View source for Biston

{{for|another use|Biston (moth)}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2011}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Biston
| siblings = [[Edonus]], [[Mygdon of Thrace|Mygdon]], Odomantus
| parents = [[Ares]] and [[Callirhoe (mythology)|Callirhoe]] or [[Calliope]]
| deity_of = Ancestor of the Bistones
}}In [[Greek mythology]], '''Biston''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɪ|s|t|ən}} {{respell|BIST|ən}}; {{langx|grc|Βίστων}} or {{lang|grc|Βιστών}}) was the son of [[Ares]] and [[Callirhoe (Greek mythology)|Callirrhoe]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=The Rev. T.|title=A Classical Dictionary|last2=Lempriere|first2=D. D.|publisher=T. Allman, 42, Holborn Hill.|year=1833|location=London|pages=119|id=ark:/13960/t6154g56x}}</ref> daughter of river-god [[Nestos (river)|Nestus]]. His two brothers were [[Odomas]] and [[Edonus]] (eponyms of two Thracian tribes, the [[Odomanti]] and the [[Edoni]]).<ref>[[Stephanus of Byzantium]] s.v. ''Bistonia''</ref> Alternately, he was called son of [[Paean (disambiguation)|Paeon]] and grandson of Ares. In some accounts, he was the son of either the [[Muses]] [[Terpsichore|Terpsichorus]]<ref>''[[Etymologicum Magnum]]'', 197. 59 s. v. ''Bistoniē''</ref> or [[Calliope]].{{cn|date=November 2024}}

== Mythology ==
Biston built the city of [[Bistonia]] on the shores of [[Lake Bistonis]] in [[Thrace]].<ref name=":0" /> He also introduced the Thracian practice of tattooing both men and women with eye-like patterns as a magical fetish, in response to an oracle which guaranteed victory against the neighbouring [[Edonians]] tribe if so adorned.  The Thracian Bistonians were famous for their warlike nature and cult of Ares whom they worshipped in the form of an upright standing sword.

==See also==
* [[Bistones]]
* [[Bistonis]], the [[nymph]] who lives at Lake Bistonis.

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
* [[Stephanus of Byzantium]], ''Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt,'' edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. [https://topostext.org/work/241 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]

[[Category:Mythological kings of Thrace]]
[[Category:Children of Ares]]


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