Amazons

Penthesilea was the first queen of the Amazons.She led an army of Amazons to fight for Troy against the Greeks,but was killed by Achilles,who later mourned her. Some say the Amazons mated with men of another people,kept the resulting female children,and sent the male children away to their fathers.In another tale,Theseus attacked the Amazons either with Heracles or independently.The Amazons in turn invaded Attica but were finally defeated,and at some point Theseus married one of them,Antiope.In Hellenistic times the Amazons were associated with Dionysus(the god of wine),either his allies or,more commonly,as his opponents.

The Amazons were similar in model to the goddess Athena,and their arms had bows,spears,light double ax's,a half shield,and,in early art,a helmet.In later art they wore a thin dress,girded high for speed; later their dress is often Persian.They also admire and worship Ares(god of war) because he was the husband of their first queen,Penthesilea.