Horse (in Christian art)

Emblem of courage and generosity. The attribute of St. Martin, St. Maurice, St. George, and St. Victor, all of whom are represented on horseback. St. Léon is represented on horseback, in pontifical robes, blessing the people.

Brazen horse. (See Cambuscan; see also Barbed Steed, Dobbin.)

§ Flesh-eating horses. The horses of Diomed, Tyrant of Thrace (not Diomede, son of Tydeus); he fed his horses on the strangers who visited his kingdom. Herculēs vanquished the tyrant, and gave the carcase to the horses to eat.

Like to the Thracian tyrant who, they say,

Unto his horses gave his guests for meat,

Till he himself was made their greedy prey,

And torn to pieces by Alcidês great.”

Spenser: Faërie Queene, book v., canto 8.

Wooden horse. (See Wooden.)

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.