The Bebryces (Greek: Βέβρυκες) were a tribe of people who lived in Bithynia. According to Strabo they were one of the many Thracian tribes that had crossed from Europe into Asia,[1] although modern scholars have rather argued for a Celtic origin.[2][3]
Classical linguists considered the name of Bebryces related to the thracian tribe Bryges, which was later renamed to Phryges (Phrygians),[4][5] based on the geographic proximity, as well as the migration route of the Phrygians known from ancient myths.[6][7]
B. Sergent suggests that the name Bebryces could be related to the Celtic tribes Bebruces, living in the Pyrenees, and Briboci, dwelling in Britain,[8] all ultimately stemming from Proto-Celtic *brebu ('beaver'; see Gaulish bebros, bebrus, Old Irish Bibar, 'beaver').[2][9] Ivan Duridanov also suggested that the ethnonym was related to Indo-European words meaning "beaver".[10]
The same word denotes beaver in Slavic Languages (*bebrusinProto-Balto-Slavic, boberinSlovenian, bobarinBulgarian, bobrinRussian).[11][12] It stems from Vedic Sanskrit ( बभ्रु or babhru - meaning something of reddish brown color)[13] which suggests that the etymology of the tribe's name actually long predates the formation of the Celtic ethnos and identity.
According to legend they were defeated by Heracles or the Dioscuri,[14] who killed their king, MygdonorAmycus.[14] Their land was then given to King Lycus of the Mariandynians, who built the city Heraclea there. Some say Amycus was a brother of Mygdon and another Bebrycian king; both were sons of Poseidon and Melia. Greek mythology offers two different accounts for the origin of the name 'Bebryces': either from a woman named Bebryce (Eustath. ad Dionysius Periegetes 805.), or from a hero named Bebryx (or Bebrycus) (Steph. Byz. s.v. Bebrycus). Bebryce is possibly the same as Bryce, a daughter of Danaus, a mythical King of Libya and Arabia (Apollodorus). Bebryx was also the father of Pyrene.
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