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Elizabeth A.Sackler Center for Feminist Art

Antiope

Mythic, known in ancient Greece, beginning circa 1200 B.C.E.

Antiope was the sister of the Amazon queen Hippolyte and the daughter of Ares, god of war. There are several versions of her story in Greek myth. In one, she is abducted by the Greek king Theseus during Herakles’ attack on the Amazons, launched in a quest to steal the magic girdle of Hippolyte. Theseus and Antiope marry in Athens and she bears him a son. When the Amazons stage a retalitory assault on the Athenians, to retrieve Antiope and the girdle, she fights on the side of her husband. In other versions, Antiope sides with the Amazons. In yet another story, Antiope plots to kill Theseus and his new love, Phaedra; Antiope is slain instead, but only through the combined efforts of Theseus, Herakles, and the Greek army.

Antoine Watteau. Jupiter and Antiope, 1715. Louvre, Paris

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