[Category:Fire-breathing monsters]]
[[Category:Female legendary creatures]]

Latest revision as of 16:14, 28 November 2024

Mares of Diomedes
Heracles before capturing the Mares of Diomedes. Roman mosaic, 3rd century AD
GroupingLegendary creature
Sub groupingMan-eating horses
FolkloreGreek mythology
CountryGreece
RegionThrace

The Mares of Diomedes (Ancient Greek: Διομήδους ἵπποι, romanized: Diomēdous hippoi), also called the Mares of Thrace, were a herd of man-eating horses in Greek mythology. Magnificent, wild, and uncontrollable, they belonged to Diomedes of Thrace (not to be confused with Diomedes, son of Tydeus), king of Thrace, son of Ares and Cyrene who lived on the shores of the Black Sea. Bucephalus, Alexander the Great's horse, was said to be descended from these mares.[1]

Mythology

[edit]

As the eighth of his Twelve Labours, also categorised as the second of the Non-Peloponnesian labours,[2] Heracles was sent by King Eurystheus to steal the Mares from Diomedes. The mares’ madness was attributed to their unnatural diet which consisted of the flesh[3] of unsuspecting guests or strangers to the island.[4] Some versions of the myth say that the mares also expelled fire when they breathed.[5] The Mares, which were the terror of Thrace, were kept tethered by iron chains to a bronze manger in the now vanished city of Tirida[6] and were named Podargos (the swift), Lampon (the shining), Xanthos (the yellow) and Deinos (or Deinus, the terrible).[7] Although very similar, there are slight variances in the exact details regarding the mares’ capture.

In one version, Heracles brought a number of volunteers to help him capture the giant horses.[6] After overpowering Diomedes’ men, Heracles broke the chains that tethered the horses and drove the mares down to sea. Unaware that the mares were man-eating and uncontrollable, Heracles left them in the charge of his favored companion, Abderus, while he left to fight Diomedes. Upon his return, Heracles found that the boy was eaten. As revenge, Heracles fed Diomedes to his own horses and then founded Abdera next to the boy's tomb.[4]

In another version, Heracles, who was visiting the island, stayed awake so that he didn't have his throat cut by Diomedes in the night, and cut the chains binding the horses once everyone was asleep. Having scared the horses onto the high ground of a knoll, Heracles quickly dug a trench through the peninsula, filling it with water and thus flooding the low-lying plain. When Diomedes and his men turned to flee, Heracles killed them with an axe (or a club[6]), and fed Diomedes’ body to the horses to calm them.

In yet another version, Heracles first captured Diomedes and fed him to the mares before releasing them. Only after realizing that their King was dead did his men, the Bistonians,[4][6] attack Heracles. Upon seeing the mares charging at them, led in a chariot by Abderus, the Bistonians turned and fled.

All versions have eating human flesh make the horses calmer, giving Heracles the opportunity to bind their mouths shut, and easily take them back to King Eurystheus, who dedicated the horses to Hera.[8] In some versions, they were allowed to roam freely around Argos, having become permanently calm, but in others, Eurystheus ordered the horses taken to Olympus to be sacrificed to Zeus, but Zeus refused them, and sent wolves, lions, and bears to kill them.[9] Roger Lancelyn Green states in his Tales of the Greek Heroes that the mares’ descendants were used in the Trojan War, and survived even to the time of Alexander the Great.[6][10] After the incident, Eurystheus sent Heracles to bring back Hippolyta's Girdle.

In classical literature

[edit]
Diomedes Devoured by his Horses, by Gustave Moreau (1865), oil on canvas, 140 x 95.5 cm., Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen
Diomedes Devoured by his Horses, by Gustave Moreau (1866), watercolor, 19.1 x 17.1 cm., private collection

Chronological listing of classical literature sources for the Mares of Diomedes:

  • Pindar, fr. 169a M. (Greek lyric poem C5th BC)
  • Euripides, The Madness of Hercules, 379 ff (trans. Way) (Greek tragedy C5th BC)
  • Euripides, Alcestis 479 ff (trans. Coleridge) (Greek tragedy C5th BC)
  • Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 15. 3 - 4 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek history C1st BC)
  • Lucretius, Of the Nature of Things 5 Proem 1 (trans. Leonard) (Roman philosophy C1st BC)
  • Ovid, Heroides 9. 69 ff (trans. Showerman) (Roman poetry C1st BC to C1st AD)
  • Ovid, Heroides 9. 87 ff
  • Ovid, Metamorphoses 9. 194 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman poetry C1st BC to C1st AD)
  • Strabo, Geography 7 Fragment 43 (44) (trans. Jones) (Greek geography C1st BC to C1st AD)
  • Strabo, Geography 7 Fragment 46 (47)
  • Philippus of Thessalonica, The Twelve Labors of Hercules (The Greek Classics ed. Miller Vol 3 1909 p. 397) (Greek epigrams C1st AD)
  • Lucan, The Pharsalia of Lucan 2. 149 ff (trans. Riley) (Roman poetry C1st AD)
  • Seneca, Agamemnon 850 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD)
  • Seneca, Agamemnon 842 ff
  • Seneca, Hercules Furens 226 ff (trans. Miller)
  • Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 20 ff (trans. Miller)
  • Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 1538 ff
  • Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 1814 ff
  • Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 1894 ff
  • Seneca, Troades 1105 ff (trans. Miller)
  • Statius, Thebaid 12. 154 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic poetry C1st AD)
  • Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library 2. 5. 8 (trans. Frazer) (Greek mythography C2nd AD)
  • Pausanias, Description of Greece 3. 18. 12 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd AD)
  • Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 10. 9
  • Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 30 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythography C2nd AD).
  • Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 159
  • Ptolemaei Hephaestionis, Novarum historiarum Lib. 2 (trans. Roulez 1834 p. 70) (Alexandrine history C2 AD)
  • Gellius, The Attic Nights 3. 9 (trans Beloe) (Greek history C2AD)
  • Philostratus the Elder, Imagines 1. 17 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetoric C3rd AD)
  • Philostratus the Elder, Imagines 2. 25 The Burial of Abderos
  • Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 5. 5 (trans. Conyreare) (Greek sophistry C3rd AD)
  • Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 6. 245 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic poetry C4th AD)
  • Stephanus Byzantium, Ethnicorum Quae Supersunt, s.v. Abdêra (ed. Meinekii) (Greco-Byzantine mythography C6AD)
  • Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy 4. 7. 13 ff (trans. Rand & Stewart) (Roman philosophy C6th AD)
  • Tzetzes, Chiliades or Book of Histories 2. 299 ff (trans. Untila et al.) (Greco-Byzantine history C12 AD)
  • Tzetzes, Chiliades or Book of Histories 2. 499 ff
  • Tzetzes, Chiliades or Book of Histories 2. 799 ff

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Moncrieff, Ascott Robert Hope (1992). A Treasury of Classical Mythology. New York: Barnes & Noble. p. 41. ISBN 9781566191197.
  2. ^ Morford, Mark P. O., 1929- (2003). Classical mythology. Lenardon, Robert J., 1928- (7th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515344-8. OCLC 49421755.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Horse madness (hippomania) and hippophobia, Yiannis G. Papakostas, Michael D. Daras, Ioannis A. Liappas and Manolis Markianos, History of Psychiatry 2005; 16; 467
  4. ^ a b c "Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  5. ^ "Mares of Diomedes". www.greekmythology.com. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  6. ^ a b c d e Graves, Robert, 1895-1985 (28 September 2017). The Greek myths : the complete and definitive edition (Complete and definitive ed.). [London], UK. ISBN 978-0-241-98235-8. OCLC 1011647388.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Hyginus. Fabulae 30: Latinized here as "Podargus, Lampon, Xanthus, and Dinus".
  8. ^ Rose, H. J. (Herbert Jennings), 1883-1961. (1958). A handbook of Greek mythology : including its extension to Rome. [Whitefish, Montana]: Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1-4286-4307-9. OCLC 176053883.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Leeming, David Adams, 1937- (1998). Mythology : the voyage of the hero (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-802810-9. OCLC 252599545.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Godfrey, Linda S. (2009). Mythical creatures. Guiley, Rosemary. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7910-9394-8. OCLC 299280635.

Sources

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