THE EIGHTH LABOR--THE HORSES OF DIOMEDES
Greece was bounded on the north by a wild and mountainous land, called
Thrace. The natives were not of Greek stock and remained fierce,
lawless, and cruel for a long time after Greece had become the most
civilized of countries. They were so quarrelsome and such desperate
fighters that their country was supposed to be the favorite residence
of the war god, Ares.
The king who reigned in Thrace at the time of Herakles was so much
worse than the rest of the people that he was said to be Ares' own
son, and he was called the storm king. He was very fond of horses and
kept a breed of them after his own heart. They were man-eating horses,
which he fed on the flesh of any strangers who came to that country or
that were wrecked on the shore, thus breaking the most sacred laws and
making himself hated by men and gods. The horses were blood-thirsty
and so furious that they had to be chained to their stalls.
Eurystheus commanded Herakles to bring these horses to his stables in
Mykenæ. This time Herakles took several friends with him, who helped
him catch the horses and lead them to the shore. Diomedes, having
heard of the robbery, started in pursuit with many armed men.
Herakles and his friends went by sea. They attacked the guards and led
the horses down to the ship. A terrible battle followed, in which the
wicked king was slain by Herakles, who threw him as food to the
horses. The warriors who helped Diomedes were put to flight and some
of Herakles' best men were also killed. With the rest he drove the
horses into his ship and brought them safely to Mykenæ.
Eurystheus, of course, had no intention of keeping them in his stables
and had them set loose. They ran off into the forests of Arcadia and
were never seen again. It was thought that they were devoured by the
mountain wolves.