The Bebryces (Greek: Βέβρυκες) were a tribe of people who lived in Bithynia. According to Strabo they were one of the many Thracian tribes that had crossed from Europe into Asia,[1] although modern scholars have rather argued for a Celtic origin.
Name
Classical linguists considered the name of Bebryces related to the thracian tribe Bryges, which was later renamed to Phryges (Phrygians),[4][5] based on the geographic proximity, as well as the migration route of the Phrygians known from ancient myths.[6][7]
B. Sergent suggests that the name Bebryces could be related to the Celtic tribes Bebruces, living in the Pyrenees, and Briboci, dwelling in Britain, all ultimately stemming from Proto-Celtic *brebu ('beaver'; see Gaulish bebros, bebrus, Old Irish Bibar, 'beaver'). Ivan Duridanov also suggested that the ethnonym was related to Indo-European words meaning "beaver".[10]
The same word denotes beaver in Slavic Languages (*bebrus in Proto-Balto-Slavic, bober in Slovenian, bobar in Bulgarian, bobr in Russian).[11][12]
History
According to legend they were defeated by Heracles or the Dioscuri,[13] who killed their king, Mygdon or Amycus.[13] Their land was then given to King Lycus of the Mariandynians, who built the city Heraclea there. Some say Amycus was a brother of Mygdon and another Bebrycian king; both were sons of Poseidon and Melia. Greek mythology offers two different accounts for the origin of the name 'Bebryces': either from a woman named Bebryce (Eustath. ad Dionysius Periegetes 805.), or from a hero named Bebryx (or Bebrycus) (Steph. Byz. s.v. Bebrycus). Bebryce is possibly the same as Bryce, a daughter of Danaus, a mythical King of Libya and Arabia (Apollodorus). Bebryx was also the father of Pyrene.
Notes
References
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