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Long
long ago, in the age before television Hercules was ready for his
eighth task. Eurystheus told him his next task was to bring back the
Mares of Diomedes. Diomedes had four mares named Podagros (the fast),
Lampon (the shining), Xanthos (the blond) and Deimos (the terrible).
They were wild and ferocious beasts who couldn't be roped and would
eat people. It was known that they were chained to a bronze manger in
order to prevent them from rampaging across the country. Hercules
traveled to the palace of Diomedes and presented himself to the king.
Diomedes laughed when he heard the task Hercules had been given and
told him that if Hercules he could borrow the Mares for his task but
he would want them back. He also warned him they would probably eat
him on the way to Eurystheus or when he took them back Diomedes in
Thrace. He then threw Hercules a great feast with lots of food and
especially a lot of wine and alcohol. Hercules knew that this was a
trap. While many people knew about the mares and how dangerous they
were, not many people knew that Diomedes was an evil king that would
pretend to befriend strangers and then kill them so he could feed
them to his horses. Hercules suspected that Eurystheus sent him on
this task hoping Hercules would be killed by the king since of course
Hercules was strong enough to overcome the mares, no matter how wild
and ferocious they were. Hercules pretended to enjoy the feast and
have a good time but he was very careful about how much he ate and
drank. He would call for wine and pretend to drink it all but
secretly would pour it out. He would then call for more so that
Diomedes would think he was getting drunk. As the night wore on
Hercules pretended to get more and more drunk so that Diomedes
wouldn't be be suspicious. Hercules then went to the sleeping
quarters he was given and pretended to fall asleep. In reality
Hercules was actually sober and stayed awake all night. He stayed
awake for hours until the darkest part of night. It was then that
Hercules heard Diomedes sneak in to the room. Out of the corner of
his eye Hercules saw Diomedes come over with a knife in his hand. As
Diomedes struck down with the knife to kill Hercules, Hercules leapt
up and grabbed Diomedes and tried to wrestle the knife away. Hercules
was surprised at how strong Diomedes was. Hercules was the son of
Zeus and had divine power but Diomedes was just as strong. This was
the real trap, Hercules didn't know this but Diomedes was the son of
Ares, the god of war, and also had the same divine power that
Hercules had. They were evenly matched. Realizing he would not be
able to overcome Diomedes directly he managed to knock the knife out
of Diomedes hand and then ran to the stables. He grabbed an axe on
the way and cut the chains holding the mares with it. He then scared
the mares so that they would run away. Hercules hoped that if he
scattered the mares he could then collect them later without having
to fight Diomedes. The mares bolted away and Hercules chased after
them. The horses were fast, Hercules could keep pace behind them but
couldn't quite catch up to them. He eventually chased them towards a
peninsula where they could go any farther. The horses tried to get
around him but Hercules took the axe and cust a large trench turning
the tip of the peninsula into an island. The mares were trapped, he
knew he would catch them eventually. However after making the trench
Diomedes, who had been chasing both Hercules and the mares, reached
the newly made island. Diomedes lunged to wrestle Hercules. Hercules.
Diomedes and Hercules fought together for days. They were evenly
matched and could not overcome the other. Eventually Hercules got
smart and wrestled Diomedes onto the blade of the axe Hercules had
used to dig the trench. That hurt Diomedes enough that Hercules was
able to finally overcome him defeat him. As Hercules stood over his
foe, the mares ran up and attacked Diomedes, eating him all up. On
eating the evil king that had been so cruel to them the mares became
calm. They were normal, friendly, though powerful horses. Hercules
didn't have to fight them at all. He peacefully rode them back to
Eurystheus. Eurystheus dedicated the horses to Hera and then released
them, allowing them to roam freely around the kingdom. It is said
that many famous and powerful horses such as
Bucephalus,
the warhorse of Alexander the Great, are descendents of these mares.
Continued in
The Belt of Hippolyta