Hippolyte

There seemed to be a number of Amazon queens with the name Hippolyte or Hippolyta (Ἱππολύτη). Each one died by a different hand. The Hippolyte that I refer to in this article was the Amazon queen who owned the Girdle of Hippolyte.

She was the queen who ruled the Amazon tribe near the mouth of River Thermodon, in northeastern Asia Minor.

Hippolyte was the sister of Antiope or Melanippe.

Eurystheus, the king of Mycenae and Tiryns, sent Heracles on a mission to fetch this golden girdle, which became known as the Ninth Labour of Heracles. Heracles went to the Amazon country either alone, with Telamon or Theseus, or with both of them.

Hippolyte warmly received Heracles, granting him his request for the girdle. The Amazon queen and the hero would have become lovers, and this would have been Heracles' easiest task. However, the vengeful goddess Hera stirred trouble among Hippolyte's warriors. The goddess spread a rumour that Heracles wanted to abduct their queen. They immediately attacked Heracles and his companions. Heracles, thinking that Hippolyte had betrayed him, killed the queen, took the girdle, and fought his way out of the city.

According to Apollonius, Heracles did not kill Hippolyte. Melanippe, sister of Hippolyte, went out to confront Heracles, but was captured in the ambush. Heracles held Melanippe as hostage. To pay for her sister's ransom, she offered her girdle to Heracles. Had the Argo landed on Amazon land, Hippolyte and her Amazons would have attacked the Argonauts.

In yet another version where there was no Heracles and no girdle, the author said that Hippolyte was alive and it was she who led an invasion into Attica and Athens. The two sisters fought on different sides and both were killed.

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There was one Amazon who was normally named Antiope, but was sometimes called Hippolyte, as well as Melanippe or Glauce. This Antiope/Hippolyte became the wife of the Athenian hero Theseus and mother of Hippolytus.

A third Hippolyte was the sister of Penthesileia. Penthesileia accidentally killed her while they were out hunting. Penthesileia had to go to King Priam in Troy to be purified for her sister's death. Eventually, Penthesileia went to join the war over Troy, and she died at the hand of Achilles.