Penthesilea’s Family Tree

About Penthesilea →

Family

• Ares(parent),Otrera(parent),Hippolyta(sibling)— Consort

  Ares and Otrera produced the Amazon queens Penthesilea and Hippolyta, both inheriting their father's martial prowess and their mother's Amazon heritage.

Allied with

• Priam

  Penthesilea came to Troy as an ally of King Priam after Hector's death. Priam purified her of blood-guilt for Hippolyta's death, and she fought for Troy until Achilles slew her.

Enemy of

• Thersites

  Thersites desecrated Penthesilea's corpse and mocked Achilles for mourning her. Achilles killed Thersites in rage, sparking a quarrel among the Greeks.

Slain by

• Achilles

  Achilles slew Penthesilea in single combat during the Trojan War. As he stripped her helmet, he saw her face and fell in love with the dying Amazon queen.

Slew

• Hippolyta

  Penthesilea accidentally killed her sister Hippolyta with a spear during a hunt, an act of fratricide that drove her to seek purification at Troy.

Member of

• Amazons

  The Amazons, the warrior women descended from Ares, were led by their founding queen Otrera, her daughter Hippolyta who wielded the war girdle, and Penthesilea who brought them to fight at Troy.

Associated with

• Memnon

  Memnon and Penthesilea were the two great allies who came to Troy's aid after Hector's death, as told in the Aethiopis. Both were slain by Achilles in single combat.

• Trojan War

  Penthesilea led the Amazons into the Trojan War after Hector's death, serving as one of Troy's last great champions. Her duel with Achilles is told in the lost Aethiopis.