Penthesilea

🗡 heroΠενθεσίλεια

Amazon queen who fought at Troy

Penthesilea was the Amazon queen who came to fight for Troy after Hector's death — killed by Achille‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‍‌‌s, who wept when he saw her beauty.

The Legend of Penthesilea

Queen of the Amazons and daughter of Ares, Penthesilea came to Troy to fight for Priam after accidentally killing her sister Hippolyta.‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‍‌‌ She sought death in battle to purge her guilt. Leading her Amazons against the Greeks, she fought with ferocious skill until Achilles confronted her. He drove his spear through her, then, lifting her helmet, fell in love with her beauty in the moment of her death. Thersites mocked his grief, and Achilles killed him. Penthesilea's story interweaves the Amazons, Troy, and the tragic nature of the war that Zeus and Athena oversaw.

Parents

Ares and Otrere

Symbols

Amazon battle axehorsecrescent shieldbeauty

Fun Fact

The moment Achilles sees Penthesilea's face — falling in love with the woman he just killed — was called the most poignant instant in the entire Troy cycle.

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Queen of Troy

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Son of Zeus who died at Troy

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Hypsipyle

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Mycenaean princess who married Strophius of Phocis and raised the young Orestes in secret

Iphidamas

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Young Trojan warrior who left his bride to fight at Troy and was killed by Agamemnon

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Sarpedon

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None recorded

Lycian prince and ally of Troy in the Trojan War, son of Zeus

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Avenger of Agamemnon

Daughter of Agamemnon who plotted with her brother Orestes to avenge their father's murder by killing their mother Clytemnestra.

Electra complex

Alcimede

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Motherhood, nobility

Noble Thessalian woman and mother of Jason, leader of the Argonauts