Diomedes' horses
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The horses of the Thracian king Diomedes were four horse beasts in Greek mythology.
myth
They belonged to Diomedes, king of the bistons , a son of Ares and the nymph Cyrene .
The mares were so wild, strong and impetuous that they were tied to the iron manger with an iron chain. Their names were Deinos (the terrible), Lampon (the shiny), Podargos (the quick one) and Xanthos (the blonde / pale). Their only food was human flesh; anyone who got lost in the area of Diomedes was thrown to them to eat.
Heracles' eighth task was to bring these horses to his cousin Eurystheus . After Diodorus , Heracles threw Diomedes himself to them to eat. After they ate their master, they became tame and Heracles was able to lead them towards the sea.
According to the poem by Pindar found in Oxyrhynchos , the horses were tied with a bronze chain. Heracles fed the stable servant, whom they ate until his bones cracked. One mare carried an upper arm away, the other a foot, the third held her neck and head in her teeth. After the horses were distracted by their food, the hero was able to loosen their chain. A representation of this scene can be found on a black-figure cantharus of the Psiax , which is now in St. Petersburg and dates from the end of the 6th century BC. Is dated.
The bistons pursued Heracles to avenge the murder of their king. Heracles left the horses with his companion Abderos and stood against them. When Heracles was gone, they tore Abderos to pieces. After defeating the bishoprics, Heracles found the remains and founded the city of Abdera in his honor . He brought the horses to Eurystheus, who consecrated them to Hera . According to Diodorus, the breed going back to these mares existed until the time of Alexander the Great .
According to another version, the madness of the horses was caused by the waters of the Kossiniti River .
Representations
- Bathycles throne in Amyklai , not preserved
- Temple of Zeus in Olympia , 2nd metope on the south corner, east side
- Black-figure Kantharos of Psiax (Leningrad), late 6th century.
Web links
swell
- Diodor 4,15,3ff.
- Hyginus Mythographus Fabulae 30
- Flavius Philostratos Imagines 2.25
- Quintus from Smyrna Posthomerica 4,245ff.
- Johannes Tzetzes Chiliades 2,299-308
- Strabon 7 Fr. 44.47, ed.A. Meineke
- Stephanos of Byzantium sv Abdêra
literature
- G. Devereux: Les chevaux anthropophages dans les mythes Grecs. In: Revue des Études Grecques 88, 1975, S: 203-205.
- DC Kurtz: The Man-eating Horses of Diomedes in Poetry and Painting. In: Journal of Hellenic Studies 95 (1975), pp. 171-172.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hyginus Fabulae 30: equorum autem nomina Podargus Lampon Xanthus Dinus. Hyginus speaks of horses (not mares) and gives male forms of names. Even John Tzetzes ( Chiliades 2.299 to 308) speaks of males. The other sources (e.g. Apollodorus) speak explicitly of mares. Names of the horses are only mentioned by Hyginus.
- ↑ a b Libraries of Apollodorus 2,5,8
- ↑ a b Diodorus 4,15,3-4
- ^ Oxyrhynchos Papyrus xxvi, 150
- ^ DC Kurtz 1975, The Man-eating Horses of Diomedes in Poetry and Painting . Journal of Hellenic Studies 95, p. 172
- ↑ Philostratos Imagines 2.25
- ↑ Yiannis G. Papakostas, Michael D. Daras, Ioannis A. Liappas, Manolis Markianos: Horse madness (hippomania) and hippophobia. In: History of Psychiatry 16/4 (2005), p. 469
- ↑ Pausanias 3:18, 12
- ↑ Pausanias 5,10,9
- ^ DC Kurtz: The Man-eating Horses of Diomedes in Poetry and Painting. In: Journal of Hellenic Studies 95 (1975), fig. 1