( Stavlos Diomidos )
The village of Amaxades belongs to the prefecture of Rodopis and administratively to the municipality of Iasmos. It is 30 km from Komotini and is built at the foot of Mount Papikios. To the south of the village, at Maltepe, remains of a wall from the early Christian era can be seen. From the 1st century BC until the 1st AD, Strabo calls Diomedes' kingdom "Kartera komi" and refers to the labor of Hercules. The last reference to the stable of Diomedes is related to Theudericus Strabo, leader of the Goths in Thrace. It is said that in AD 481 he marched from Constantinople to the west but "died at Diomedes called Stavlon", where he was buried by his wife.
According to the myth, Diomedes (king of the Vistos), son of Ares and Cyrene, had 4 wild man-eating female horses (Podargos, Lampon, Xanthos, Deinos), which he kept chained in their stable. Herakles with his friends, among them Abdiros, went to face Diomedes and the Bistonians. They stole the horses and made Abdiros guard them. Hercules killed Diomedes, while the horses devoured Abdiros. The city of Abdira was founded in his honor. The capture of the horses and their delivery to Eurystheus (king of Tiryns) was the eighth labor of Hercules.
Editor: Niki Kalopaidis