Editing Labours of Hercules (section)

===Eighth: Mares of Diomedes===
[[File:Jean Baptiste Marie Pierre - Diomedes King of Thrace Killed by Hercules and Devoured by his own Horses, 1752.jpg|thumb|left|Jean Baptiste Marie Pierre – ''Diomedes King of Thrace Killed by Heracles and Devoured by his own Horses'', 1752]]
[[File:Mosaico Trabajos Hércules (M.A.N. Madrid) 08.jpg|thumb|Heracles before capturing the Mares of Diomedes]]
As the eighth of his labours Heracles was sent by [[Eurystheus|King Eurystheus]] to steal the [[Mares of Diomedes]] from [[Diomedes of Thrace|their owner]]. The mares' madness was attributed to their unnatural diet which consisted of the flesh<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Papakostas, Yiannis G. Daras, Michael D. Liappas, Ioannis A. Markianos, Manolis|title=Horse madness (hippomania) and hippophobia|journal=History of Psychiatry |year=2005 |volume=16 |issue=Pt 4 (no 64) |pages=467–471 |doi=10.1177/0957154X05051459 |pmid=16482685|s2cid=2721386 |oclc=882814212|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00570821/file/PEER_stage2_10.1177%252F0957154X05051459.pdf }}</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>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theoi.com/Heros/DiomedesThrakios.html|title=DIOMEDES - Thracian King of Greek Mythology|website=www.theoi.com|access-date=2020-03-24}}</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 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 all versions the horses are calmed by eating human flesh, 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|date=1958|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=1-4286-4307-9|location=[Whitefish, Montana]|oclc=176053883}}</ref> In some versions, they were allowed to roam freely around [[Ancient Argos|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]].