Renowned for her bravery and beauty, Thalestris had traveled from her land to meet the man who had defeated the Persians. “Marveling at the unexpected arrival and dignified spectacle of the women warriors in armor,” Alexander asked Thalestris the reason for her visit. She replied that word of his conquests had reached her, and she had decided to have a child by him. Thalestris invited Alexander to have sex. “He was the greatest of all men in his achievements, and she was superior to all women in strength and courage,” explains Diodorus in this earliest surviving account (first century BC), and so “presumably the offspring of such superlative parents would surpass all other mortals in excellence.” Alexander, “delighted by her summons, eagerly granted her request.” The couple spent thirteen days and nights together. At the end of their affair, Alexander honored her with generous farewell gifts and Thales-tris rode away with her entourage.3
Another early version of their meeting was recounted in more vivid detail by the historian Curtius in the first century AD. Thalestris, “fired with a desire to visit the King” set out with a large escort from her land. As the ruler of the Amazons approached his camp, she sent messengers to “give notice that the queen was eager to meet and become acquainted with him.” At once Alexander gave his permission. Thalestris rode in with a bodyguard of three hundred women, leaving the rest of her forces behind. She would have presented Alexander with fine gifts upon her arrival, such as golden trappings for Bucephalus or a woolen cape with golden spangles.
Curtius offered a general description of typical Amazon attire and noted that Thalestris wore a garment “knotted just above the knee” (perhaps a skirt arranged for riding), with her right breast veiled and the other exposed. Assuming that Thalestris was a real horsewoman archer, ancient artistic images and archaeological discoveries permit us to imagine her garments shimmering with hundreds of tiny golden appliques of animals: a long-sleeved silken tunic belted with an elaborate golden buckle, trousers or a riding skirt over soft leather boots, and a leopard-skin cape, a dagger at her side, and a quiver and bow at her back. Her horse would have elaborately embroidered saddle blankets and dazzling golden accoutrements.
As soon as she spotted Alexander, she leaped down from her horse, carrying two spears in her right hand. Brazenly she gazed at the king, giving his physique the once over. Curtius tells us that Thalestris was unimpressed with Alexander’s slight stature and ordinary appearance, which did not live up to the fame of his heroic exploits. Barbarians expected that only those endowed with superior physical form and majestic charisma were capable of glorious deeds. Yet when Alexander asked if she had any requests, she boldly explained her intent to become pregnant with his child. She pointed out that she was a woman worthy of giving him an heir for his kingdom.
Then she made an interesting promise: Thalestris would raise a baby girl, but if she bore a son, the boy would be returned to his father, Alexander. This detail in Curtius is a note of authenticity. It reflects the traditional child-rearing practices of the women called Amazons and the men who fathered their children, as reported by many ancient historians. The sons were returned to the fathers, who adopted them as rightful heirs. Similar fosterage arrangements, sending sons (and sometimes daughters) to be raised by allied clans or tribes, were long customary among peoples of the Caucasus and other tribes of Eurasia until modern times (chapter 10).
Curtius includes another significant detail: Alexander asked Thalestris to join his cavalry. Thalestris declined, saying she needed to defend her own country, but she persisted in her wish to bear his child. Her sexual passion was greater than Alexander’s, commented Curtius, but he devoted thirteen days to satisfying her desire.4
In antiquity, this story immediately achieved legendary status. And it sparked controversy—not surprising when a larger-than-1 ife hero, later worshipped as a god, makes love with a ruler identified as the “queen of the Amazons.” The incident was discussed by numerous historians in antiquity. Some accepted the story; some doubted; others described different encounters with Amazons. Plutarch, in his evenhanded biography of Alexander, acknowledged that “most writers reported that the queen of the Amazons came to see him in Hyrcania.” He listed fourteen sources for the story but gave a bit more weight to the skeptics. Letters attributed to Alexander in antiquity are highly suspect, but Plutarch accepted the authenticity of his letter to Antipater (Alexander’s regent in Macedon). Plutarch thought it significant that the letter told of a Scythian chieftain offering his daughter in marriage but without any mention of Thalestris. This formal letter conveyed the political and military details of Alexander’s campaign and justifications for pushing on to India, however, so a private sexual dalliance would have been irrelevant.5
Plutarch also repeated a well-known anecdote about an exchange that supposedly occurred between two old veterans of Alexander’s campaigns. The story goes that Onesicritus was reading his narrative about the Amazon queen aloud to Lysimachus, who smiled gently and said, “And where was I, then?” Lysimachus was one of Alexander’s officers; perhaps he remained with another part of the main army when Alexander was camped near Hecatompylus and turned west with twenty-three thousand men to subdue Hyrcania and the Mardians. The comment is enigmatic. Was Lysimachus bantering about missing out on the action, or humorously denying the whole story? Onesicritus’s firsthand account of the Asian campaign, now known only from fragments, contained many valuable details, but he was sometimes accused of exaggeration.6
Among other surviving sources, Justin offers a few more details about the great stir that the Amazons’ arrival and their wondrous appearance caused in Alexander’s camp. Thalestris was “dressed strangely for a woman,” says Justin. And “the purpose of her visit aroused general surprise: she came seeking sexual intercourse.” Alexander decided to linger for thirteen days with his guest. “When she was sure she had conceived, Thalestris departed.”7
How believable is the tale of Alexander and the Amazon who desired to have his child? For such a sensational topic, the story as we have it seems straightforward and unadorned with dubious or overwrought details, and it does not follow the familiar Greek mythic script of violence against Amazons. The episode is embedded in a sequence of historical events whose authenticity is generally accepted. Many ancient historians felt compelled to include this story: it seemed plausible to enough people to merit preservation and discussion. Plutarch, for example, kept an open mind, but he felt that the most trustworthy authors were skeptical. Strabo, dubious for the same reason, accepted that Amazons, fighting women living with or without men, had dwelled in lands of the Black Sea-Caucasus-Caspian region in the past. But he was not entirely convinced that renegade bands of Amazons were active in Alexander’s time or in Strabo’s own day three hundred years later, even though he acknowledged that many asserted this.
We cannot hope to prove or disprove the veracity of the meeting of Thalestris and Alexander. But we can analyze each feature of this and the related narratives for authenticity and plausibility in terms of what was possible for that time and place. Let’s begin with the geography of the queen’s origin and her journey to Hyrcania.
World History
