Aella (Amazon)

Aella (Ancient Greek: Ἄελλα, meaning "storm-swift" in Ancient Greek, pronounced /ˈɑːɛllɑː/ or "AH-ell-ah") was an Amazon warrior in Greek mythology who fought Heracles during his Ninth Labor to retrieve the girdle of Queen Hippolyta. Diodorus Siculus highlights her exceptional swiftness, noting that she was the first Amazon to charge Heracles in battle.[1]

A hippeis rider seizes a mounted Amazon armed with a labrys by her Phrygian cap. This 4th-century AD Roman mosaic, from Daphne near Antioch-on-the-Orontes (now Antakya in Turkey), is housed in the Louvre, Paris.
  1. ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, 4.16.3