The Thracian Cult of Rhesus and the Heros Equitans*

Abstract

A survey of the available evidence for the Thracian cult of Rhesus, mainly on the basis of the pseudo Euripidean Rhesus and of Philostratus' Heroicus, shows that the identification of Rhesus with the so called Heros Equitans, or "Thracian Horseman" (first proposed almost a century ago by G. Seure) rests on firmer ground than is sometimes assumed. The paper also reviews significant portions of the pictorial and epigraphic evidence for the Heros Equitans. It concludes that the parallels between Rhesus and the Heros Equitans are too striking to be ignored.Résumé : Un relevé analytique de la documentation disponible sur le culte thrace de Rhésos, se fondant surtout sur le Rhésos du pseudo Euripide et sur l'Heroikos de Philostrate, montre que l'identification de Rhésos avec le prétendu « Heros Equitans » ou « Cavalier thrace » (d'abord proposée, il y a près d'un siècle, par G. Seure) repose sur des fondements plus assurés qu'on ne le pense parfois. Cet article passe également en revue des parties significatives de la documentation iconographique et épigraphique pour le Heros Equitans. On en conclut que le parallélisme entre ce dernier et Rhésos est trop frappant pour être ignoré.

Non-Iranian Origin of the Eastern-Slavonic God <em>Xŭrsŭ/Xors</em><br>Neiranskoe proishoždenie vostočnoslavjanskogo boga <em>Hrsa/Horsa</em></br>

“…After his death Rhesos was placed in a cavern "of the silver land, half-human, half-divine with clear vision (in the dark), even as a prophet of Dionysos took up his abode in the rocky Pangaean Mount" (Farnell 1909: 100) 69 . Liapis (2011) highlighted the striking parallels between the characters of Heros and Rhesos and the obvious links with the Thracian Orphic and Dionysiac cults.…”

“…See more on this and an excellent up-to-date bibliography inLiapis (2009Liapis ( , 2011.70 Slavonic hort 'hound' is most probably directly related to Skr. hṛt 'bringing, carrying, carrying away, seizing' which is an exact description of the purpose and qualities of a hunting dog.…”