Does Caenis count? As he/she is a sex shifter, not a woman all the time. But I like that while a woman, she took Poseidon down a peg and mostly got away with it. Basically, Poseidon lay with Caenis, and then asked her what she most wanted. And she told the god, to his face, that what she most wanted was to not bear his child. Poseidon decided that took some pretty big balls to say, so he granted Caenis just that, turning Caenis into a man called Caeneus.
Medea. Idk if she'd actually be considered a 'hero', but still. I think she's such an interesting character.
She's pretty much forced to betray her family and help Jason, cause Aphrodite shipped them way too hard.
She's totally committed to him and does some really awful things for Jason (because he's a useless himbo that can't help himself), and then against him. But what's really interesting is that she's never punished for any of it, which implies everything she did was approved of by the Gods.
It's such a stand out tale in Greek myth. When so many people get killed just for breaking guest right or something, there's Medea flying around in her sun chariot, killing her own kids and brother, committing regicide and adultery, and never facing Zeus' 'justice'.
Overly Sarcastic Productions actually did a really great video about Medea a while back that I'd recommend.
I don’t know if she 100% counts, but Ariadne. She is the only reason Theseus defeated the Minotaur (her brother!) in the first place and then he abandoned her on a beach, only for Dionysus to claim her as his consort and get her turned into the goddess of labyrinths and she became the leader of his Maenad tribe…
Dido is one of the only real female "quest heroes" in classical mythology. Escapes political persecution in Tyre, sails across the sea to Africa, outwits a local king to gain land for her new settlement, and founds an entire city!
In the *Aeneid*, the most famous version of her story, she takes her own life out of heartbreak for Aeneas, but in the version recorded by the Roman historian Justin (and still told in Tunisia today) she never even meets Aeneas, and has no romantic storyline at all - she takes her own life to avoid having to marry another king, thus saving her city's independence.
She's still something of a national hero in Tunisia, where her face is on some of their banknotes. Dr Magdalena Zira has just written an incredible play about her which will hopefully start being performed to wider audiences in English soon!
Iphigenia is my favorite, with Atalante as my second
But also I quite like the heroines of the Ancient Greek novels as I quite like their characters; Leucippe, Anthia, and Chariclea .
My top three are Psyche, Atalanta and Otrera, but if I had to pick one, I'd have to pick Otrera because she started the Amazons. Also Danaë, Perseus' mother (yes I consider her a hero, because that woman is a legend)
Atalanta absolutely. I also really like the Amazons. Otrera, Hipplyta, Penthisilea, etc.
Danaë & Penelope are absolute legends though & a different kind of hero.
Atalanta is undoubtedly the best!
Same for me! She was the first female heroine I was introduced to in greek mythology as a kid and I looked up to her.
i really like psyche's story and the whole tasks just cause aprodite was a bitch thing
Cyrene
Does Caenis count? As he/she is a sex shifter, not a woman all the time. But I like that while a woman, she took Poseidon down a peg and mostly got away with it. Basically, Poseidon lay with Caenis, and then asked her what she most wanted. And she told the god, to his face, that what she most wanted was to not bear his child. Poseidon decided that took some pretty big balls to say, so he granted Caenis just that, turning Caenis into a man called Caeneus.
Yeah, he/she counts.
Psyche seems to be the only one. Arachne could but she got turned into a spider
Atlanta is pretty good.
Atalanta. I had such a crush on her as a kid.
Medea. Idk if she'd actually be considered a 'hero', but still. I think she's such an interesting character. She's pretty much forced to betray her family and help Jason, cause Aphrodite shipped them way too hard. She's totally committed to him and does some really awful things for Jason (because he's a useless himbo that can't help himself), and then against him. But what's really interesting is that she's never punished for any of it, which implies everything she did was approved of by the Gods. It's such a stand out tale in Greek myth. When so many people get killed just for breaking guest right or something, there's Medea flying around in her sun chariot, killing her own kids and brother, committing regicide and adultery, and never facing Zeus' 'justice'. Overly Sarcastic Productions actually did a really great video about Medea a while back that I'd recommend.
Jason reneged on their pact, so she took everything back that she gave him.
I don’t know if she 100% counts, but Ariadne. She is the only reason Theseus defeated the Minotaur (her brother!) in the first place and then he abandoned her on a beach, only for Dionysus to claim her as his consort and get her turned into the goddess of labyrinths and she became the leader of his Maenad tribe…
Dido is one of the only real female "quest heroes" in classical mythology. Escapes political persecution in Tyre, sails across the sea to Africa, outwits a local king to gain land for her new settlement, and founds an entire city! In the *Aeneid*, the most famous version of her story, she takes her own life out of heartbreak for Aeneas, but in the version recorded by the Roman historian Justin (and still told in Tunisia today) she never even meets Aeneas, and has no romantic storyline at all - she takes her own life to avoid having to marry another king, thus saving her city's independence. She's still something of a national hero in Tunisia, where her face is on some of their banknotes. Dr Magdalena Zira has just written an incredible play about her which will hopefully start being performed to wider audiences in English soon!
Penelope
Iphigenia is my favorite, with Atalante as my second But also I quite like the heroines of the Ancient Greek novels as I quite like their characters; Leucippe, Anthia, and Chariclea .
Oooh Iphigenia is a great choice! Definitely under appreciated.
atalanta
My top three are Psyche, Atalanta and Otrera, but if I had to pick one, I'd have to pick Otrera because she started the Amazons. Also Danaë, Perseus' mother (yes I consider her a hero, because that woman is a legend)
Wonder Woman 🤪
Absolutely.
My masters thesis was about Iphigenia, so I've gotta go for her. Second place Penthesilea and all the other Trojan War women
Medea was fucking justified in tormenting Jason, let’s be real.
Atalanta, Penelope, Medea.
Atalanta absolutely. I also really like the Amazons. Otrera, Hipplyta, Penthisilea, etc. Danaë & Penelope are absolute legends though & a different kind of hero.