Penthesilea deep dive fun facts thingy man i dunno i just got here
if you want the best version of her battle and death in troy specifically go read Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica she has a son “Kaüstros is a son of Penthesileia the Amazon. He married Derketô in Askalon and fathered from her Semiramis. Among the Syrians, Derketô is called Atargatis.” -Schol A ad. Il. 2.461d ex [cf. Eusth. Comm ad I 1.387]
“Kaüstros: a river in Lydia, from Kaüstros. And Kaüstros is a son of Penthesileia the Amazon. He married Derketô in Askalon and fathered from her Semiramis. She’s the one who had the walls of Babylon built.”- Etym. Magn. [=Kallierges 493.10, s.v. Kaüstros; cf. Ps. Herod.] she accidentally killed Hippolyte (and killed Machaon i know hes popular)
"After the games Priamos (Priam) came to Akhilleus (Achilles) ransomed Hektor's body and buried it. Penthesileia, the daughter of Otrere (Otrera) and Ares, who had accidentally killed Hippolyte and been purified by Priamos, slew many in battle, including Makhaon (Machaon)"-Pseudo-Apollodorus
"Penthesileia (Penthesilea)--came athirst indeed for groan-resounding battle, but yet more fleeing abhorred reproach and evil fame, lest they of her own folk should rail on her because of her own sister's death, for whom ever her sorrows waxed, Hippolyte, whom she had struck dead with her mighty spear, not of her will--'twas at a stag she hurled. So came she to the far-famed land of Troy. Yea, and her warrior spirit pricked her on, of murder's dread pollution thus to cleanse her soul, and with such sacrifice to appease the Awful Ones, the Erinnyes, who in wrath for her slain sister straightway haunted her unseen : for ever round the sinner's steps they hover; none may 'scape those goddesses."-Quintus Smyrnaeus
"Penthesileia, the queen of the surviving Amazones, who was a daughter of Ares and had slain one of her kindred, fled from her native land because of the sacrilege." -Diodorus Siculus
she actually manages to kill Achilles sometimes
"The sixth contains the following chapters. Achilles, killed by Penthesileus, was resuscitated at the request of his mother Thetis, to return to Hades once he had killed Penthesileus" -Photius, Bibliotheca excerpts
“But Tellis records that Penthesileia killed Achilles and, after Thetis begged him, Zeus returned him to life and he killed her instead. Penthesileia’s father, Ares, took Thetis to court. Poseidon was the judge and he ruled against Ares.” -Tellis (Eustathios Comm. Ad Hom. Od) she fought Neoptolemus for days "Penthesilea, according to her custom, drew up her army and advanced as far as the camp of the Greeks. Neoptolemus, in command of the Myrmidons, led forth his forces. And Agamemnon drew up his army. Greek and Trojans clashed head-on. Neoptolemus wreaked great slaughter. Penthesilea, having entered the fray, proved her prowess again and again. For several days they fought fiercely, and many were killed. Finally Penthesilea wounded Neoptolemus, and then fell at his hands; in spite of his wound, he cut her down" -Dares Phrygius' History of the Fall of Troy
her slave/nurse became her own queen
"Clete the slave" was one of the Amazons, the nurse of Penthesilea. After Penthesilea's death, she sailed in search of her and arrived in Italy, where she founded a city and ruled over the region. From her, all the ruling Cletes were named and the city was called Clete. After many generations, the Crotonians waged war, killed the later Clete, not the city founder, and destroyed the city. "Cleite" was one of the Amazons, who came to Italy, settled there, founded a city, which she named after herself, Cleite, and ruled over the place, and those who succeeded her in the kingdom were called Cleitai. There is also a city of Amazonia in Messapia. "The daughter of Chalkomitros"… they say she was the daughter of Clete "the slave" or the slave of Penthesilea. "The wave will carry Clete the wanderer to a foreign" land, being the "slave" of the "daughter" and daughter of "Otrere", that is, of Penthesilea - which Penthesilea? The "Chalkomitros" and warlike, whose last breath, "the eye" struck, will "prepare" and construct for Thersites from Aetolia, who had a mimicking form - what will he prepare? "A deadly fate" that is, a destructive fall or a destructive death. Otrere's daughter or Penthesilea."-Tzetzes, Ad Lycophronem
