the amazons: Hippolyta

The Amazons were the most fearsome women in Greek mythology...

but they still weren't fearsome enough to keep your average Greek hero from stealing a belt.

If I asked you who the Amazons were, in relation to Greek mythology, what would you say?

If you're at all well-versed in Greek mythology (or comic book characters, funnily enough), you would know that the Amazons were a race of warrior women. They were usually painted as the arch-nemeses of the Greeks.

Much like our favorite lioness Atalanta, the Amazons as a whole defied Greek gender norms. They were fierce, strong, and extremely difficult to beat in combat. They rode into battle on horseback, arrows flying and swords flashing, mowing down any man that stood in their way.

But, to the Greeks, the Amazons were vicious, bloodthirsty animals. They were man-hating, promiscuous beasts who would stop at nothing to ensure the destruction of Greece. Like our dear Atalanta, they were better than men at manly things, and that was a problem for men.

If you were wondering, our friend Ovid didn't actually tell Hippolyta's story. We aren't sure who told the original story, but we can safely assume it was a man.

The Amazons were ruled by a succession of warrior queens, who were said to be the smartest and bravest of them all. These queens led the Amazons into battle. One such queen was named Hippolyta, a daughter of Ares (the Greek god of war). She led the Amazons before the group's first war on Greece, and it's her story that set that particular war in motion.

It all started with male entitlement and a belt.

Everyone knows the Greek hero Heracles (or Hercules, as he's also called). Many people think of Heracles and picture the man who was given a constellation for his heroic acts. While the hero interpretation is true, Heracles was also a little crazy, a lot entitled, and the owner of an astronomical hero complex.

Heracles spent most of his life being tortured by his stepmother Hera, whose depiction is consistently one of "the worst scorned woman in the world". Eventually in his life, Heracles is sent to King Eurystheus to atone for his past wrongdoings (some allegedly caused by Hera), who assigns him tasks to complete.

The ninth of these tasks was to steal the belt of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons.

Now this wasn't just any regular belt. This belt was said to have been given to Hippolyta by her father, Ares. This belt was only to be worn by the fiercest and most courageous of all the Amazons. It was clearly a highly-coveted belt.

According to the Greeks, after Heracles's task was set, he sailed to the Amazon stronghold, Themyscira, to find said belt. Eventually, Hippolyta came to greet him on the beach with a group of her warriors. The two conversed, supposedly regarding one another as equals. Eventually, so the story goes, Hippolyta agreed to give her belt to Heracles.

She was just going to hand it over, like it was your average, run-of-the-mill belt.

If this were a reality TV show, I'm sure Heracles would have turned to the camera and said, "See, Greece? Even Amazonian women can be sensible when the right man reasons with them!"

In the midst of this exchange, the forever-scorned woman and hater-of-all-things-Heracles, Hera, allegedly decided to mix things up. Because women, even godly ones, can't leave well enough alone, right, Greece? Of course, HERA had to take every opportunity to be petty.

According to the story, Hera descended from Mount Olympus disguised as an Amazonian warrior. It's said that she ran to the Amazons, shouting that the Greeks were kidnapping their beloved queen Hippolyta. She urged them to run to the beach and kill any Greek in sight, especially Heracles. The Amazons did as she said, and rode into the ruse of a battle on the beach.

When he saw the horde of Amazons charging into battle, Heracles panicked. Without giving Hippolyta a chance to rectify the situation, Heracles killed her. Heracles pried the belt from Hippolyta's dead body as the battle ensued around him. The Greeks and the Amazons then fought on the beach until the Greeks were able to sail home.

This may come as a surprise to you, but according to the Amazons, this happened very differently. Let's rewind a few minutes.

The Amazonian warriors waited for their queen to return from greeting the Greeks on the beach. None of them were enthused at the fact that Heracles had invaded Themiscyra, so the wait was stressful. One of the Amazons (there is no evidence this was Hera in disguise) turned to the rest and said, "Maybe we should ride down to the beach and see what's going on?" The other Amazons thought this was reasonable, so it was decided that they would ride down to the beach and check things out.

Meanwhile, Hippolyta and Heracles conversed on the beach. Hippolyta knew why Heracles had come before the conversation even began. Of course he was there for her belt. It was not Hippolyta's first rodeo, and she knew the conversation with Heracles would likely end in a duel. Only one would keep Hippolyta's prized belt, and Hippolyta had no plans to let Heracles leave with anything but what he had brought to her island in the first place. She thought she might try diplomacy first, though, so the talking ensued.

Like I said, Hippolyta had been given the belt by her father, Ares. It was debatably her most prized possession. Hippolyta had vowed that if anyone were to take her belt, they would have to pry it from her cold, dead body. She was thinking about her vow in that moment on the beach, her resolve strong and unwavering.

Apparently, Heracles was thinking about the same thing.

When the Amazons rode onto the beach (only threatening to those who were scared of powerful women in the first place), Hippolyta turned her head to them for half a second in confusion. She diverted her attention from Heracles just for a moment. They had been talking amicably. He didn't seem like he was much of an opponent for Hippolyta anyway.

A moment was all Heracles needed. Heracles felt threatened by women more powerful and fearsome than himself. He saw his opportunity to take the belt, and he did. Deep down, Heracles knew that if he had challenged Hippolyta for the belt honorably, he would have lost. He would have returned to King Eurystheus empty handed, or better yet, dead.

I would apologize for wishing Heracles had died right then, but I won't. I am delighted to tell you that he died years later-- hilariously brought down by donning a poisoned shirt, a gift from his wife.

What happened afterwards is similar in both stories: Heracles murdered Hippolyta, stole the belt, fought with the Amazons for a bit, then scampered back to his ship and hightailed it home. The Amazons were left to mourn their lost queen and plan their revenge.

Their revenge was, of course, to declare war on the Greeks.

Now that you've heard both sides of the story, answer this question. Who is responsible for the resulting war between the Greeks and the Amazons, and the future hostility between the two groups?

Was it Hera, for allegedly being overcome by pettiness and jealousy? Was it Hippolyta, for supposedly being too trusting? Everyone knows that's how women tend to end up in trouble. Women who seem powerful can't be truly powerful-- they usually mess it up somehow right?

Well, I can tell you one thing: the blame definitely doesn't rest on Heracles, who invaded Themiscyra, did the actual killing, and took things that weren't his. He got a constellation.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey there, everybody! I hope you enjoyed this week's rendition of "Medusa's Feminist Commentary". For this story, I took the story of Heracles's Ninth Labor and gave Medusa's commentary on the subject. I didn't change any parts of the original Greek story-- the story was taken directly from the renditions of it found in the research below. I did, however, create the Amazonian version of this story by myself (with the help of sources, of course). I also added Medusa's commentary on Hera's depiction both in Hippolyta's story and in general, because it's a little misogynistic, don't you think?

Also, if anyone didn't catch it or understand the reference, I mentioned that the Amazons were related to comic book characters. Our favorite superhero Wonder Woman is an Amazon-- in fact, according to the comic books, she's the daughter of Hippolyta. This is why my storybook is named after her, and my home banner is of her. She is Wonder Woman, and these Greek women are all "wonder women". Get it?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• "The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World" by Adrienne Mayor.
• Wikipedia: Hippolyta
• Wikipedia: The Labours of Hercules

Banner image provided by: Wikimedia Commons.