Editing Thrace (section)

==Demographics and religion==
{{main|Demographics of Bulgaria|Demographics of Greece|Demographics of Turkey}}
{{see also|Thracian Bulgarians|Turks of Western Thrace}}
Most of the [[Bulgarian people|Bulgarian]] and [[Greeks|Greek]] population are [[Eastern Orthodox|Orthodox Christian]]s, while most of the [[Turkish people|Turkish]] inhabitants of Thrace are [[Sunni]] [[Muslim]]s.

===Ancient Greek mythology===
[[Greek mythology|Ancient Greek mythology]] provides the Thracians with a mythical ancestor [[Thrax (mythology)|Thrax]], the son of the war-god [[Ares]], who was said to reside in Thrace. The Thracians appear in [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' as [[Troy|Trojan]] allies, led by [[Acamas]] and [[Peiros]]. Later in the ''Iliad'', [[Rhesus of Thrace|Rhesus]], another Thracian king, makes an appearance. [[Cisseus]], father-in-law to the Trojan elder [[Antenor]], is also given as a Thracian king.

Homeric Thrace was vaguely defined, and stretched from the River [[Axios River|Axios]] in the west to the [[Hellespont]] and [[Black Sea]] in the east. The [[Catalogue of Ships]] mentions three separate contingents from Thrace: Thracians led by Acamas and Peiros, from [[Enez|Aenus]]; [[Cicones]] led by [[Euphemus]], from southern Thrace, near [[Ismara|Ismaros]]; and from the city of [[Sestus]], on the Thracian (northern) side of the Hellespont, which formed part of the contingent led by [[Asius (mythology)|Asius]]. Ancient Thrace was home to numerous other tribes, such as the [[Edoni|Edones]], [[Bisaltae]], [[Cicones]], and [[Bistonians|Bistones]] in addition to the tribe that Homer specifically calls the "Thracians".

[[Greek mythology]] is replete with Thracian kings, including [[Mares of Diomedes|Diomedes]], [[Tereus]], [[Lycurgus of Thrace|Lycurgus]], [[Phineus]], [[Tegyrius]], [[Eumolpus]], [[Polymnestor]], [[Poltys]], and [[Oeagrus]] (father of [[Orpheus]]).

Thrace is mentioned in [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', in the episode of [[Philomela (princess of Athens)|Philomela]], [[Procne]], and [[Tereus]]: Tereus, the King of Thrace, lusts after his sister-in-law, Philomela. He kidnaps her, holds her captive, rapes her, and cuts out her tongue. Philomela manages to get free, however. She and her sister, Procne, plot to get revenge, by killing her son [[Itys]] (by Tereus) and serving him to his father for dinner. At the end of the myth, all three turn into birds &ndash; Procne into a [[swallow]], Philomela into a [[nightingale]], and Tereus into a [[hoopoe]].

The city of [[Dicaea (Thrace)|Dicaea]] in Thrace was named after the son of [[Poseidon]], [[Dicaeus (mythology)|Dicaeus]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://topostext.org/work/241#D230.14|title= Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, §D230}}</ref>