Orithya, the Queen of the Amazons, Summoning Her Allies

From the Getty Museum record

Although he is not depicted, the legendary figure Heracles is directly connected with this image of Orithya, the daughter of Marpesia, an Amazonian queen whose [history][1] is also represented in this manuscript of *Concerning Famous and Noble Women*. Orithya’s girdle, which the warrior queen had guarded closely as a symbol of her perpetual virginity, was taken by Heracles as one of the twelve seemingly impossible labors imposed on him after he killed his wife and child. In the aftermath of Heracles’s quest, Orithya received news that Theseus, another hero of ancient Greek mythology who journeyed with Heracles, had taken Hippolyte, the daughter of Orithya’s co-queen, Antiope. Orithya immediately summoned her allies—as can be seen in this image—and waged war against the entirety of Greece, only to be defeated by the Athenians. [1]: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/1KA7CR