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Key Details
Type
RegionMythology
Greek Pantheon
Coordinates
41.1°N, 25°E
About This Location
Diomedes's mares
Apollodorus 2.5.8: the eighth labor takes Heracles to Thrace, to the man-eating mares of King Diomedes, son of Ares. He feeds Diomedes to his own horses (in the usual version), then brings the team to Eurystheus. Thrace in myth is a northern elsewhere: Ares, harsh kings, wild horses. The labor is not a tour of Thracian religion. Euripides' Alcestis already assumes Heracles heading toward these mares.
Primary Sources
“He killed Diomedes and brought the mares to Eurystheus. They were man-eating.”
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