Main Page
Long long ago, in the age
before television, Eurystheus was getting frustrated with Hercules'
continued success. He knew he had to provide Hercules with an
impossible task if he wanted to keep the favor of Hera. While trying
to think of something his daughter Admete, who was a bit spoiled,
demanded her father get her the belt of Queen Hippolyta. Thinking
about it Eurystheus realized that this would be a good task for
Hercules. Hippolyta was queen of the Amazons, a nation made up
entirely of warrior women. She was the daughter of Ares, the god of
war, and the belt was a gift from Ares to his daughter. As
descendants of the god of war the Amazons were known to be some of
the fiercest fighters in the world. The Amazons refused to let men
into their country and Eurystheus realized that while Hercules was
stronger then any one Amazon, he wouldn't be able to fight the entire
Amazon country. The decision made, Eurystheus told Hercules to
retrieve the belt of Hippolyta for his daughter Admete. Not really
concerned about this task Hercules traveled to the nearest seaport
and boarded a ship. The ship was owned and crewed by a group that was
friends to Hercules and they agreed to take him wherever he needed to
go. On their voyage they stopped at the island of Paros for supplies.
Paros was near the island of Crete and was ruled by some of King
Minos' sons. They blamed Hercules for the curse of the Minotaur that
Poseidon put on their father after Hercules captured the Cretan bull.
Two of them sneaked aboard the ship in the night and killed two of
the crew before Hercules woke up and caught them. Furious at the
death of his friends he fought the murderers and quickly overpowered
and killed them. Although Hercules had revenge for the death of his
two friends he now had a bigger problem, they were missing two
crewman and couldn't sail the ship without them. He went to the
remaining brothers of King Minos on the island and threatened to
conquer the entire country single handedly if they did not provide
him with a replacement crew. Knowing of Hercules' power they told
Hercules that he could take two of their own sons to work on the crew
until his journey was done. Hercules accepted their offer and they
set sail for the city of Themiscyra, capital of the Amazons. The ship
sailed up the river and docked right at the city. Almost immediately
a group of Amazon women came up demanding they leave immediately
since they didn't allow men into their country and especially not in
their city. Hercules diplomatically said he had no intention of
entering their city without permission and asked the soldiers to tell
Queen Hippolyta that he would like to talk to her. Having heard of
the exploits of Hercules, Queen Hippolyta was curious to know what
purpose he had in her city. Upon hearing the message she agreed to
meet with Hercules on the ship so that he would not violate their
laws. Hercules told Queen Hippolyta of the contest between him and
Hera, and of the tasks he had already accomplished. He told the queen
he did not wish to fight the strongest army in the world and politely
asked if Hippolyta would be willing to simply give him the belt.
Hippolyta was surprised at Hercules' honesty and the way he politely
asked for it. She also knew that even though her country could
probably defeat Hercules that many of her people would die in a fight
between them so she agreed to give Hercules the belt. Hera was
furious at hearing that Hippolyta would simply give Hercules the belt
without any kind of fight or challenge. She appeared to the Amazons
in the city and claimed that Hercules was planning on kidnapping
their queen. The Amazons believed Hera and attacked the ship.
Hercules' friends fought to defend themselves. On hearing the fight
Hercules and Hippolyta came out onto the dock and saw what was going
on. Hippolyta thought that Hercules had tricked her and joined the
fight with her soldiers. Hercules thought that Hippolyta had betrayed
him and also joined the battle. During the battle Hercules and
Hippolyta fought. Although she was a powerful warrior she was no
match against Hercules one on one and eventually fell in battle.
Hercules took the belt from her body and escaped with his crew on the
ship. Hercules thought he had killed Hippolyta. He didn't know it but
although badly hurt she did survive her fight and eventually married
Theseus.
Continued in
The Cattle of Geryon