Labor 9: The Belt of Hippolyte

Hippolyte's Belt
Hercules Fights the
Amazons

For the ninth labor, Eurystheus ordered Hercules to
bring him the belt of Hippolyte.
This was no ordinary belt and no ordinary warrior.
Hippolyte was queen of the Amazons, a tribe of
women warriors.

These Amazons had nothing to do with the Amazon
river in South America. Their name comes from a
Greek word meaning "missing one breast." This is
because an Amazon's right breast got in the way when
she threw a spear.

The Amazons lived apart from men, and if they ever
gave birth to children, they kept only the females and
reared them to be warriors like themselves.

Queen Hippolyte had a special piece of armor. It was
a leather belt that had been given to her by Ares, the
war god, because she was the best warrior of all the
Amazons. She wore this belt across her chest and
used it to carry her sword and spear. Eurystheus
wanted Hippolyte's belt as a present to give to his
daughter, and he sent Hercules to bring it back.

Hercules' friends realized that the hero could not fight
against the whole Amazon army by himself, so they
joined with him and set sail in a single ship.
After a long journey, they reached the land of the
Amazons and put in at the harbor. When Hercules and
the Greeks got off the boat, Hippolyte came down to
visit them.

She asked Hercules why he had come, and when he
told her, she promised to give him the belt. But the
goddess Hera knew that the arrival of Hercules meant
nothing but trouble for the Amazons. Disguised as an
Amazon warrior, Hera went up and down the army
saying to each woman that the strangers who had
arrived were going to carry off the queen. So the
Amazons put on their armor.

The women warriors charged on horseback down to
the ship.

But when Hercules saw that they were wearing their
armor and were carrying their weapons, he knew that
he was under attack. Thinking fast, he drew his sword
and killed Hippolyte.

Then he undid her belt and took it away from her.

Hercules and the Greeks fought the rest of the
Amazons in a great battle.

When the enemy had been driven off, Hercules sailed
away. After a stopover at the city of Troy, Hercules
returned to Mycenae, and he gave the belt to
Eurystheus.