Thrace
placeThrace was the vast, wild region north of Greece — homeland of Ares, Orpheus, the Maenads, and the fearsome warrior tribes the Greeks both feared and respected.
The Myth
Thrace was where Ares was most worshipped — a god of pure, bloody war fitting a land the Greeks considered barbarous and fierce. Orpheus was Thracian; the Maenads who tore him apart were Thracian women. King Diomedes fed his horses on human flesh. Boreas, the north wind, dwelt there. The region's warrior culture, strange music, and ecstatic Dionysian worship fascinated and terrified the Greeks. Spartacus, who led the great slave revolt against Rome, was Thracian.
Symbols
Fun Fact
Spartacus — history's most famous rebel slave — was a Thracian warrior, connecting this mythological land to one of history's great uprisings.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Ares
godGod of the brutal, savage side of war. Unlike Athena's strategic warfare, Ares represented the raw...
Boreas
godBoreas was the god of the cold north wind, bringer of winter.
Diomedes
heroDiomedes was the only mortal in the Iliad to wound two Olympian gods in a single day.
Orpheus
heroThe greatest musician in Greek mythology, whose playing could charm animals, trees, and even...
Sparta
placeSparta was the austere military state whose warriors were the most feared in Greece — whose stand...
Acheron
placeThe Acheron was the River of Woe in the underworld, which the dead had to cross — in some...