History of the Peloponnesian War

In this summer, too, Nymphodorus son of Pythes, a man of Abdera, whose sister Sitalces had to wife, and possessing great influence with Sitalces, the Athenians made their proxenus[*](i.e., their representative to look after Athenian interests in the country of Sitalces and Tereus. The latter had violated Philomela, sister of Procne, and cut out her tongue to prevent her telling of it; but she revealed it by weaving the story into a piece of tapestry.) with that king, although they had hitherto regarded him as an enemy; and they summoned him to Athens, wishing to gain Sitalces, son of Teres and king of the Thracians, as their ally.

Now this Teres, the father of Sitalces, was the first to found the great kingdom of the Odrysians, which extended over the larger part of Thrace;

for a considerable portion of the Thracians are independent. This Teres is not in any way connected with Tereus who took from Athens to be his wife Procne the daughter of Pandion, nor indeed did they come from the same Thrace. Tereus dwelt at Daulia in the land now called Phocis, which was then occupied by Thracians, and it was in that land that the women[*](The women, i.e. Procne and Philomela, who murdered Itys, son of Procne.) perpetrated their deed upon Itys. In fact many of the poets, when they refer to the nightingale, call it the bird of Daulia. Besides it was natural for Pandion to contract the marriage alliance for his daughter at so short a distance as Daulia with a view to mutual protection, rather than among the Odrysians, who are many days' journey distant. Teres, however, whose name was not the same as the other's, was the first king to attain great power among the Odrysians.

And it was his son, Sitalces, whom the Athenians wanted to make their ally, wishing him to help in subduing the places on the coast of Thrace and Perdiccas.

So Nymphodorus came to Athens, brought about the alliance with Sitalces, and got Sadocus son of Sitalces made an Athenian citizen; and he promised also to bring the war in Thrace to an end, saying that he would persuade Sitalces to send the Athenians a Thracian force of cavalry and targeteers.

Moreover, he brought about a reconciliation between Perdiccas and the Athenians, whom he persuaded to restore Therme[*](Thuc. 1.61.2.) to him. Perdiccas immediately joined forces with the Athenians under Phormio[*](Thuc. 1.64.2; Thuc. 1.65.3.) and took the field against the Chalcidians.

It was in this way that Sitalces son of Teres, king of the Thracians, became an ally of the Athenians, and also Perdiccas son of Alexander, king of the Macedonians.