Rhesus (; ) is a mythical king of Thrace in The Iliad who fought on the side of Trojans. Rhesus arrived late to the battle and, while he slept in his camp after arriving, Diomedes and Odysseus killed him and stole his team of horses during a night raid.

Etymology His name is Thracian and probably derives from the PIE root *reg-, 'to rule',Georgiev, Vladimir I.. "Thrakisch und Dakisch". Band 29/2. Teilband Sprache und Literatur (Sprachen und Schriften [Forts.]), edited by Wolfgang Haase, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 1983. p. 1166. showing a satem-sound change.

An Thracian spelling of the name is given as Rézas which are cognate to the latin Rex.

Family According to Homer, his father was Eioneus who may be connected to the historic Eion in western Thrace, at the mouth of the Strymon, and the port of the later Amphipolis. Later writers provide Rhesus with a more exotic parentage, claiming that his mother was one of the MusesEuripides, Rhesus 347 (Euterpe,Servius, Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid 1.469 CalliopeApollodorus, 1.3.4 or TerpsichoreEustathius on Homer, Iliad p. 817) and his father, the river god Strymon. Stephanus of Byzantium mentions the name of Rhesus' sister Sete, who had a son Bithys with Ares.Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Bithyai In one account, Rhesus' brothers are called Olynthus and Brangas.Conon, 4

Mythology Rhesus was raised by fountain nymphs and died without engaging in battle.Rhesus Rhesus is chiefly remembered because he came from Thrace to defend Troy with great pomp and circumstance, but died on the night of his arrival, without ever engaging in battle. Due to Thrace being attacked by Scythia, Rhesus led his army to Troy later than the other allied armies. Dolon, who had gone out to spy on Agamemnon’s army for Hector, was caught by Diomedes and Odysseus and proceeded to tell the two about the new arrival of the Thracians. Dolon explained that Rhesus had the finest horses, as well as huge, golden armor that was suitable for gods rather than mortals. While the Thracians were sleeping, Diomedes and Odysseus infiltrated the camp in the dead of night, killing a number of Thracians and Rhesus in his tent while also stealing his famous steeds.Homer, Iliad 10.430-503

The event portrayed in the Iliad also provides the action of the play Rhesus, transmitted among the plays of Euripides. The mother of Rhesus, one of the nine Muses, then arrived and laid blame on all those responsible: Odysseus, Diomedes, and Athena. She also announced the imminent resurrection of Rhesus, who will become immortal but will be sent to stay in a cave. Scholia to the Iliad episode and the Rhesus agree in giving Rhesus a more heroic stature, incompatible with Homer's version.See Bernard Fenik, Iliad x and the Rhesus: The Myth (Brussels: Latomus) 1964, who makes a case for pre-Homeric epic materials concerning Rhesus.

There was also a river in Bithynia named Rhesus, with Greek myth providing an attendant river god of the same name. Rhesus the Thracian king was himself associated with Bithynia through his love with the Bithynian huntress Arganthone, in the Erotika Pathemata ["Sufferings for Love"] by Parthenius of Nicaea, chapter 36.

Namesake Rhesus Glacier on Anvers Island in Antarctica is named after Rhesus of Thrace,Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica: Rhesus Glacier. as is the Jovian asteroid 9142 Rhesus.

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References

Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website. Conon, Fifty Narrations, surviving as one-paragraph summaries in the Bibliotheca (Library) of Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople translated from the Greek by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Euripides, The Rhesus of Euripides translated into English rhyming verse with explanatory notes by Gilbert Murray, LL.D., D.Litt, F.B.A., Regius Professor of Greek in the University of Oxford. Euripides. Gilbert Murray. New York. Oxford University Press. 1913. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Euripides, Euripidis Fabulae. vol. 3. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. . Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Maurus Servius Honoratus, In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii; recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.

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