in Thracian religion, and linking both the chthonic (the cave) and solar (beholding light) principles within Rhesus's own fate. The myth of Pallene According to another myth, the son of Poseidon and Ossa was Sithon (, ), the king of the Thracian Chersonese. Sithon in turn had a daughter by the nymph Mendeis who was named Pallene. Since there were many suitors courting Pallene, Sithon decided that only the one who could defeat him in combat could marry Pallene and become the next king of the Thracian Chersonese, and both the king Merops of Anthemus and the king Periphetes of Mygdonia died fighting for Pallene's hand. After this, Sithon decided that the suitors had to contend against each other rather than against him to wed Pallene and succeed Sithon. When two new suitors, Dryas and Cleitus competed, Pallene employed a ruse to make Dryas lose. When Sithon found out about Pallene's ruse, he threatened to execute her until the goddess Aphrodite appeared during the night and interceded on her behalf. After Sithon's death, Pallene and Cleitus inherited of his kingdom, henceafter named Sithonia and Pallene. The theme of this myth is that the most deserving one, who had passed the test of valour, was the one who inherited the kingdom, similarly to the Scythian genealogical myth, where gave to the Snake-Legged Goddess a belt, a cup, and a bow, and instructed to her that the one of their three sons who could gird his waist with the belt and draw the bow would become king. Similar myths of the testing of the king through a contest are also present in Greek religion, such as in the myth of Odysseus and the suitors of Penelope, and of Oedipus and the sphinx. The princess Pallene herself represented the a form of the Thracian Great Goddess , and therefore was a personification of her country. Pallene's own rights were further enhanced due to her mother being the nymph Mendeis since nymphs were closely connected to the cult of in Thrace. The similarity of the name of Mendeis with that of the Thracian Great Goddess, (the consonants /b/ and /m/ were interchangeable in the Thracian language), suggests that Mendeis was herself a form of the goddess. The Greek goddess Aphrodite in the myth also represents the essence of the Thracian Great Goddess , hence making her intervention not a coincidence. The theme of the