Sithon was a king of Thrace, son of Ares or Poseidon and Ossa and eponym of the peninsula of Sithonia. He was married to Anchinoe and they had a daughter, Rhoeteia, who gave her name to the peninsula of Rhoeteium, near Troy. Another tradition gives him a second daughter, Pallene, by the nymph Mendeis. Not wishing Pallene to marry any of the many suitors who presented themselves from far and near, Sithon challenged each one to single combat and killed them all. When he was no longer able to fight, he decided to allow her to marry and decreed that her husband should be whichever of two suitors, Dryas and Clitus, should defeat the other in a contest. Pallene, however, was in love with Clitus and when she confessed this to her old teacher he set a trap for Dryas. Dryas was killed, but Sithon decided to immolate Clitus and Pallene on a funeral pyre. When the fire was quenched by a sudden torrential rain from heaven, Sithon allowed the wedding to proceed and had a great banquet prepared for his people. According to Nonnus, Dionysus fell in love with Pallene and wrestled with her to win her hand. In the end he married her, having first killed Sithon with his staff.
