to how the Scythians worshipped their god of war in the form of a short akinakes sword on which they poured the blood of men and horses sacrificed to the god, the Thracians might also have ritually represented the "Arean" in the form of a sword. A short akinakes-type bronze sword found in Medgidia, on whose haft was engraved the image of an eagle holding a snake in its beak, might have been such a ritual sword. The Hero This "Arean" aspect of himself had a "Heroic" aspect, now known as the Thracian Hero or the Thracian Horseman, who was always represented a horseback hunter. This association between the god and the horse had multiple facets: since the horse was sacred to the Sun-god and was also a symbol of the underworld among many ancient peoples including the Thracians, it was therefore the permanent companion of the solar-chthonic god , who was always represented on horseback. was also associated with the horse in this capacity as a god of the aristocracy and royalty since the horse was the symbol of the tribal aristocracy's political, economic, and military power; Thracian aristocrats and their retinue were usually mounted while ordinary warriors were not; and the Odrysae recruited cavalry only from their own tribe and infantry from other tribes. It is therefore not a coincidence that the heroes such as Rhesus, Olynthus, and Brangas in the myths derived from the mythology of the Hero are always princes. The hunt, which in Thrace was customarily carried out on horseback, was a royal privilege among the Mycenaeans, the Thracians, and the peoples of Western Asia and was therefore part of the iconography of heroes: heroes were represented fighting real animals or mythical creatures in Hittite, Assyrian, and Achaemenian art. The struggle against the Chaos-dragon The Hero ensured the preservation of the wordly order and the normal course of life by fighting the forces of evil, and therefore in myth he underwent an epic journey on a mythical road filled with danger, and where he encountered unexpected opponents which personified Chaos, destruction, evil, and death. At the beginning of his journey, just like , fought a three-headed snake-like dragon personifying Chaos, and was therefore in this role given the epithet of (), meaning "water dragon". This mythical combat against the monster (which was similar to the Anatolian, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan myths of the fight against the