Thalestris

334 BCE) of the Amazons brought 300 women to Alexander the Great, hoping to breed a race of children as strong and intelligent as he.

He mentions fourteen authors, some of whom believed the story (Onesicritus, Cleitarchus), while others took it to be only fiction (Aristobulus of Cassandreia, Chares of Mytilene, Ptolemy I of Egypt, Duris of Samos).

The king sent them back, fearing their presence might incite his male troops to molest them, but he gave them the message he would visit their queen to beget children by her, referencing the popular Amazon custom.

[5] Thalestris is also the name of a character in Mary Renault's historical novel The King Must Die, set in the time of the mythological Theseus, who lived - if he existed at all - a thousand years or more before Alexander.

The Thalestris character is depicted by Renault as a skilled Amazonian bull-dancer and valiant warrior - which is presumably why the writer gave her the name of an Amazon queen.