thumb|260px|Aquil·les matant Pentasilea en un kílix del [[segle V aC, trobat a Volci (Itàlia)]]
En la grec: Πενθεσίλεια ''Penthesilia'') fou la reina de les guerreres amazones que les va dirigir en la Guerra de Troia.

==Reina de les Amazones==
Pentesilea era una de les filles del déu de la guerra Ares i la reina de les amazones Otrera, que també van tenir altres filles com són ara Hipòlita (successora de la seva mare com a reina de les amazones), Antíope i Melanipe, que es van convertir en famoses guerreres com la seva mare.

Una de les narracions gregues conta que, en temps de la amazones però ella no podia suportar la mort de la seva germana gran i només desitjava morir. La mort per a les amazones havia d'ésser una acció honorable i, a poder ser, mostrant valor en el camp de batalla.

Així fou com Pentesilea es va decidir a entrar a combatre a la grecs i troians. La reina va partir cap a la ciutat de la Tròade acompanyada de les amazones Antibrota, Aínia, Cleita (que va morir durant el viatge), Alcíbia, Antandra, Bremusa, Derimaqueia, Darínoe, Harmotoa, Hipotoa, Polemusa i Termodosa. El príncep troià Hèctor acabava de ser assassinat per l'heroi grec Aquil·les i Pentesilea va posar-se del cantó troià; les amazones van lluitar aferrissadament contra els grecs, fins i tot, Pentesilea va matar el rei Macaó i va fer marxar en retirada l'exèrcit de l'heroi Aquil·les tres vegades. Finalment, i amb l'ajuda de la deesa Atenea, Aquil·les li va travessar el pit amb la seva llança.

Segons Pseudo-Apol·lodor, al veure-la morta Aquil·les va quedar corprès per la seva bellesa, se n'enamorà i prengué el seu cos en braços. Quan un dels soldats grecs, anomenat Tersites, se'n burlà per aquella sobtada passió, Aquil·les el va matar enrabiat.

thumb|Achilles kills Penthesilea in the [[Tondo (art)|tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix, 470–460 BCE, found at Vulci]] 
In Amazonian queen, daughter of Antiope and pseudo-Apollodorus how Penthesilea came to be at Troy: Penthesilea had killed Hippolyta with a spear when they were hunting deer; this accident caused Penthesilea so much grief that she wished only to die, but, as a warrior and an Amazon, she had to do so honorably and in battle. She therefore was easily convinced to join in the Trojan War, fighting on the side of Troy's defenders.

==Penthesilea in the Epic Cycle==
epic, the  ''Aethiopis'' of Arctinos of Miletus, of which only five lines survive in a quotation,<ref>[http://www.theoi.com/Text/QuintusSmyrnaeus1.html. Quintus Smyrnaeus on-line text.]</ref> gave the events of Penthesilea's life. The story of Penthesilea segues so smoothly from the ''Iliad'' in the Epic Cycle that one manuscript tradition of the ''Iliad'' ends

:''"Such were the funeral games of Hector. And now there came an Amazon, the great-hearted daughter of man-slaying Ares."''

According to Diodorus Siculus

:''"Now they say that Penthesileia was the last of the Amazons to win distinction for bravery and that for the future the race diminished more and more and then lost all its strength; consequently in later times, whenever any writers recount their prowess, men consider the ancient stories about the Amazons to be fictitious tales."'' (Diodorus Siculus, ii. 46).

Alongside Penthesilea were twelve other Amazons, including Antibrote, Ainia, and Cleite. The rest were Alcibie, Antandre, Bremusa, Derimacheia, Derinoe, Harmothoe, Hippothoe, Polemusa, and Thermodosa. <ref>[http://www.whoosh.org/issue12/ruffel3.html Julie Ruffell, "Brave women warriors of Greek myth: an Amazon roster"] gives a long alphabetized list of Amazon names, but with no citations.</ref>
However, Cleite's ship was blown off course and she never reached Troy.

==Death of Penthesilea==
thumb|right|270px|Penthesileaias does Achilles and kills it. Her dog eats him. by [[Sendak.]] 
In the Pseudo-Apollodorus ''Epitome of the Bibliotheke''<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus ''Epitome of the Bibliotheke'' 5.1 (Sir Pausanias, who noted that the throne of Zeus at Olympia bore Panaenus' painted image of the dying Penthesilea being supported by Achilles).<ref>""And, at the extremity of the painting, is Penthesilea breathing her last, and Achilles supporting her" (Pausanias, 10.31.1 and 5.11.2, noted by Graves 1960)  This was the action that aroused Thersites' scorn.</ref>  Twelfth-century Byzantine scholar Eustathius of Thessalonica postulated a more brutal and literalist reading of the term ''loved'', however, maintaining that Achilles actually committed necrophilia on her corpse as a final insult to her.  
<ref>Eustathius on Homer, 1696. An act of necrophilia is not otherwise attested in any Greek epic, and this alleged act passed without notice by any commentator in Antiquity. Pseudo-Apollodorus ''Epitome'' v.1-2 does not mention this reading, and its editor Sir James George Frazer did not mention Eustathius' reading in his notes. For the death of Penthesilea, the medieval Rawlinson Excidium Troie was noted by Robert Graves, ''The Greek Myths'' section 164, London: Penguin, (1955) 1960; Baltimore: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-001026-2. </ref>

The Greek Thersites, jeered at Achilles's treatment of Penthesilea's body, whereupon Achilles killed him. "When the roughneck was at last killed by Achilles, for mocking the hero's lament over the death of the Amazon queen Penthesilea, a sacred feud was fought for Thersites' sake":<ref>Abraham Feldman, "The Apotheosis of Thersites" ''The Classical Journal'' '''42'''.4 (January 1947, pp. 219-220) p 220. </ref> Thersites' cousin Diomedes, enraged at Achilles' action, harnessed Penthesilea's corpse behind his chariot, dragged it and cast it into the Scamander, whence, however, it was retrieved and given decent burial, whether by Achilles or by the Trojans is not known from our fragmentary sources.<ref>Graves 1960:section 164.</ref>

==Another tradition==
A different tradition, attested in a lost poem of Stesichorus<ref>Quoted by John Tzetzes, ''On Lycophron'', 266, noted by Graves 1960, section 163q, note 21.</ref> makes Penthesilea the slayer of Hector, seen as a son of Apollo. 

==Theme of Penthesilea==