#molpadia

Amazons #4 "The Attic War"

Seething with fury at the abduction of their sister in arms, the Amazons, led by the Co-queen, and sister to Antiope, Orithyia, sails to Attica and invades. They are fiercely intent on rescuing Antiope, and avenging Hippolyta’s murder and recovering the war belt from Herakles. After conquering the surrounding area of Attica, the Amazons march on the capitol; Athens.

But Antiope is now queen of Athens, and now mother to a Greek son, Hippolytus. Thus she fights on the side of the Greeks, and in the frenzy of battle, is accidently struck down by a Lance from an Amazon sister, Molpadia. Theseus, raging at the death of his wife, kills Molpadia in revenge. The Attic war rages on for 4 months, and after many Amazonian and Greek deaths, finally draws to a close when a peace treaty is brokered between Orithyia and Theseus, and the Amazons return to their homeland.

In Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives” he mentions the multiple versions of events in the Attic war. One version has, as mentioned, Antiope fighting to defend the Greeks, and is killed by the misplaced javelin throw of Molpadia. Another fascinating version has Theseus abandon Antiope to marry Phaedra, and Antiope and the Amazons attacking on the day of the wedding, where Antiope is killed by Theseus. Talk about drama! Plutarch also mentions historical authors which list specific locations of where the Amazon troops fought amongst Athens, as well as Amazonian burial sites.

Orithyia, sister to Antiope, is the daughter of Amazon Queen Marpesia, who is said to be one of the founders of Ephesus. It is said after the death of her sister Antiope, Orithyia built a tomb for her, and later dies of her own wounds. Orithyia is succeeded by the Amazon Queen Penthesilea, who we will discuss next.

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Hecuba: One of my favorite post troajn war tidbits is that after Troy was sacked, Apollo carried away Hecuba to his sacred land Lycia to keep her safe. If you didn't know, they had previously been lovers, so this really shows that Apollo cared a lot for her even after they weren't lovers anymore.

Prometheus: Prometheus was cruelly punished for a long time, but when Apollo, Artemis and Leto saw him, they straight away went to Zeus, and Apollo implored him to free the titan, while Artemis and Leto stood there crying, unable to speak anything. Since Zeus had high regards for Apollo's words, and because he was moved by the tears of the goddesses, he decided to do as his son requested and sent Hercules to free Prometheus.

Periphas: Periphas was a great king who loved his subjects and respected all the gods. He was a priest of Apollo as well. Eventually he became so popular that people started worshipping him in Zeus's place. Zeus was having none of this and decided to destroy the king and his entire kingdom. But since he was such a devoted and noble man, Apollo stopped Zeus and requested his father to spare the king. Zeus heeded Apollo's request and spared the king from death. But he turned Periphas into an Eagle and made the Eagle his own companion.

Molpadia and Parthenos: they were the sisters of one of his lovers named Rhoeo. Their father was Staphylos, a son of Dionysus. One day, Staphylos assigned to his daughters the work of watching over a wine casket that was an ancestral gift. The girls, however, fell asleep while watching it, during which swines came and destroyed it. Afraid of the cruel punishment their father would give to them, they jumped off a mountain to kill themselves instead of facing their father. But Apollo caught them in time and carried them away to a far away place. He then made them immortal and bade the people to worship these two as goddesses.

Aphrodite: when Adonis died, Aphrodite was heartbroken. She knew of a rock, called rock of Leukates, which had the powers to heal heartbreak, so she went in search of that rock. She finally found it in Apollo's temple. There, she goes to Apollo and pours out all her grief. Apollo consoles her, and tells her how to use the rock of Leukates. He tells her to take leap from the rock, and when Aphrodite does that, her heartbreak is cured.