RHESUS
A river-god in Bithynia, one of the sons of Oceanus and Thetys. (Theogony of Hesiod 340)
He was loved by Arganthone a fair maiden in Mysia, who used to hunt alone in the forests. Rhesus, attracted by the fame of her beauty, came to her during the chase; he succeeded in winning her love, and married her. After he was slain at Troy by Diomedes, she died of grief.
2. A son of king Eioneus in Thrace, and an ally of the Trojans in their war with the Greeks. He possessed horses white as snow and swift as the wind, which were carried off by night by Odysseus and Diomedes, the latter of whom murdered Rhesus himself in his sleep. (The Aeneid by Virgil Book I).
In later writers Rhesus is described as a son of Strymon and
Euterpe, or Calliope, or Terpsichore. (Apollodorus)
From Ars Amatoria By Ovid
'This' he said, 'is Troy' (drawing the walls in the sand):
'This your Simois: imagine this is our camp.
This is the field,' (he drew the field), 'that was dyed with Dolon's blood, while he spied on Achilles's horses. here were the tents of Thracian Rhesus: here am I riding back the captured horses at night.'
And he was drawing more, when suddenly a wave washed away Troy, and Rhesus, and his camp.
Then the goddess said 'Do you see what you place your trust in for your voyage, waves that have destroyed such mighty names?'
So listen, whoever you are, fear to rely on treacherous beauty or own to something more than just the flesh.
From The Iliad of Homer. Book X
"I will tell you truly all," replied Dolon. "To the seaward lie the Carians, the Paeonian bowmen, the Leleges, the Cauconians, and the noble Pelasgi. The Lysians and proud Mysians, with the Phrygians and Meonians, have their place on the side towards Thymbra; but why ask about an this? If you want to find your way into the host of the Trojans, there are the Thracians, who have lately come here and lie apart from the others at the far end of the camp; and they have Rhesus son of Eioneus for their king. His horses are the finest and strongest that I have ever seen, they are whiter than snow and fleeter than any wind that blows. His chariot is bedight with silver and gold, and he has brought his marvellous golden armour, of the rarest workmanship--too splendid for any mortal man to carry, and meet only for the gods. Now, therefore, take me to the ships or bind me securely here, until you come back and have proved my words whether they be false or true."
[4.4] And night coming on, they sent Ulysses and Diomedes as spies; and these killed Dolon, son of Eumelus, and Rhesus, the Thracian (who had arrived the day before as an ally of the Trojans, and having not yet engaged in the battle was encamped at some distance from the Trojan force and apart from Hector); they also slew the twelve men that were sleeping around him, and drove the horses to the ships.
