in book VI when he writes of Boreas and Orithyia, when Ovid states: He bore her off; and as he flew he felt the flames of love gain force on force; he did not curbe his course across the air until he'd reach the northern lands and city of the Cicones. Orpheus, the Thracian lyre-player who sought his lover Eurydice in the underworld, was said to have been torn to pieces by Ciconian women after he rejected their advances, subsequently being reincarnated as a swan, or, according to Ovid, his disembodied head floating on the sea until it came to rest on the island of Lesbos, where it continued to speak, uttering prophecies. In classical times and in a historical context they go into obscurity. Non mythical instances of them occur in Herodotus (5th century BC) as he writes of their land that Xerxes' army passed by. The tribe itself is thought to have disappeared early on. Eumenes of Cardia lived there for a while after being retrieved from a sunk slave ship heading to Olbia, Ukraine. References See also Orpheus Linus List of ancient tribes in Thrace and Dacia Ancient tribes in Thrace Characters in Greek mythology Thracian tribes