Mnemosyne — Classical Greek Myth Library

After Hector’s funeral the war did not end. Penthesilea, daughter of Ares and queen among the Amazons, came to Troy with a company of women warriors—some say seeking purification for having accidentally killed her sister Hippolyte (or another kinswoman). Priam received her as an ally. She fought brilliantly against the Achaeans until Achilles met her in combat and killed her. In several classical tellings he uncovered her face after the blow and was struck with regret or desire at her beauty; the cyclic summary stresses the kill and the aftermath more than the erotic turn. Thersites—already Homeric as the ugly, abusive commoner of *Iliad* 2—mocked Achilles for that softness toward a dead Amazon. Achilles struck him dead. Diomedes, kinsman of Thersites in some genealogies, quarreled with Achilles over the killing; the Achaeans then purified Achilles of the blood-guilt. Thetis meanwhile urged her son toward new honors, and the next foreign champion was already on his way: Memnon, son of the Dawn. The *Aethiopis* thus reopens the war with Amazon and Aethiopian allies after the *Iliad*’s hush, and sets Achilles’ own death in motion.