Destroy Your Enemy Becoming Your Friend

The legend of the battle of Troy between the hero Achilles and the Amazon queen Penthesilea is one of the most famous stories in Greek mythology. However, we may wonder why the Amazons decided to travel to Troy and become allies of King Priam to fight the Achaeans. This fact is important, especiall...

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Main Author: Arturo Sánchez Sanz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) 2024-12-01
Series:Clotho
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uni-lj.si/clotho/article/view/19322
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author Arturo Sánchez Sanz
author_facet Arturo Sánchez Sanz
author_sort Arturo Sánchez Sanz
collection DOAJ
description The legend of the battle of Troy between the hero Achilles and the Amazon queen Penthesilea is one of the most famous stories in Greek mythology. However, we may wonder why the Amazons decided to travel to Troy and become allies of King Priam to fight the Achaeans. This fact is important, especially since this episode does not appear in Homer’s work, but the author does mention the Amazons on three occasions. In one of them, King Priam himself is the protagonist, in his youth. Many years before the Achaeans besieged his city, the young Priam traveled to Phrygia, where he decided to accompany the rulers Otreus and Mygdon on their campaign towards the river Sangarius. There, they were surprised by a group of Amazons who did not hesitate to attack them – for no apparent reason. This paper analyzes both episodes’ written and archaeological sources to explain why the Amazons decided to change their minds and become Priam’s allies after having fought against the Trojan ruler years before. It analyzes the motives of Queen Penthesilea to confront the Achaeans, which would result in her death at the hands of the hero Achilles, who was in love with her.
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publisher University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)
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spelling doaj-art-78584a8f2b5a4140a67a7793d06a55022025-08-20T01:47:28ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Clotho2670-62102670-62292024-12-016210.4312/clotho.6.2.5-26Destroy Your Enemy Becoming Your FriendArturo Sánchez Sanz0Complutense University of Madrid, Spain The legend of the battle of Troy between the hero Achilles and the Amazon queen Penthesilea is one of the most famous stories in Greek mythology. However, we may wonder why the Amazons decided to travel to Troy and become allies of King Priam to fight the Achaeans. This fact is important, especially since this episode does not appear in Homer’s work, but the author does mention the Amazons on three occasions. In one of them, King Priam himself is the protagonist, in his youth. Many years before the Achaeans besieged his city, the young Priam traveled to Phrygia, where he decided to accompany the rulers Otreus and Mygdon on their campaign towards the river Sangarius. There, they were surprised by a group of Amazons who did not hesitate to attack them – for no apparent reason. This paper analyzes both episodes’ written and archaeological sources to explain why the Amazons decided to change their minds and become Priam’s allies after having fought against the Trojan ruler years before. It analyzes the motives of Queen Penthesilea to confront the Achaeans, which would result in her death at the hands of the hero Achilles, who was in love with her. https://journals.uni-lj.si/clotho/article/view/19322PriamPenthesileaAmazonsAchillesTroy
spellingShingle Arturo Sánchez Sanz
Destroy Your Enemy Becoming Your Friend
Clotho
Priam
Penthesilea
Amazons
Achilles
Troy
title Destroy Your Enemy Becoming Your Friend
title_full Destroy Your Enemy Becoming Your Friend
title_fullStr Destroy Your Enemy Becoming Your Friend
title_full_unstemmed Destroy Your Enemy Becoming Your Friend
title_short Destroy Your Enemy Becoming Your Friend
title_sort destroy your enemy becoming your friend
topic Priam
Penthesilea
Amazons
Achilles
Troy
url https://journals.uni-lj.si/clotho/article/view/19322
work_keys_str_mv AT arturosanchezsanz destroyyourenemybecomingyourfriend