Hippolyta and her Magic Girdle
There are several versions of Hercules’ ninth labor, mostly surrounding Hippolyta’s death, so I’ll give you the most common one.
Hippolyta was the Amazonian queen and possessed a magic girdle, given to her by her father Ares, the god of war.
Eurystheus wanted this girdle for his daughter, so assigned the job of retrieving it to Hercules for his ninth task.
Hercules took his good friend Theseus with him on a ship and the Amazons greeted them with favor when they landed. Hippolyta came aboard to hear Hercules’ request for the belt and granted it to him.
Naturally, Hera blew steam from her ears when she heard about it and disguised herself as an Amazon, running through the crowd spreading rumors that Hercules was going to kidnap their queen.
The Amazons stormed the ship. When Hercules saw what was happening, he assumed Hippolyta had betrayed him. He kissed her, then killed her, taking the girdle from her dead body. What a guy…
He sailed away before the Amazons could engage him in battle, returning to Eurystheus with the magic girdle.
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I choked on my coffee when I read the title this morning. You got me. My kids thought it was hysterical.
I will check out the blog fest. I hadn’t given it much thought until I saw you were participating. Now I have to.
Sorry about the coffee, Ciara.
Glad I could entertain the kids!
Yes, do check out the blog hop!
Bummer! You don’t get many second dates that way.
Hah! No, you don’t, Alex.
And I just fixed the link with your book!
Thank you, Alex!
This one I know and find fascinating.
There are so many twists to it too, Savannah, mostly centering around Theseus. He’s another real character.
Haven’t been commenting, Laura, but I am enjoying the Labors of Hercules.
Off to check out the Summer Splash.
Hi Erin! I’m glad you’re enjoying them and thanks for taking a peek at the Splash!
The only time in history a man has been happy to find a girdle.
Happy Weekend!
Ain’t that the truth, Carol!
I wonder what was so special about this girdle… And BAD Hercules!!! Naughty, rotten Hercules! Hera… now there’s a twist I hadn’t thought of in a long time… in fact… I need to remember that… telling TPTB that someone is going to do something rotten to entangle them… NICE.
Hi Hart! Since the girdle was given to her by her father, Ares, its magical properties made Hippolyta the Queen of the Amazons. As to Hera, wasn’t she just a rotten bitch, right to the core? Wonderful fodder for a character study.
That’s a lot of hullabaloo over a girdle. Imagine what they’d do with a magic bra?
Have a great weekend, Laura.
I have an image of him wearing the bra on top of his head and dancing around a fire… You have a fabulous weekend too, Mary!
This one leaves me confused. Because Hercules made the dreadful mistake of thinking Hippolyta betrayed him (due to Hera’s mischief), we might be judging him a bit too harshly. Of course, if I were he, I would’ve taken the girdle and removed her from the boat but not harmed her in any way. So, yes, Hercules appears in this version of the story to have been a bad guy but not a maniacal killer. On the other hand, in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Hippolyta and Theseus get married. Surely, Hercules didn’t kill his friend’s wife? Or did he?
That’s where the other versions come in, Ron. In other versions Theseus kidnaps Hippolyta, then dumps her after she gives birth, and marries her friend…or something like that. Very convoluted, these myths are!
The Amazon Queen came out of this well. OK, other than the getting killed thing. But gracious, yes.
And Hera is living up to her billing – or down to it. Just nasty.
Hi Kevin! Yes, gracious but dead.
Nasty is also a very good word for Hera.
Hi Laura .. I can see now that I will need to read about these myths in more detail – to get a better grip … girdles and magic bras whatever next … no do not suggest! Greek mythology is on the list of subjects to look into – sometime! … Cheers Hilary
Hi Hilary! Girdles and bras and thongs, oh my! Greek mythology is fascinating. I know I’ve only scratched the surface of it.
The Greeks sure did like their tragedies. Me, I like happy endings. Lots of people need to die at the end, just not the good guy or his girl.
They sure did, Stephen!
I loved the first issue of Wonder Woman that got rebooted by DC Comics in “1990″ I think. Memory could be foggy. It was drawn by George Perez and featured this story line where Hercules has Hippolyta on her knees and in chains. Wonder Woman is all about the Amazons and the legacy of Hercules.
This Hercules I wouldn’t like at all — unless, of course, Hippolyta wanted to be on her knees and in chains.
You never know, Ron…
They must have gone with the version of Hippolyta being kidnapped instead of killed, Michael.