Editing Haemus (section)

== Mythology ==
Haemus was vain and haughty and compared himself and his wife, [[Queen Rhodope]], to [[Zeus]] and [[Hera]]. The gods changed him and his wife into mountains (respectively [[Haemus Mons]], now known as the [[Balkan Mountains]], and the [[Rhodope Mountains]]).<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 6.87-89         </ref> In [[ancient Greek]], the [[Balkans|Balkan Peninsula]] was thus known as the "Peninsula of Haemus" ({{lang|grc|Χερσόνησος τοῦ Αἵμου}}), a name which retains some currency in [[modern Greek]].

Another classic etymology derives the name 'Haemos' from the myth about the fight of Zeus and the dragon [[Typhon]]:

:He was again driven to Thrace and hurled entire mountains at Zeus in the battle around Mount Haemus. When these bounced back upon him under the force of the thunderbolt, blood gushed out on the mountain. From this, they say, the mountain is called haemus ("bloody").<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_2900870232069|url-access=registration|title=Gods & Heroes of the Greeks: The Library of Apollodorus|last=Apollodorus|publisher=University of Massachusetts Press|year=1976|isbn=9780870232060|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_2900870232069/page/20 20]|translator-last=Simpson|translator-first=Michael|chapter=Theogony, the Rape of Persephone, the Battle of the Gods and Giants|author-link=Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)#Pseudo-Apollodorus|translator-last2=Baskin|translator-first2=Leonard}}</ref>