THRACIAN HORSES AND CHARIOTS 15 



possessed very many chariots is proved by 

 Homer's realistic account of the slaying of 

 Rhesus, the Thracian king, with a dozen or 

 so of his bravest followers, and the episode in 

 connection with that incident. 



Indeed when Odysseus and Diomede had 

 captured Dolon, the Trojan spy, the latter at 

 once declared that there were "also Thracians, 

 new-comers, at the furthest point apart from the 

 rest, and amongst them their king, Rhesus, son 

 of Eioneus," adding that his were "the fairest 

 horses that ever I beheld, and the greatest, 

 whiter than snow, and for speed like the winds. 

 His chariot too is fashioned well with gold and 

 silver, and golden is his armour that he brought 

 with him, marvellous, a wonder to behold." 



Apparently most of the horses bred by the 

 Acheans at about this time were either dun- 

 coloured or dapple. Xanthos signifies Dun, and 

 balios dapple ; but then we have to remember 

 that xanthos was used frequently to denote also 

 the colour of gold. 



Achilles' steeds were mostly dapple-dun, and 

 they had more or less heavy manes. They 

 belonged most likely to the breed so popular 

 among the Sigynnae of central Europe about the 

 fifth century B.C. Certainly Homer makes it 

 plain that in the early Iron Age horses were bred 

 in many parts of Greece ; that, though driving 

 was a common practice, riding was indulged in 



