Hercules' Eighth Labor: The Mares of Diomedes
The eighth labor of Hercules is one of the darkest in the whole cycle. King Eurystheus sent the hero north to Thrace, to the land of the Bistones, a fierce people ruled by King Diomedes, a son of the war god Ares. Diomedes owned four magnificent mares, and he kept them chained to bronze mangers. They were wild and terrible, because their master fed them human flesh.
Hercules was ordered to bring these mares back to Mycenae. To do so, he would have to face not only the beasts, but also the cruel king who had made them monsters.
The Myth
Ancient writers give the mares names: Podargos, Lampon, Xanthos and Deinos, meaning swift-foot, shining, golden and terrible. Some say Diomedes fed them on strangers who came to his land, making his kingdom a place of fear.
Hercules sailed to Thrace with a few companions. He overpowered the grooms and drove the mares toward the sea. When Diomedes and his warriors pursued them, Hercules left the horses in the care of his young friend Abderus and turned to fight. While he was away, the mares attacked and killed Abderus. In his grief, Hercules founded a city near his friend's tomb and named it Abdera.
Feeding the Master to His Beasts
The climax of the story is grim and poetic. Hercules defeated Diomedes and, in many versions, fed the king to his own horses. Having eaten their master, the mares became calm and could be led away. The cruelty that had shaped them was consumed by the very hunger it had created.
Hercules brought the mares to Eurystheus, who dedicated them to the goddess Hera and set them free. Some accounts say they wandered to Mount Olympus and were killed by wild beasts; others say their descendants lived on for generations.
Horses of the Mind
In classical thought, horses were often symbols of the forces that move the soul. The philosopher Plato, in his dialogue Phaedrus, compared the soul to a charioteer driving two winged horses, one noble and one unruly. The art of life, he said, is to guide them in harmony toward the heavens.
The mares of Diomedes can be read as horses of the mind that have been trained wrongly. Fed on cruelty, they become destructive. Their natural strength, which could carry the soul upward, turns into a hunger that devours everything around it.
The Tyrant Within
Diomedes himself stands for the force that trains the mind to be cruel. In symbolic reading, he can be a false belief, a habit of contempt, or a pride that feeds on others' pain. Under his rule, thoughts and impulses become violent and insatiable.
Many people recognize this pattern in their own lives: endless anger, cycles of resentment, or the habit of feeding the mind on outrage and bitterness. The more we feed such patterns, the hungrier they become.
The Cure
The way Hercules ends the madness offers a striking lesson. He does not simply kill the horses. He removes the source of their corruption. Once Diomedes is gone, the mares lose their unnatural hunger.
In the inner life, this suggests that it is not enough to fight each angry thought. We must find the root, the false master that trains the mind to suffer, and let it go. When that root is dissolved, the mind can return to calm and the strength of its horses can serve a better purpose.
The Price of Inattention
The death of Abderus adds a note of sorrow. Hercules left a young and inexperienced friend to hold forces too wild for him. The story warns that destructive energies must be handled with care and never left to those who cannot control them.
It also shows that even great victories can carry loss. The hero's response, founding a city in his friend's memory, turns grief into something lasting.
A Practice for Today
The eighth labor invites a simple reflection:
- What do I feed my mind each day, in news, conversations and thoughts?
- Which habits leave me more agitated and hungry for conflict?
- What belief or pride might be driving those habits?
- What gentler food could I offer my mind instead?
When anger or obsessive thoughts become overwhelming, it is wise to seek help from a counselor or therapist.
Closing
The mares of Diomedes show what happens when the powers of the mind are fed on cruelty. They become monsters that devour their own world. Hercules restores them not by force alone, but by removing the tyrant who corrupted them.
For the seeker, the lesson is clear: find the false master within, let it be consumed, and the wild horses of the soul can once again carry the chariot toward the light.
Related Esoteric Inquiries
- Hercules' Sixth Labor: The Stymphalian Birds
- Hercules' Twelfth Labor: Cerberus and the Underworld
- Hercules' Eleventh Labor: The Apples of the Hesperides
Lux Esoterica.
2026.
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