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| Herakles and the Amazons, from Brussels, Musées Royaux de Cinquantenaire | |
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| Herakles in combat with two Amazons, from the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania. | |
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| Detail of a Roman Sarcophagus of the 2nd century B.C. found in Konya, Turkey. | |
The Ninth Labor of Hercules
"Having put in at the harbor of Themiscyra, he received a visit from Hippolyte,
who inquired why he was come, and promised to give him the belt. But Hera in
the likeness of an Amazon went up and down the multitude saying that the
strangers who had arrived were carrying off the queen. So the Amazons in arms
charged on horseback down on the ship. But when Hercules saw them in arms,
he suspected treachery, and killing Hippolyte stripped her of her belt. And after
fighting the rest he sailed away and touched at Troy."
Hercules (or Herakles, as he was known to the Greeks) was one of the most popular heroes of ancient times, and appears in the works of numerous authors and playwrights. The best ancient source for the life of Hercules is Apollodorus (also known as Pseudo-Apollodorus). As the illegitimate son of Zeus, his stepmother Hera hated him, and tormented him all his life. He is best known for his twelve labors which he performed as atonement for killing his children in a fit of madness caused by Hera. The number had originally been set at ten, but was extended to twelve by Eurystheus, the king who ordered the various labors by order of Apollo. After the labors had been completed, the hero went on to many other misadventures, frequently killing people in fits of rage and needing to atone for the crime. He also participated in several wars, debauched many maidens, and did his best to avoid the inevitable wrath of Hera.
Yet even a hero cannot live forever, and Hercules' end was as tortuous as befits a hero. A young woman he had been escorted mixed a potion she believed to be a love spell, but that was actually a poison. She spread this mixture on the inside of a cloak and gave it to Hercules. When the hero put on the cloak, it burned his skin, even after he removed it. He asked to be burned on a pyre to be put out of his misery, and at that moment of death, a cloud descended from Olympus and the hero finally attained immortality. According to legend, he even made peace with Hera and married her daughter Hebe, who bore him two sons.
The fight between Hercules and the Amazons is depicted frequently in ancient art, as the following images show.
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| Herakles and the Amazons, from Brussels, Musées Royaux de Cinquantenaire | |
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| Herakles in combat with two Amazons, from the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania. | |
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| Detail of a Roman Sarcophagus of the 2nd century B.C. found in Konya, Turkey. | |
Hercules is recognizable by the lion skin draped over his head, which he killed when he was eighteen years old, and by the club which he usually carries. To learn more about Hercules' labors, visit the Perseus Project.
Hercules is perhaps the most well known Greek hero, not only in ancient times, but also in modern culture. Perhaps this is because of his many adventures, or perhaps because of the many trials he suffered before finally obtaining immortality. Regardless of the reason, it is significant that this most popular of heroes encountered the Amazons, a culture that most modern scholars do not believe existed. The Amazons were not a little known culture, but a society that was encountered by the most popular hero of Greek mythology. It is hard to believe that a group of people that were so well known, did exist. Some mythological peoples can be dismissed because they possessed supernatural or magical attributes. But this is not true of the Amazons; all that prohibits belief in these women is that they possessed physical skill and political independence equal to that of men.
Introduction
The Amazons: Fact or Fiction?
Theseus and Antiope
This Honors Seminar is taught by Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe, Associate Director of the Honors Program, and Professor of Art History at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, USA.
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