For his Ninth Labour, Heracles was sent to the land of the Amazons, a tribe of warlike women, to fetch Queen Hippolyte belt for Eurystheus’s daughter Admete. All would have gone peacefully had Hera not stirred the Amazons up to suspect Heracles of intending to kidnap Hippolyte, and although he came away carrying the belt, it was not without bloodshed.

Heracles came home from the land of the Amazons on the Black Sea via Troy, where he became involved in a battle of wills between Poseidon and King Laomedon over unpaid wages. Laomedon tricked Heracles into helping him evade Poseidon’s penalties without reward, but Heracles could do nothing about it, as he was duty-bound to return home with Hippolyte’s belt.

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