Death of Penthesilea
Previously Balladeer’s Blog examined Cypria, the neglected Greek epic myth that dealt with the events leading up to the Trojan War all the way up to Achilles leading the Greek forces in establishing a beachhead at Troy. The Trojan forces were then forced to retreat inside the walls of Troy itself, leaving the outside settlements to be sacked by the Greek forces. This led right into the whole Briseis/Chryseis conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon that opened up The Iliad.
The events of The Iliad are well-known enough that I will skip over a recap of that epic and move on to the very next neglected epic in the cycle: Aethiopis.
AETHIOPIS – This work is often attributed to Arctinus, by some accounts in 776 BCE to coincide with the very first ancient Olympic games. Other sources place it as late as the 740s BCE. Very little of Aethiopis itself survives, so most of what is known about it comes from Proclus and other – often contradictory – references in ancient writings. The tale begins soon after the death of Hector which marked the end of The Iliad.
Just as the fighting is set to resume following the break in honor of Hector’s funeral the Amazons arrive on the scene to support their allies the Trojans. Needless to say they are very effective in combat and cause the Greek forces besieging Troy a lot of trouble. The Amazons are led by their new Queen Penthesilea, who succeeded to the throne after accidentally killing her more famous sister Hippolyta in a hunting accident. Penthesilea is so grief-stricken from causing her sister’s death that she wants to die, but as Amazon royalty she cannot simply commit suicide but must die gloriously in battle. Continue reading
FOUR – A council of the gods is held on Mount Olympus as the goddesses Venus and Juno make their cases for and against Aeneas and his fellow survivors of fallen Troy. Venus argues for them since Aeneas is her son, while Juno retains her position against Aeneas because she wants to prevent the founding of Rome. 
THREE – Aeneas and his fleet of survivors of fallen Troy arrive at Latium in what is now west central Italy. They are made welcome by King Latinus, who offers his daughter Lavinia to Aeneas as a bride per the oracles foreseeing the arrival of strangers possessed of greatness and whose leader he should marry to Lavinia. 
In the past Balladeer’s Blog has examined epic myths from around the world and from many belief systems. Examples include 
In the versions where they are two separate entities Mwindo is a villainous figure while Kabutwa-kenda is the main hero of the epic. Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog will be reminded of the Navajo twin gods Nayanazgeni and Thobadzistsini. Nayanazgeni was usually the hero of the epic about the defeat of the evil gods called the Anaye but in the Apache version of the myth his brother Thobadzistsini is the hero and Nayanazgeni is reduced to being a comic relief coward. 
THE BAKARIDJAN KONE EPIC – Djeli, the poet-historians of the Bambara people for over 300 years, would often recite, chant and sing this epic myth while playing their stringed instruments called ngoni. 
HODADEION PART 10 – THE CANNIBAL WIZARDS – Now safely on the northern side of Niagara Falls following his battle with the whirlwind, the demigod Hodadeion continued walking toward the northeast. 
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