Thalestris
According to the
Sources
Several of Alexander's biographers dispute the claim, including
Plutarch also mentions when Alexander's secondary naval commander, Onesicritus, was reading the Amazon passage of his Alexander history to King Lysimachus of Thrace who was on the original expedition, the king smiled at him and said "And where was I, then?"[3]
Historicity
The story is rejected by modern scholars as legendary. Perhaps behind the legend lies the offering by a
Another possibility is the story was inspired by the contingent of 100 women warriors sent by
Modern references
Thalestris is also the name of a character in
In Alexander Pope’s mock heroic poem The Rape of the Lock, Thalestris is the name of a ‘fierce’ supporter of Belinda, whose lock of hair is stolen - a ‘Virago’ who urges Belinda into combat to regain the lock.
There is also a brief reference to the courtship between Alexander and Thalestris in Beaumarchais' Le Mariage De Figaro.
References
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 17.77.1-3; Quintus Curtius Rufus, Historiae Alexandri Magni 6.5.24-32; Justin 12.3.5-7
- ^ Plutarch, Alexander 46.1-2; compare Strabo, Geographica 11.5.4 p. 505
- ^ Plutarch, Alexander 46.4
- ^ Plutarch, Alexander 46.3
- ^ a b c Penrose, Jr., Walter Duvall (2016). Postcolonial Amazons: Female Masculinity and Courage in Ancient Greek and Sanskrit Literature. Oxford University Press. p. 124-125.
- ^ Elizabeth Baynham, Alexander and the Amazons, The Classical Quarterly, New Series, Vol. 51, No. 1. (2001), pp. 115-126.
- ^ Adrienne Mayor, When Alexander Met Thalestris. 2015. History today 65(1):10-27