In Greek mythology, Antiope (; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιόπη, derived from αντι anti, "against, compared to, like," and οψ ops, "voice" or "confronting"[1]) was an Amazon, daughter of Ares and sister to Melanippe, Hippolyta, Penthesilea and possibly Orithyia, queens of the Amazons.[2] Two sisters, Orithyia and Antiope, co-ruled the Amazons.[3] Antiope may have been the wife of Theseus and mother to his son Hippolytus of Athens, but differing sources claim this was Hippolyta.[4]
There are various accounts of the manner in which Theseus became possessed of Antiope, and of her subsequent fortunes.
In one version, during Heracles' ninth labour, which was to obtain the Girdle of Hippolyta, when he captured the Amazons' capital of Themiscyra, his companion Theseus, king of Athens, abducted Antiope and brought her to his home[5] [6] (or she was captured by Heracles and then given by him to Theseus[7]). According to Pausanias,[8] Antiope fell in love with Theseus and betrayed the Amazons of her own free will. They were eventually married and she gave birth to a son, Hippolytus, who was named after Antiope's sister. Soon after, the Amazons attacked Athens in an attempt to rescue Antiope and to take back Hippolyta's girdle; however, in a battle near the Areopagus, they were defeated by Athenian forces under Theseus's leadership.[9] During this conflict, known as the Attic War, Antiope was accidentally shot dead by an Amazon named Molpadia, who, in turn, was killed by Theseus.[10] The tombs of both Antiope and Molpadia were shown in Athens, according to Pausanias.[11]
According to some sources, the cause for the Amazons' attack on Athens was the fact that Theseus had abandoned Antiope and planned to marry Phaedra. Antiope was furious about this and decided to attack them on their wedding day. She promised to kill every person in attendance; however, she was slain instead by Theseus himself, fulfilling an oracle's prophecy to that effect.[12] Ovid mentions that Theseus killed Antiope despite the fact that she was pregnant.[13]
An alternative version of the myth relates all the facts concerning Antiope (abduction by Theseus, their marriage, birth of Hippolytus, her being left behind in favour of Phaedra), not of her but of Hippolyte.[14] [15] [16] In various accounts of this version, the subsequent attack on Athens either does not occur at all or is led by Orithyia.[17]