Penthesilea
Penthesilea | |
---|---|
Member of the Amazons | |
Personal information | |
Parents | Ares and Otrera |
Siblings | Hippolyta, Antiope, Melanippe |
Penthesilea (
In the Epic Cycle
In the five book epic
In the Aethiopis Penthesilea is a
According to Homer, the Trojan king
Other traditions
Different traditions of the Penthesilea legend appear to have existed at the time the Epic Cycle was published. One myth states that it was Neoptolemus who killed Penthesilea, instead of Achilles. In a lost poem of Stesichorus, believed to have been published in the 7th or 6th century, Penthesilea rather than Achilles had killed Hector.[6]
Portrayal in antiquity
Literature
Pseudo-Apollodorus
In the Pseudo-Apollodorus Epitome of the Bibliotheke[7] she is said to have been killed by Achilles, "who fell in love with the Amazon after her death and slew Thersites for jeering at him".
Lycophron
In the 3rd century BC,
Virgil
In
Virgil based his narrative in Homer's Iliad, while relying on the Epic Cycle for his portrayal of Penthesilea.[13] Virgil also reworked oral legends into an epic on the foundation of Rome. In Aeneid the Romans descended from the hero Aeneas and Trojan refugees who sailed to Italy after the Trojan War. This interweaving of the Penthesilea legend with the founding legend of Rome can be traced to Lycophron.[14]
Diodorus
In his universal history Bibliotheca historica, Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BC celebrated Penthesilea as the last Amazon to win renown for valour in war. Diodorus wrote that after the Trojan War the Amazons diminished and tales of their former glory began to be considered mere legends.[15]
Smyrnaeus
In the 4th century AD, the imperial Greek poet
Art
Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae
At the
Temple of Zeus at Olympia
According to Pausanias, the throne of Zeus at Olympia bore a painting by Panaenus of the dying Penthesilea being supported by Achilles. Pausanias wrote "And, at the extremity of the painting, is Penthesilea breathing her last, and Achilles supporting her".[22] The motif of Achilles supporting a dying or dead Penthesilea has been preserved at the Temple of Aphrodisias and was reinterpreted in sculptures and mosaics in ancient Rome.[23]
Vase figure
A black-figure vase from about 510–500 BC shows Achilles carrying Penthesilea from the battlefield.[23]
The subject of Penthesilea was treated so regularly by the so-called Penthesilea Painter, who was active between 470 and 450 BC, that Adolf Furtwängler dubbed him "The Penthesilea Painter". A considerable corpus for this innovative and prolific painter, whose work bridged the Severe style and Classicism and must have had a workshop of his own, was rapidly assembled[24] in part by J.D. Beazley.
Later portrayals
In the Middle Ages
In
In late medieval Europe the legend was further popularised in Christine de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies (1405) and John Lydgate's Troy Book (1420). Penthesilea and Hector became romantic heroes. Penthesilea came to Troy because she had fallen in love with the virtuous knight Hector from afar.[25] Hector and Penthesilea were portrayed as personifications of the ideals of chivalry. When kneeling before Hector's corpse, Penthesilea promises to avenge his death. Penthesilea fights at the side of the Trojan army, killing many Greek soldiers, but is slain by Achilles' son. In this tradition of the legend, her body is taken to the Thermodon for burial. Along the Terme River, various temple burial sites attest to the heroic status Penthesilea had as Amazon queen in the Middle Ages.[26]
In John Gower's Confessio Amanatis she travels to Troy from Pafagoine. She is slain by Pirrus the son of Achilles. Philemenis returned her body for burial. He was rewarded with three fair maidens per year.[25]: iv:2177
Biographical lists of strong women were published, some included Penthesilea. The 1405 Chronicle (known as Haagse handschrift) by the herald Baviere included Penthesilea and the two Amazons Semiramis and Tomyris among the strong women. A Netherlandish list of 101 strong women published between 1465 and 1480 included Penthesilea. This list of 101 women circulated at the court of Mary of Burgundy and was read by members of the Brussels administration. Philippe Bouton in 1480 published a Miroir des dames, which included Penthesilea.[27]
Boccaccio
Between 1361 and 1362 the Italian Giovanni Boccaccio wrote the first collection of biographies in Western literature that was devoted to famous women. The De Mulieribus Claris was published in Latin and dedicated to Andrea Acciaioli, the Countess of Altavilla.[28] According to Boccaccio, Penthesilea succeeded the Amazon queens Antiope and Orithyia. She was in strength and skill superior to previous queens. According to Boccaccio, Penthesilea entered the Trojan War against the Greeks to impress Hector. But Penthesilea and her Amazon troops were slain at the end of a hard-fought battle with the Greeks.[29] After recounting Penthesilea's accomplishments in De Mulieribus Claris Boccaccio wrote that "if we remember that practical experience can change natural dispositions" the legends of the Amazons become plausible. He wrote that "through practice, Penthesilea and women like her became much more manly in arms than those born male" who had been weakened through idleness and love of pleasure. The notion that upbringing and training were central to gender differences was discussed by Agostino Strozzi and Mario Equicola in 16th century Italy.[30]
Heinrich von Kleist
The treatment of Penthesilea that has received most critical attention since the early twentieth century is the drama
Hugo Wolf
Austrian composer Hugo Wolf (1860-1903) wrote a symphonic poem on the legend entitled Penthesilea (1883–85).[33]
Edward Bellamy
In Edward Bellamy's 1888 book Looking Backward, the main character (Julian West) is transported in time from 1887 (discovery date of the asteroid Penthesilea) to 2000. There, in the year 2000, the main character reads a book by one of the 20th century's most famous writers by the fictional name of Berrian. The title of this book is "Penthesilia" [sic] and it is a romance that supposedly exposes the true power and fullest extent of love.
Robert Graves
In Robert Graves' short poem "Penthesileia", Achilles becomes infatuated with Penthesilia immediately after killing her, and then slays Thersites for his mockery of Achilles' behavior.[34][35] The last verse is open to interpretation, some have interpreted it that Penthelisea's ghost thanks Thersites for standing up for her honour, but it has been suggested that she thanks Achilles for killing Thersites.[36]
Notes
- ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
- ISBN 9780739122426.
- ISBN 9781443815215.
- ISBN 9780743264426.
- ISBN 9780743264426.
- ^ ISBN 9781400865130.
- ^ Pseudo-Apollodorus Epitome of the Bibliotheke 5.1 (Sir James George Frazer's translation).
- ISBN 9781400865130.
- ISBN 1135457409.
- ISBN 9780521556217.
- ISBN 9780739122426.
- ISBN 9780521556217.
- ISBN 9780739122426.
- ISBN 9781400865130.
- ISBN 9781400865130.
- ISBN 9780739122426.
- ISBN 9781400865130.
- ^ Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy, Book 1
- ISBN 9781557784209.
- ISBN 9780876619476.
- ISBN 9780876619476.
- ISBN 9780876619476.
- ^ ISBN 9781400865130.
- ^ Mary Hamilton Swindler, "The Penthesilea Master" American Journal of Archaeology 19.4 (October 1915), pp. 398–417. In the series Bilder Griechischen Vasen volume 10, edited by Hans Diepolder (1936) is devoted to the Penthesilea-Maler.
- ^ a b John Gower (1390). Confession Amantis.: iv:2141
- ISBN 9781400865130.
- ISBN 9789400705296.
- ISBN 9780674011304.
- ISBN 9780674011304.
- ISBN 9789400705296.
- ^ John C. Blankenagel, The Dramas of Heinrich von Kleist: A Biographical and Critical Study (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press) 1931, p 145.
- ^ Thomas May, "Stairway to Heaven: A Major Seattle Symphony Premiere," November 15, 2013, accessed November 15, 2013
- ^ Penthesilea (Wolf, Hugo): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- ISBN 0571283845. (Google Books)
- ^ Graves, Robert. "Penthesilea". Webopera. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- ^ Higgins, Charlotte (8 October 2020). "Pandora's Jar by Natalie Haynes review – rescuing women in Greek myths". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
References
- Justinus, Epitome Historiarum philippicarum Pompei Trogi ii.4.31–32
- Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus Book 2
- The audio recording of ElvenQuest, published by BBC Audio in August 2009, ISBN 9781408439241
- Diana Hyppolite, The Exposed Body in Antiquity. Yonkers: Sarah Lawrence College Press, 1984.