A mythological Phrygian prince, generally held to be the son of King Agenor and his queen, Telephassa, although in other versions he appears as the son of Poseidon, Phoenix or Cilix. When Europa, daughter of the king of Phoenicia, was abducted by Zeus, who had assumed the form of a bull to entice her, the king sent his sons Cadmus and Thassos, and possibly also Cilix, in quest of her. After searching in vain, Thassos settled in the Northern Aegean island that bears his name. Historically, before the island was colonised by Parian settlers (684-680 BC), its inhabitants were predominantly Thracians of the Edonian tribe and it had been known as Edonis, although the names Aethria and Aeria are also attested. In another version, probably invented by the Parians, the island was conquered by Heracles who appointed as its governors Alcaeus and Sthenelus, who had been hostages with him in Paros. There may be a correlation between these narratives, given the Phoenicians’ devotion to Heracles and Herodotus’ reference to the cult of Thassian Heracles in Tyre (2.44). It is worth noting, though, that Herodotus considered that Heracles to predate the Argive Heracles.
