PenthesileaPenthesilea was the queen of the Amazons and the daughter of Ares and Otrere.
Penthesilea accidentally killed an ally Amazon queen (Hippolyte, Melanippe, or Glauce). To be purified of her crime, Penthesilea went to Priam.
Apparently in return for Priam's help, Penthesilea, with her Amazons, entered the Trojan War on the side of the Trojans. She entered the war in its 10th and final year, after the death of Hector.
According to Hellanikos, Penthesilea fought in the Trojan War so that she would gain glory. Hellanikos goes on to say that, in Amazon custom, an Amazon must gain glory in war (against men) before she could marry (Gantz, 621).
Whatever the reason for entering the war, Penthesilea and the Amazons fought bravely and well. Penthesilea is said to have defeated Machaon, son of Asclepius, and Podarces, brother of Protesilaus.
In the Aeneid, Aeneas sees the battle of Troy being depicted in murals/mosaics in a Carthaginian temple. In one of the frames, Aeneas sees and remarks upon the heroicism of Penthesilea:
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(I.490) Ducit Amazonidum lunatis
agmina peltis Penthesilea furens, mediisque in milibus ardet, aurea subnectens exsertae cingula mammae bellatrix, audetque viris concurrere virgo. |
Furious Penthesilea leads a battleline of Amazons with crescent shields, and she glows in the middle of thousands fastening golden belts around the exposed breast, female warrior, and the maiden dares to run with men. |
Her successful battles caught Achilles' attention, and he slowly worked his way toward her so that he could face the famous Amazon. As he was about to face her, Chalcon of Cyparissus (who had fallen in love with Penthesilea) tried to deter him. Achilles swiftly killed Chalcon and his battle with Penthesilea soon ensued.
Achilles defeated Penthesilea, but when he saw her beauty, he, like Chalcon, fell in love with the brave Amazon and quickly lamented his act.
Sue Blundell states that, in the story of Penthesilea, "the two most common causes of the defeat of Amazonian resistance - physical force and love - are combined, and we encounter an analogy frequently made in Greek myth between violent domination and the sexual act" (Blundell, 60-1).
Propertius, in Book III.11, poem XI, of his Elegies, tells how Achilles fell in love with Penthesilea after having killed her and, using an interesting choice of words, has Penthesilea's beauty "conquer" (vicit) the "conquerer" (victorem).
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(13) Ausa ferox ab equo quondam
oppugnare sagittis Maeotis Danaum Penthesilea rates; aurea cui postquam nudavit cassida frontem, vicit victorem candida forma virum. |
Penthesilea, a fierce Scythian, once dared to attack by horse the Greek ships with arrows; After the gilded metal helmet [was removed and] her forehead exposed, her brilliant form conquered the man (Achilles), the victor. |
Thersites, a Greek, mocked Achilles and, some say, removed Penthesilea's eyes with his sword. With a single blow, Achilles killed Thersites (Bell, 352). Diomedes, a relative of Thersites, threw Penthesilea's body into the Scamander River.
The Greek camps were in a state of unrest as a result of Achilles killing Thersites, and Achilles had to go to Lesbos to be purified by Odysseus (Gantz, 621).
Penthesilea was a very strong warrior and, with her fall, Troy suffered. This is said by Pyrrhus in Seneca's tragic play Troades:
| (243) Tum saeva Amazon ultimus cecidit metus. | Then the savage Amazon [Penthesilea] fell, our greatest fear. |
In the Troades, Hecuba's statement also reflects Penthesilea's importance to Troy:
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(12) et quae vagos vicina prospiciens
Scythas ripam catervis Ponticam viduis ferit, excisa ferro est, Pergamum incubuit sibi. |
And she [Penthesilea], the neighbor of the wandering Scythians, keeping watch, leads her destitute band toward the Pontic banks, having been cut down by iron, Pergamum itself stumbled. |
It is interesting that numerous references to Penthesilea are made in the Troades, because the Troades is filled with heroic women, but while these women (e.g., Andromache, Helen, Hecuba, Polyxena) were valiant in their fates - they were not brave warriors on the battle field. Perhaps the references to Penthesilea are meant to indicate that these women were as brave as Penthesilea, though in different ways.
Robert Bell mentions that some authors state that Achilles committed necrophilia with the fallen Penthesilea, and one author even goes so far as to say that the dead Penthesilea bore a son, Caystrius, to Achilles (Bell, 352).
Penthesilea was a revered warrior in a time when men were dominant. She excelled in a man's game (war), while at the same time she retained a feminine virtue (beauty). In fact, Robert Bell adds, "the dying Penthesileia, supported by Achilles, was depicted on the throne of Zeus at Olympia" (Bell, 352).