| Penthesilea | |
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Real Name |
Penthesilea, Penthesíleia |
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First Appearance |
Greek Myth |
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Created by |
Greek Myth |
Origin[]
Penthesilea was daughter of Ares and Otrera. She was the sister of Hippolyta, Antiope, and Melanippe. and queen of the Amazons. She led them in the Trojan War where she allied with the Trojans. She was eventually killed there by Achilles, who wept over her dead body. She also lead her people during the Amazonomachy.
In the five book epic Aethiopis, which was part of the Epic Cycle on the Trojan War, the coming to Troy of Penthesilea and Memnon was described in detail. The main character of the epic is Achilles, who fights Penthesilea and Memnon before he is himself killed. Although Aethiopis has been lost, the Epic Cycle has been adapted and recycled in different periods of the classical age. In the Aethiopis Penthesilea is a Thracian woman warrior. She was an Amazon and daughter of Ares, who comes to help the Trojans. She arrived with twelve other Amazon warriors. After a day of distinguishing herself on the battlefield, Penthesilea confronts Achilles and a fight ensues, Achilles kills her. The Aethiopis version of the Penthesilea legend has become known as the Homeric tradition.
Different traditions of the Penthesilea legend appear to have existed at the time the Epic Cycle was published. One myth states that it was Neoptolemus who killed Penthesilea, instead of Achilles. In a lost poem of Stesichorus, believed to have been published in the 7th or 6th century, Penthesilea rather than Achilles had killed Hector. In the Pseudo-Apollodorus Epitome of the Bibliotheke she is said to have been killed by Achilles, "who fell in love with the Amazon after her death and slew Thersites for jeering at him".
In the 3rd century BC, Lycophron went against the grain of the Homeric tradition. Lycophron tells the story of the young Amazon Clete, Penthesilea's attendant, who had been left behind in Pontus. Clete sets out with a company of Amazons to search for Penthesilea when she does not return from the Trojan War. The ship with Amazons is swept off course and after a shipwreck on the toe of Italy in Bruttium, Clete becomes the queen of the Amazons that settle there.
In Virgil's Aeneid, written between 29 and 19 BC. Penthesilea is cast as a tragic Amazon queen who came too late in vain to help the beleaguered city. When Aeneas sees the panel of Penthesilea in the Juno temple of Carthage, he knows that the defeat of Penthesilea and Memnon presage a chain of events that would culminate in the sacking of the city. Penthesilea's fate also foreshadows that of Camilla, which is described in detail by Virgil later in the epic. According to Virgil, Penthesilea led an army of Amazons and is a bellatrix (Latin for "female warrior") who dared to fight men. Virgil based his narrative in Homer's Iliad, while relying on the Epic Cycle for his portrayal of Penthesilea. In Aeneid the Romans descended from the hero Aeneas and Trojan refugees who sailed to Italy after the Trojan War. This interweaving of the Penthesilea legend with the founding legend of Rome can be traced to Lycophron.
In his universal history Bibliotheca historica, Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BC celebrated Penthesilea as the last Amazon to win renown for valour in war. Diodorus wrote that after the Trojan War the Amazons diminished and tales of their former glory began to be considered mere legends.
In the 4th century AD, the poet Quintus Smyrnaeus made Penthesilea the subject of the first book in Posthomerica. This work explains how Penthesilea came to be at Troy: Penthesilea had killed Hippolyta with a spear when they were hunting deer; this accident caused Penthesilea so much grief that she wished only to die, but, as a warrior and an Amazon, she had to do so honorably and in battle. She therefore was easily convinced to join in the Trojan War. Smyrnaeus also describes in gory detail how the army of Amazons surprises the Greek army and the slaughter that commenced. The Amazon Klonie, after slaying her first opponent, is in turn killed. Penthesilea mows through the Greek lines, killing eight warriors, and cuts the arm off the Greek warrior who had killed Klonie. Penthesilea's Amazon comrades Bremusa, Evandre and Thermodosa fight valiantly alongside her but are slain, and so are Derinoe, Alkibie and Derimachea. Penthesilea slays more Greeks with axe and spear. From the towers the Trojan women watch and Penthesilea inspires the young Hippodamia, who urges the Trojan women to join the battle. Antimachus' daughter Tisiphone gives an inspirational speech.
In Medieval Europe, the Penthesilea legend was developed and recycled, with Achilles fading into the background. Penthesilea was cast as medieval warrior queen. A tradition developed where Penthesilea entered the Trojan War because of her reverence for the Trojan hero Hector. Penthesilea appears in the Roman de Troie as a chivalric heroine, and through this became part of the medieval genre roman antique, which recycled Greek and Roman myths in a chivalric romance context. In late medieval Europe the legend was further popularised in The Book of the City of Ladies and Troy Book. Penthesilea and Hector became romantic heroes. Penthesilea came to Troy because she had fallen in love with the virtuous knight Hector from afar. When kneeling before Hector's corpse, Penthesilea promises to avenge his death. Penthesilea fights at the side of the Trojan army, killing many Greek soldiers, but is slain by Achilles' son. In this tradition of the legend, her body is taken to the Thermodon for burial.
In Confessio Amanatis she travels to Troy from Pafagoine. She is slain by Pirrus the son of Achilles. Philemenis returned her body for burial. He was rewarded with three fair maidens per year.
According to Boccaccio In De Mulieribus Claris, Penthesilea succeeded the Amazon queens Antiope and Orithyia. She was in strength and skill superior to previous queens. According to Boccaccio, Penthesilea entered the Trojan War against the Greeks to impress Hector. But Penthesilea and her Amazon troops were slain at the end of a hard-fought battle with the Greeks. In Kleist's Penthesilea, however, Achilles is slain by Penthesilea. When she realizes that she and her pack of dogs have mangled the object of their desire, she dies herself through "a crushing feeling".
In Looking Backward, the main character (Julian West) is transported in time from 1887 to 2000. There, in the year 2000, the main character reads a book by one of the 20th century's most famous writers. The title of this book is "Penthesilia" and it is a romance that supposedly exposes the true power and fullest extent of love.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Penthesilea before January 1, 1929 are in the public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Aethiopis
- Iliad
- Odyssey
- Stesichorus
- Epitome of the Bibliotheke
- Aeneid
- Bibliotheca historica
- Posthomerica
- Roman de Troie
- The Book of the City of Ladies
- Troy Book by John Lydgate
- Confessio Amanatis
- Chronicle (known as Haagse handschrift)
- Miroir des dames
- De Mulieribus Claris
- Looking Backward
Public Domain Theatrical and musical appearances[]
- Penthesilea by Heinrich von Kleist
- Penthesilea by Othmar Schoeck (based on Kleist's drama)
- Penthesilea (1883–85) by Hugo Wolf
Notes[]
- The asteroid 271 Penthesilea, discovered in 1887, was named in her honor.
- Boa Hancock character from One Piece has several references to Greek mythology, Including Penthesilea.