Rhesus in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Rhesus

16 passages from 4 ancient authors that tell of Rhesus, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Rhesus was a king of Thrace in Greek mythology, who sided with the Trojans during the Trojan War. He was the son of Eioneus, although later sources sa... For the story in one place, read our article on Rhesus.

Homer (2)

Homer, Iliad 10.469–579The slaying of RhesusOdysseus and Diomedes go on through the arms and blood and find the Thracians sleeping. Diomedes kills twelve men and then Rhesus, while Odysseus drags the bodies aside and leads off the king's white horses. Athena tells Diomedes to flee and Apollo wakes the Trojans, but the pair reach the ships with the horses, bathe and eat.
Homer, Iliad 10.338–468Dolon the spy is caughtOdysseus and Diomedes let Dolon pass and then chase him down like two hounds after a hare. Dolon begs for his life with the offer of a ransom and, questioned, tells where the Trojans lie and that the allies sleep without watchers, with the newly arrived Thracians and their king Rhesus on the edge of the camp. Diomedes kills him despite his pleading, and Odysseus hangs the spoils on a tamarisk as a marker.

Euripides (12)

Euripides, Rhesus 454–517Third episode: Rhesus asks to face Achilles; Hector describes OdysseusThe Chorus praises Rhesus and wonders how Achilles and Aias will stand against his spear, and Rhesus says that he wishes to march afterward against the Argives' own country. Hector tells him that he may take any post in the army, but that he cannot fight Achilles, who is angry and holds back from battle. Hector names Aias, Diomedes and Odysseus as the other chiefs, and describes how Odysseus stole the image of Athena and crept into Troy as a beggar, and Rhesus vows to impale him.
Euripides, Rhesus 388–421Third episode: Rhesus arrives and Hector reproaches himRhesus greets Hector and says that he has come to help raze the enemy walls and burn their fleet. Hector answers that he speaks plainly: Rhesus should have come long ago, and he recalls the embassies and gifts sent to Thrace, and the help he once gave Rhesus himself. Hector says that those with no tie to Troy have long fought and died here, while Rhesus drinks at his ease.
Euripides, Rhesus 728–803Exodos: Rhesus' wounded charioteer tells of the night attackThe charioteer of Rhesus, wounded, stumbles in asking for Hector and the captains, and the Chorus Leader says that he is one of the allies. He tells that Rhesus is dead, slain as he slept with no watch set. He describes his dream of wolves on the horses' backs, and how he woke to blood and was stabbed by an unseen hand, and he suspects Rhesus' own allies.
Euripides, Rhesus 266–318Second episode: a shepherd announces that Rhesus is comingHector scorns the rustic for coming to talk of sheep, but the shepherd says that he has joyful news. He tells Hector that a chieftain from Thrace at the head of a countless army, Rhesus, son of Strymon, is on his way as an ally. He tells how the Thracian host surged over Ida with loud shouts, and describes the king with his golden shield and a bronze gorgon with bells on the front of his horses.
Euripides, Rhesus 319–387Second episode: Hector grudgingly accepts Rhesus; the Chorus welcomes himHector says that he will find many friends now that fortune smiles, but that he loathes the friend who comes too late, like one who arrives at the feast when he was not with the hunters. The Chorus Leader and the shepherd urge him to receive the newcomer, and Hector agrees. The Chorus sings in welcome of Rhesus, the son of Strymon and a Muse, and prays that he will humble Achilles.
Euripides, Rhesus 595–626Fourth episode: Athena sends them against RhesusAthena appears and tells them that Rhesus has come to aid Troy and must be killed before dawn, saying that Hector will find death at another hand. Odysseus recognizes her voice, and she tells them that Rhesus lies close by, outside the ranks, with his white horses tethered near. They agree that Diomedes will do the killing and Odysseus will master the horses.
Euripides, Rhesus 804–855Exodos: the charioteer accuses HectorThe Chorus Leader tells the charioteer not to suspect the sentries, and Hector, angered, asks how spies could have come into the camp without his knowledge, and threatens the scourge or the axe. The Chorus protests that it kept sleepless watch and had warned him of the Argive fires. The charioteer says that Hector himself killed Rhesus to get his horses, since no enemy could have found Rhesus' bed unless a god guided him.
Euripides, Rhesus 627–674Fourth episode: Athena, as Aphrodite, deceives ParisAthena sees Paris coming toward them, and tells them that it is not decreed that he should fall by Diomedes' hand. She takes the likeness of Cypris and tells Paris that all is quiet and that Hector has gone to assign Rhesus' army a sleeping place, so that he goes off free from fear. She then tells Odysseus to sheathe his swords, since Rhesus is dead and the enemy is coming, and to flee to the ships.
Euripides, Rhesus 882–949Exodos: the Muse mourns her son RhesusThe Chorus wonders why fate changes and brings Troy again to mourning, and sees the corpse of Rhesus being carried in. The Muse, his mother, appears, laments her son, and curses the son of Oeneus and the son of Laertes. She tells how she bore Rhesus by the river Strymon and gave him to the fountain nymphs to rear, and she blames Athena for his death.
Euripides, Rhesus 422–453Third episode: Rhesus explains his delay and boastsRhesus answers that he too speaks bluntly, and that a war with the Scythians held him back just as he was about to sail for Ilium. He says that he conquered them and took their children as hostages, and that he has come through frozen hardship. He promises that one day's light will be enough for him to sack the Argive camp and slay the Achaeans.
Euripides, Rhesus 518–564Hector assigns Rhesus a post; the Chorus changes the night watchHector tells Rhesus to go to his quarters, since it is night, gives him the password Phoebus, and tells him to receive Dolon if he comes back. The Chorus asks whose watch it is, as the Pleiads mount the sky, and decides to go and rouse the Lycians for the fifth watch. They wonder anxiously whether Dolon has fallen into an ambush.
Euripides, Rhesus 950–996Exodos: the Muse's prophecy and Hector's ordersHector says that it needed no seer to tell him that Rhesus had perished by the arts of Odysseus, and that he is ready to raise a tomb for him. The Muse says that her son will lie hidden in a cavern of the silver-veined land, restored to life as a deified man, and foretells that Achilles will also die. Hector orders the allies to arm and wait for the trumpet at dawn.

Ovid (1)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.121–254The contest for the arms of Achilles: Odysseus repliesOdysseus (Ulysses) answers that Ajax's strength is of no use without the counsel that guides it, and that he, a descendant of Zeus (Jupiter), has served the Greeks as much with his mind as with his hands. He tells how he brought Iphigenia to Aulis for the common good, and how he found Achilles disguised among the daughters of Lycomedes and brought him to Troy. He tells too how he went as an envoy to Troy, and how he and Diomedes killed Dolon and Rhesus and won Rhesus' horses.

Parthenius of Nicaea (1)

Parthenius of Nicaea, Love Romances 33.1–36.6Assaon and Niobe; Corythus; Eulimene and Lycastus; Arganthone and RhesusIn one version of the Niobe story her father Assaon burns her children when she refuses him; she throws herself from a rock, and he kills himself. Corythus comes to Troy, falls in love with Helen and is killed by his father. Lycastus, lover of Eulimene, confesses when the lot falls on her to be sacrificed, and Apterus murders him. Arganthone loves Rhesus, who goes to the Trojan war and is killed, and she wanders calling his name until she dies of grief.