Memoirs of Queen Hippolyte
I am Hippolyte, Queen of the immortal Amazons of Themysicra and this is my thoughts and memories.
I begin in the beginning. I clearly remember the day of my peoples creation. The excitement and the thrill of being alive. The Goddesses appeared before us and spoke of our purpose and I felt within me, my destiny and the yearning to fulfill it.
My sister Antiope and I had a very special bond. I believe the Goddesses gifted us with that bond. It was as if we felt each others emotions. A bond as only true sisters have.
It was strenuous work building and perfecting our city state, but we finally completed it and began spreading the gospels of truth, justice and equality. Our message was welcomed among the philosophical community and we were becoming known for our justice and peace loving ways and better yet, admired for our perfected life.
There is a saying in mans world. "Jealousy is an ugly thing." This was very true regarding the rulers of Greece. You see, when we Amazons began spreading the word of the Goddesses, the philosophers as well as the women of Greece began to listen and learn. They spoke of us with admiration and the rulers began to lose there hold. The kings of Greece did not like this. They did not like the freedom of thought and worse…..free women. They had an answer to this situation. Threaten, lie and make war!
First began the rumors and lies. They stated that I and my people were out to rule over all men by means of enslaving them. The people began hearing lies of Amazons enslaving men, crippeling them, killing them, even forcing men to mate with us to bear children and killing our sons. How presumptuous! There was even a particular rumor that Antiope and I found amusing for some reason. The rumor was that we Amazons seared off our right breast to better use the bow. We laughed for days on that one. Antiope stated that, "they must find our breast most fair and titillating." My sister always had a way with words.
Then the threats to the philosophers and poets of Greece. The rulers began abducting them. Imprisoning and beating them. Even murdering them if they do not comply. They forced them to write false tales of us, backing up the lies told by the rulers of Greece. People began to fear us because of this. What was worse was the treatment of women. Women was treated as property. There were more and more women slaves. Women beaten, daughters given away as wives against their will and many killed for disobeying. We Amazons could not tolerate these atrocities any longer.
We spoke out and they answered with war and we accepted the challenge.