Alexander and the Amazon queen

The story of Alexander's encounter with the Amazon queen called Thalestris, Talestria or Minythyia appears in all our main Alexander sources except the Metz Epitome. Certain authors represent this story without comment on the historicity, whereas others, adopting a sceptical view, list the earliest Alexander historians who accept or doubt the authenticity of this tale. Moreover, Arrian, who is doubtful about the existence of Amazons tries to explain the legend of Alexander's meeting with the warrior women. The above-mentioned tale has been examined from many points of view: first of all scholars have examined from which sources the story could have been taken; how it can be interpreted; or why this mythological story appears in a historical context. My paper naturally cannot avoid commenting on the earlier and recent results. However, the aim of the lecture is to examine if any differences could be found between the descriptions given by Alexander historians, to be more precise, whether the extant sources follow the earlier literary and mythological tradition about the Amazons or in certain cases use modification and insertion due to their authorial intention.