Speaker 1: M oh Hi, Hello, welcome. This is Let's talk about
Speaker 1: myths baby, and I am your host, you know, the
Speaker 1: one live. So last week I finally covered the Amazons,
Speaker 1: but I left you hanging. Today we are diving back
Speaker 1: in to one of the last surviving stories of a
Speaker 1: woman who was explicitly an Amazon panthesileah. But first, have
Speaker 1: you ordered my book yet? Yes, I'm still talking about
Speaker 1: it because guess what, it sold super well because all
Speaker 1: of you incredible people, and I'm on some best seller
Speaker 1: lists including number one. It Benrose Books, which is the
Speaker 1: local shop here and frankly, nothing has ever been cooler.
Speaker 1: So a reminder, you can still get signed books from
Speaker 1: Monro's and they do ship worldwide. It can be a
Speaker 1: little pricey, though. All copies from Monrose are signed, but
Speaker 1: if you want it personalized, there's a place on the
Speaker 1: order screen where you can request me to make it
Speaker 1: out to a specific name Monroe Books dot com, m
Speaker 1: U n r O Books dot com the links in
Speaker 1: the description. The book is also available in audio, so
Speaker 1: you can listen to more of my voice wherever you
Speaker 1: get your audio books. But enough about that today, we're
Speaker 1: going all the way back to the Trojan War. This
Speaker 1: is episode one hundred and twenty, Peerless Penthesslea and the
Speaker 1: Horror of Achilles. Oh, the Trojan War. What a mess?
Speaker 1: Am I? Right? Villages slaughtered, women abducted and enslaved, passed
Speaker 1: around a camp of soldiers, and those are the people
Speaker 1: were supposed to be rooting for. One thing I love
Speaker 1: about the Iliad and that telling of the Trojan War
Speaker 1: is that we really aren't meant to be rooting for
Speaker 1: the Greeks, even if they are the stars of the show,
Speaker 1: their monsters, and their portrayed as such. Ten years of
Speaker 1: war just because a king was slighted when his wife
Speaker 1: was abducted or possibly even left on her own if
Speaker 1: she was abducted, which I personally do think is the
Speaker 1: most likely. It's not as though this was a rare occurrence.
Speaker 1: It's the crux of so so so many Greek myths.
Speaker 1: So in all likelihood, Manelaius wasn't actually concerned with Helen's
Speaker 1: well being at all. He was concerned with his damaged
Speaker 1: reputation because he was a king who allowed his wife
Speaker 1: to be abducted by a foreign prince, a non Greek,
Speaker 1: or rather not an a Cayan, as the Homeric terminology
Speaker 1: would go the war between the Greeks and the Trojans
Speaker 1: was an absolute ship show. Can you imagine being camped
Speaker 1: out on a beach for ten years, spending that time,
Speaker 1: sure periodically actually warring with the city you've come to invade,
Speaker 1: but primarily just sailing around or traveling on foot to
Speaker 1: nearby cities and towns not within the walls of Troy,
Speaker 1: sacking them and killing or enslaving every single human in
Speaker 1: the city. Because that is essentially what Achilles and many
Speaker 1: and many of the other Greeks did with those ten years.
Speaker 1: The Eliad picks up nine years in and basically says
Speaker 1: as much. That's where Achilles got poor press. After all,
Speaker 1: she was a woman just minding her own fucking business
Speaker 1: in her nearby town not protected by walls like that
Speaker 1: of Troy proper, and so she and everyone else in
Speaker 1: her town was either killed or abducted and enslaved. Singh
Speaker 1: muse of the so called heroes of the Trojan War.
Speaker 1: This is all a prelude, a reminder of what the
Speaker 1: Trojan War was all about, what it entailed. It was pointless,
Speaker 1: horrific violence through and through, though I'll admit it makes
Speaker 1: for an incredible story, and the Iliot is an absolute
Speaker 1: masterpiece of ancient literature. But the war itself just a bloody,
Speaker 1: awful mess, and it reached its pinnacle of violence after
Speaker 1: the death of Patroclus. That's when Achilles, the strongest, the
Speaker 1: so called best of the Greeks, really found his stride
Speaker 1: when it comes to committing atrocities. Most famously, Achilles took
Speaker 1: it upon himself to kill Hector in return for Hector's
Speaker 1: killing of Patroclus, and boy did he kill Hector. The
Speaker 1: ramifications of that. The king Priam sneaking into the Greek
Speaker 1: camp and begging for his son's body back is basically
Speaker 1: how the Iliad ends, but it's not how the Trojan
Speaker 1: War ends. There were a number of epic poems that
Speaker 1: told the story up until the Iliad, and from the
Speaker 1: Iliad onward. The Theopus carried the story from immediately after
Speaker 1: the end of the Iliad. The so called Little Italy
Speaker 1: was another the Iliopursis or the Sack of Ilium, which
Speaker 1: is another word for Troy, among others. Of course, they
Speaker 1: are all lost, but they were written contemporaneously with Homer,
Speaker 1: so there were countless epics that told this whole story
Speaker 1: from start to finish. We just only have the two,
Speaker 1: but they weren't lost to other ancient sources who came
Speaker 1: hundreds and hundreds of years later, or, in the case
Speaker 1: of Quintus, over a thousand years later. Quintus Smernias, or
Speaker 1: sometimes I've just seen him called Quintus wrote the Fall
Speaker 1: of Troy based on those other epics from the time
Speaker 1: of Homer. So while those original epics from the eighth
Speaker 1: century BC ish are lost to us, we have Quintus
Speaker 1: Smernia's story to give us all a sense of what
Speaker 1: those epics might have been about. Have I mentioned lately
Speaker 1: how fucking fascinating things like this are. I don't know
Speaker 1: if anecdotes like this blow other people's minds like they
Speaker 1: do mind, but seriously, I'm just utterly obsessed with those
Speaker 1: intricacies of what we have and what we don't have. Anyway,
Speaker 1: the details of the story of Penthesalia and her encounter
Speaker 1: with Achilles come to us from the Fall of Troy,
Speaker 1: but they were also as ancient as Homer's epics themselves.
Speaker 1: After Achilles has killed Hector, after he's pulled the hero's
Speaker 1: body along the sandy earth, dragged by a chariot in
Speaker 1: a show of absolute disdain for the dead and for
Speaker 1: the Trojans as a people. Backup arrives for Troy and
Speaker 1: for King Priam in the form of Penthesia, an Amazonian
Speaker 1: princess or queen who's trying to make amends for causing
Speaker 1: the accidental death of her sister Hippolyta. She's not alone, obviously,
Speaker 1: but she is the star of the show. Penthesalia is
Speaker 1: accompanied by twelve other Amazonian women, all ready for the
Speaker 1: battle ahead of them. These twelve women were warriors in
Speaker 1: their own right and handmaids to Penthesalia because quote as
Speaker 1: when in the broad sky amidst the stars, the moon
Speaker 1: rides over all pre eminent, went through the thunderclouds, the
Speaker 1: cleaving heavens, open when sleep the fury breathing winds, So
Speaker 1: peerless was she amid that charging host. Penthesalia and the
Speaker 1: Amazons road to Troy in all of their glory, and
Speaker 1: at their arrival, the Trojans absolutely marveled at these incredible
Speaker 1: women who had come to their rescue quote to right
Speaker 1: to left, from all sides, hurrying throng to the Trojan's
Speaker 1: great marveling when they saw the tireless war god's child,
Speaker 1: the mailed maid like to the blessed gods, for in
Speaker 1: her face glowed beauty, glorious and terrible. Her smile was ravishing.
Speaker 1: Beneath her brows, her love and kindling eyes sean like
Speaker 1: two stars, and with the crimson rows of shamefastness, bright
Speaker 1: were her cheeks and mantled over them unearthly grace, with
Speaker 1: battle prowess clad. Anyway, Yeah, I'm a bit obsessed with
Speaker 1: Quintus's description of Pentheselia, and this translation is in the
Speaker 1: public domain, so we're gonna really rock it with the
Speaker 1: quotes here. Maybe this will even be a future reading series.
Speaker 1: In essence, jaws fucking dropped when penthesa La rides with
Speaker 1: her Amazons into Troy. Not only are these women ready
Speaker 1: for war, prepared for all it has to offer, but
Speaker 1: they're fucking magnificent. Panheslia is a daughter of aries, and
Speaker 1: everything about her conveys that fact. She is ready to
Speaker 1: fucking fight, ready to fight the so called best of
Speaker 1: the Greeks. It's just too bad Achilles doesn't fight fair.
Speaker 1: At her arrival, along with the other Amazons, the Trojans
Speaker 1: find their confidence renewed. They've been so beaten down for
Speaker 1: so long, hit hard by not just this ten year
Speaker 1: war and all the destruction caused by it, but so
Speaker 1: recently they've lost their prince, the best of them, the
Speaker 1: most valiant and brave, their savior, Hector. He's gone and
Speaker 1: was brought low by Achilles. Achilles has shown his true colors,
Speaker 1: and the death of Patroclus, he's shown that while he
Speaker 1: might be best in battle, unbeatable, it seems he doesn't
Speaker 1: have much honor. So thank fucking God for these Amazons,
Speaker 1: because the Trojans really did feel like it might be
Speaker 1: over for them with the death of Hector, that their
Speaker 1: time had come, But with the arrival Penthesslia, their time
Speaker 1: was held back just a little longer. Penthesalia was confident,
Speaker 1: too confident. According to Andromicky, Hector's so recently widowed wife,
Speaker 1: Penthesalia arrived in Troy, certain that she alone could bring
Speaker 1: them victory, that she could defeat Achilles with ease and
Speaker 1: bring the battle all the way to the Greek ships
Speaker 1: androma Key. Though had so recently seen what Achilles could do,
Speaker 1: she had seen what he did to her husband, how
Speaker 1: he treated the man she loved and she knew that
Speaker 1: penthesa Lea was in real trouble. Penthesalia and the Amazons
Speaker 1: spent the night in Troy before going to battle. In
Speaker 1: the morning that night, panthes Leah had a dream. Now
Speaker 1: the details of the dream I'm finding a bit conflicting.
Speaker 1: According to the translation of Fall of Troy that I'm reading,
Speaker 1: the dream is sent by Athena to give penthesa Lea
Speaker 1: confidence in her battle against the Greeks, but also to
Speaker 1: spell her doom, whereas Adrian Mayor's Incredible amaz Zan's book
Speaker 1: says she had a dream sent by her father. Aries. Regardless, though,
Speaker 1: the woman has a dream sent by a god about
Speaker 1: her impending battle against the Greeks and Achilles specifically, And
Speaker 1: the next day she prepares, and yet another show of
Speaker 1: just how impressive this warrior woman is, Quintus gives us
Speaker 1: a full telling of her armor and her weapons, something
Speaker 1: usually reserved for heroes alone. And yes, it's amazing, and
Speaker 1: I'm going to quote it. Then did she array her
Speaker 1: shoulders in those wondrous fashioned arms given her of the
Speaker 1: war God. First she laid beneath her silver gleaming knees,
Speaker 1: the grieves fashioned of gold, close, clipping the strong limbs,
Speaker 1: her rainbow radiant corselet clasped. She then about her and
Speaker 1: around her shoulders, slung with glory in her heart, the
Speaker 1: massy brand, whose shining length was in a scabbard sheathed
Speaker 1: of ivory and silver. Next her shield, unearthly splendid caught
Speaker 1: she up, whose rim swelled like the young moon's arching
Speaker 1: chariot rail. When high o'er ocean's fathomless flowing stream, she
Speaker 1: rises with the space half filled with light betwixt her
Speaker 1: bowing horns, so did it shine unutterably fair. Then on
Speaker 1: her head she settled, the bright helmet overstreamed with a
Speaker 1: wild mane of gold and glistening hairs. So stood she
Speaker 1: lapped about with flaming male in semblance, like the lightning
Speaker 1: which the might, the never wearied might of Zeus to
Speaker 1: Earth hurleth, what time he showeth forth to men fury
Speaker 1: of thunderous roaring rain, Or swoop resistless of his shouting
Speaker 1: host of winds. I promise that's the longest one. Next
Speaker 1: her weapons, not only was she equipped with javelins, but
Speaker 1: also a very special weapon, a double edged axe quote
Speaker 1: which Terrible Heiress gave to aries his child to be
Speaker 1: her tightened weapon in the strife that ravenous souls of men.
Speaker 1: Hell fucking yes, Penthesaalia, along with her Amazonian women and
Speaker 1: the men of Troy, rode confidently into battle against the Greeks.
Speaker 1: She was ready, confident, prepared to take down the best
Speaker 1: of the Achaeans, Achilles himself. She rode into battle on
Speaker 1: her precious horse Thration where the best war horses came
Speaker 1: from a horse quote whose flying feet could match the
Speaker 1: harpies wings. On this incredible horse, Panhesa Leah rode into
Speaker 1: battle against the Greeks. Meanwhile, Prium watched from the walls
Speaker 1: of Troy. He called up to Zeus, praying to the
Speaker 1: King of the Gods that Plea prevail against the Greeks.
Speaker 1: She is your own kin, he reminded Zeus. And Zeus
Speaker 1: does give pri Um a sign once his prayers are finished,
Speaker 1: But it isn't a good one. Pre m c is
Speaker 1: an eagle fly overhead holding a dove in its talents,
Speaker 1: a sign that Panthea La will fall there on the
Speaker 1: plains before Troy. Still, it isn't over yet. Panha and
Speaker 1: the others ride towards the Greeks, surprising them. They weren't
Speaker 1: expecting the Trojans to come at them in this way,
Speaker 1: but even more so, they weren't expecting these warrior women
Speaker 1: who rode their horses like they were another limb. The
Speaker 1: Greeks scrambled to get themselves together to be ready for
Speaker 1: this onslaught by these thirteen absolute fucking badasses. They weren't
Speaker 1: so unprepared that they couldn't get their shipped together, and
Speaker 1: before long the Amazonian women and the Trojans with them
Speaker 1: clashed with the Greeks. There between Troy and the Greek camps.
Speaker 1: Weapons clanged, blood was spilled, Cries rang out as people
Speaker 1: on both sides of the battle were taken out. Penthesso
Speaker 1: Leia began the battle with a bang, taking out eight
Speaker 1: of the Greek warriors that she encountered clony, one of
Speaker 1: her Amazonians killed another, but she fell shortly after. Three
Speaker 1: other Amazons fight while taking out Greeks before they selves fall.
Speaker 1: As the battle continues, more Amazons fall to the Greeks,
Speaker 1: though not before they can do their own damage. Amazon's
Speaker 1: fall to the Greeks all around her, but Penthessa Lea
Speaker 1: continues on. She is a fucking powerhouse. In her battle
Speaker 1: with the Greeks, she takes out countless of them with
Speaker 1: some help from the Trojans. She's described as a lioness
Speaker 1: as she pounces upon the Greeks that she encounters. Finally,
Speaker 1: though she's done enough damage and has yet to encounter
Speaker 1: who she knows to be the best the Greeks have,
Speaker 1: she's eager to prove herself against their best heroes. She's
Speaker 1: thirsty for their blood. Penessilia's motivations aren't delved into too deeply,
Speaker 1: but that she accidentally killed her sister and is seeking
Speaker 1: to purify herself can be seen as her major motivation.
Speaker 1: She is full of trauma and fury, and she's looking
Speaker 1: for a place to let out those feelings in a
Speaker 1: way that she feels as productive. Killing the fucking Greeks.
Speaker 1: Where is Ajax, she calls out, and Achilles where is he?
Speaker 1: She taunts the Greeks, calling for their best heroes to
Speaker 1: join her so that she can kill them, just as
Speaker 1: she's done with the rest of the Greeks. She's encountered.
Speaker 1: These calls for the famous heroes to come and fight her,
Speaker 1: only phil Penthesalia with more resolve. She continues taking out
Speaker 1: any and all of the Greeks she comes across, spilling
Speaker 1: so very very much blood. In this epic, Penthesalia is
Speaker 1: described as any other Greek hero would be, just as
Speaker 1: Hector or Achilles is described in the Iliad. Penthesalia is
Speaker 1: described here in the Fall of Troy. It isn't a
Speaker 1: big deal that she's a woman. She just is one,
Speaker 1: And at the same time, she is the best hero
Speaker 1: the Trojans have fighting for them, now that Hector is
Speaker 1: no longer. She is a hero, a warrior, the most
Speaker 1: feared of all the Trojan allies. All the while, Achilles
Speaker 1: and Ajax lie by Patroclus's grave, mourning him and staying
Speaker 1: out of the battle between the Greeks and the Trojans,
Speaker 1: held back by some godly intervention. But there is a
Speaker 1: group of people watching Penthalia closely, watching as she absolutely
Speaker 1: decimates the Greeks as she reigns havoc on them, just
Speaker 1: as Hector once had. The women of Troy watched from
Speaker 1: the walls, marveling at Penthesala, one of them to Symphony
Speaker 1: in the translation I'm reading Hippodamia, and Adrian Mayer calls
Speaker 1: to the other Trojan women. She says, in essence look,
Speaker 1: we women are just as prepared as the men to
Speaker 1: fight for our city. We've seen so much death, so
Speaker 1: many of our brothers, sons, husbands killed in this war.
Speaker 1: We are just as trojan as any of them. She
Speaker 1: urges the Trojan women to join her and taking up
Speaker 1: arms against the Greeks into vents of their city. She's
Speaker 1: convincing to making a perfect argument for why these women
Speaker 1: should go on into battle. As a result, as the
Speaker 1: women listen to this speech, quote the weaving wool that
Speaker 1: dis staff far they flung, and to grim weapons stretched
Speaker 1: their eager hands. But she's cut short by an older woman, Theano,
Speaker 1: who agrees with much of Hippodamia's speech to the women
Speaker 1: of Troy. But Theano is there with a bit more information.
Speaker 1: She agrees that the women of Troy are just as
Speaker 1: capable as the men, but that unlike these warrior women
Speaker 1: of the Amazons, they lack the training and the learned skills.
Speaker 1: It's a fascinating conversation between these two, basically, the premise being, yes,
Speaker 1: women are equal to men and are fully capable of
Speaker 1: being this level of badass. It's just that they're not
Speaker 1: trained to be that way, at least outside of Amazonian
Speaker 1: culture that they're now witnessing. So she says, these Trojan
Speaker 1: women shouldn't grab weapons and race out onto the battlefield,
Speaker 1: because it will surely be defeated, But not because they
Speaker 1: couldn't do it, just that they weren't ready. Adrian Mayor
Speaker 1: notes quote the long speeches of Hippodamia and Theano express
Speaker 1: the ancient belief that with the right training and practice,
Speaker 1: women do possess the spirit and physical capacity to become warriors.
Speaker 1: Back on the battlefield, Penthesia continues. Her onslaught against the Greeks.
Speaker 1: The earth is stained with their blood, so so much
Speaker 1: of their blood. It's a real mess. She's fucking deadly,
Speaker 1: She continues, along with her remaining Amazons and whatever Trojans
Speaker 1: are with them, killing Greek after Greek, pushing them farther
Speaker 1: and farther back, closer and closer to their ships. Finally,
Speaker 1: they're pushed so far back that they're close enough to
Speaker 1: the Greek camp that the din of the battle reaches
Speaker 1: Ajax and Achilles, where they mourn Patroclus. Ajax hears it first,
Speaker 1: and he points it out to Achilles. We wouldn't look
Speaker 1: very good if we allowed the Trojans to reach our
Speaker 1: camp just had fired to our ships. Ajax points out
Speaker 1: he's definitely worried, mostly for his own heroism, bringing up Heracles,
Speaker 1: who had sacked Troy long before, and how they wouldn't
Speaker 1: look good by comparison if they didn't join the rest
Speaker 1: of the Greeks in the battlefield. Now, so they do,
Speaker 1: whether for heroic or egotistical reasons they do. They finally
Speaker 1: joined the Greeks against Penthesalia, exactly what she wanted. But
Speaker 1: this is Achilles, the best of the Greeks, he without mercy.
Speaker 1: It isn't long before Achilles has taken out Penthesalia's four
Speaker 1: remaining Amazonian women. Unsurprisingly, this makes Penthesaalia pretty angry. It
Speaker 1: only spurs on her desire to fight Achilles hand to hand,
Speaker 1: to take him out herself, and in the most bloody
Speaker 1: and violent way she can imagine. She sees Achilles from
Speaker 1: afar after he's killed her friends and sisters, and flies
Speaker 1: toward him with incredible speed. She is ready. She is
Speaker 1: full of adrenaline and fury and hatred for this man
Speaker 1: who not only killed the last of her Amazonian allies,
Speaker 1: but who also represents all the hurt and trauma that
Speaker 1: she has within herself. She flies at Achilles and throws
Speaker 1: her spear at him. She hits him straight on, But
Speaker 1: if you remember from the Iliad, Achilles has very special
Speaker 1: armor a very special shield. More recently, this is mirrored
Speaker 1: in the armor and shield of Aneus in the Indead.
Speaker 1: Both their armor was forged by Hephaistus, the god of
Speaker 1: Fire and the Forge, and basically the guy to go
Speaker 1: to if you want completely impenetrable armor, which is what
Speaker 1: this is. So, while panhesa Lea's spear hits Achilles straight on,
Speaker 1: instead of piercing his armor or his shield, it shatters
Speaker 1: on it, breaking apart uselessly. Furious, penthesa La throws her
Speaker 1: other spear at Ajax instead, but it too glances off
Speaker 1: his armor without doing any damage. Quintus reminds us that
Speaker 1: Ajax isn't meant to be pierced by any enemy weapon
Speaker 1: in this war enemy weapon. Still, this is enough for
Speaker 1: Ajax to decide to leave Panhesa La to Achilles alone.
Speaker 1: He turns to go up against the Trojans in place
Speaker 1: of the Amazonian Queen. Achilles can handle her, he thinks,
Speaker 1: as he leaves, With Ajax gone Achilles and Penthesa Lea
Speaker 1: face off, and here from Achilles we get the first
Speaker 1: real insult based in Penthesa La being a woman. He
Speaker 1: mocks her for thinking a woman could defeat him or
Speaker 1: even Ajax. It's noted, and he uses the word woman,
Speaker 1: but it isn't two pointed. He still respects her abilities,
Speaker 1: just not her abilities against him. I wish he was wrong.
Speaker 1: The moment he's finished his little speech, Achilles throws his
Speaker 1: spear made by Chiron himself, at Penthesleia, and it pierces
Speaker 1: under her shoulder, causing her arm to lose feeling and
Speaker 1: drop her precious battle axe. Blood pours from her wound,
Speaker 1: but she remains for now on her horse. As her
Speaker 1: mind begins to cloud over, Pentheselia considers her options. Should
Speaker 1: she try to regain her strength to withdraw another weapon
Speaker 1: and fight Achilles hand to hand, or should she get
Speaker 1: off her horse and plead for her own life. She
Speaker 1: doesn't have much time to consider, though, because Achilles comes
Speaker 1: right back at her, throwing another spear at the Amazonian badass.
Speaker 1: This time it's a powerful enough throw that it pierces
Speaker 1: through not only Penthesa Lea, but first runs all the
Speaker 1: way through her precious horse. The pair fall together to
Speaker 1: the dusty earth on the planes of Troy as Penthesileia
Speaker 1: gasps out some of her final breaths. Seeing penthesa Lea fallen,
Speaker 1: the Trojans feel a ripple of fear passed through their ranks.
Speaker 1: Yet again, their most important, impressive and strong warrior has
Speaker 1: fallen to this monster of a human Achilles. They mourn her,
Speaker 1: and many of them flee back towards the city of Troy. Achilles,
Speaker 1: though laughs over her body. It wasn't the Gaul who
Speaker 1: gave you this idea to come up against me, he says,
Speaker 1: adding quote, it was the darkness shrouded fates and thine
Speaker 1: own folly of soul that pricked thee on to leave
Speaker 1: the works of women and too fair to war, from
Speaker 1: which strong men shrink shuddering back again. The gender related
Speaker 1: bullshit that we get here is from Achilles, sucking asshole.
Speaker 1: And then well, then Achilles removes Panthesalya's helmet, and the
Speaker 1: other Greeks crowd around her body, and now well now
Speaker 1: they marvel over. Yes, a woman, they're dead on the ground,
Speaker 1: and isn't she gorgeous? Achilles feels a little bad about
Speaker 1: the whole thing now, but not really. He just kind
Speaker 1: of regrets killing her instead of, you know, abducting her
Speaker 1: and bringing her back to Greece so he could marry her,
Speaker 1: because she sure is pretty, yes, now that she doesn't
Speaker 1: have her helmet. The Greeks crowd over Penthesileia's body, this
Speaker 1: warrior woman who's just killed so so many of them,
Speaker 1: and they talk about how hot she was, and isn't
Speaker 1: it a shame that this smoke show is dead? It's revolting. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: Aries has watched all of this happen. He's watched Achilles
Speaker 1: kill his daughter in the most horrifying manner and then
Speaker 1: proceed to disrespect her even in death, Aries, the god
Speaker 1: of war and Mayhem, is not happy. In fact, he's
Speaker 1: prepared to rain down his horror and his anger over
Speaker 1: the Greeks when he's stopped by Zeus, who sends an
Speaker 1: angry about of thunder, reminding Aries whose boss and to
Speaker 1: not get involved. Unfortunately, Aries must listen and he remains
Speaker 1: out of the fray. As Achilles continues to look upon
Speaker 1: the body of Penthesileia, we're told quote over Pelias's son,
Speaker 1: gazed fild withal regret, still gazed on her. The strong,
Speaker 1: the beautiful laid in the dust, and all his heart
Speaker 1: was wrung, was broken down with sorrowing love, deep, strong,
Speaker 1: as he had known when that beloved friend Patrick Less
Speaker 1: had died. Achilles is actually proposing that he loves Pensaly
Speaker 1: and now, after seeing her helmet removed, as much as
Speaker 1: he loved patrick Less when he died. He's experiencing battle
Speaker 1: lust in the form of literal lust and seems to
Speaker 1: believe that that means he loved her anyway. I know
Speaker 1: everyone loves Achilles because of Patricklus and Achilles and Song
Speaker 1: of Achilles, but just a reminder that, unfortunately that story
Speaker 1: is not entirely factual, and Achilles is actually an enormous
Speaker 1: piece of ship that absolutely didn't deserve Patrick Less as
Speaker 1: a friend or lover. And also in the ancient sources,
Speaker 1: Patrick Clos isn't a saint either. I'm just still partial
Speaker 1: to him because of Song of Achilles too. One of
Speaker 1: the Greeks watching this thirst at ease begins to jeer
Speaker 1: Achilles for what he sees as weakness the way the
Speaker 1: man mourns the death of the Amazon. But I mean,
Speaker 1: who thinks it's a good idea to jeer at Achilles,
Speaker 1: because anyway, he kills Thirsities right there, and everyone's pretty
Speaker 1: okay with it, if I recall, Thirsities has been obnoxious before.
Speaker 1: Adrian Mayor notes that this act by Achilles falling in
Speaker 1: love in a way with Penthesileia after he's killed her
Speaker 1: was a common archetype in these types of epic works
Speaker 1: of poetry and mythology, that it was depicted often in
Speaker 1: pottery and paintings, Achilles tenderly holding up her body and death,
Speaker 1: or even the moment their eyes meet after he's already
Speaker 1: thrown that final spear. Now what we find it disturbing,
Speaker 1: But then it was a show of her heroism as
Speaker 1: much as it was also about his. She had died
Speaker 1: a heroic death, and Achilles was honoring that in his
Speaker 1: own creepy way. In Quintus's telling of this story from Here,
Speaker 1: the Greeks give up Penthesalia's body and even her armor
Speaker 1: to the Trojans, who hold a funeral for her that
Speaker 1: was fitting for her accomplishments her importance, her heroism. They
Speaker 1: build her an epic funeral pyre and burn her body
Speaker 1: alongside her horse. Then they bury her ashes amongst Trojan
Speaker 1: kings along with her armor. But there are other versions.
Speaker 1: They involve necrophilia or the accusation of it, but frankly,
Speaker 1: they don't seem particularly well rooted in ancient sources save
Speaker 1: for a passing reference, so we're not going there. Penthesaalia
Speaker 1: doesn't deserve that. Penthesalia's name means mourned by men. Adrian
Speaker 1: Mayer adds quote, perhaps it is no coincidence that achilles
Speaker 1: name also carries an ambiguous connotation of pain, grief, suffering,
Speaker 1: and like Pentheslia, Achilles also experiences personal grief and causes
Speaker 1: great mourning. Oh Nerds, thank you all so much for listening.
Speaker 1: I'm thrilled to have finally told the story of all
Speaker 1: the Amazons and mythology, especially this one. I actually didn't
Speaker 1: expect it to be what it became as I was
Speaker 1: reading Fall of Troy, so I hope you really enjoyed it,
Speaker 1: because this was really fun. Of course, they tuned as eventually.
Speaker 1: I do want to talk about the Amazon's historically, because
Speaker 1: I think it's so important that these mythological ideals of
Speaker 1: women were actually based in historical cultures of the region.
Speaker 1: But again, Holy research. Speaking of a huge thank you
Speaker 1: to Jade, a listener who has helped put together some
Speaker 1: of today's research for me. She has been in immense
Speaker 1: help and has prepared other bits of research for future episodes.
Speaker 1: Enormous thank you, Jade. Today's episode is almost entirely from
Speaker 1: wintess Is Fall of Troy and Adrian Mayor's book Amazon's
Speaker 1: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World.
Speaker 1: Unless I reference Mayor specifically, all quotes are direct from
Speaker 1: Fall of Troy. And another big thank you to everyone
Speaker 1: has bought my book. I honestly can't believe so many
Speaker 1: of you have, and it is definitely the coolest thing
Speaker 1: to ever happen to me. It also hopefully means I
Speaker 1: will get the opportunity to publish more books, some more
Speaker 1: detailed mythology book more in the voice of this podcast,
Speaker 1: and my novel maybe eventually, whenever I find the time
Speaker 1: to actually finish it. What's time anyway? Truly rambling now,
Speaker 1: thank you all so much for being around, for listening,
Speaker 1: you know, for all of it. I am live and
Speaker 1: I truly love this ship. It's so damn much