This black figure amphora shows the Amazon queen, Penthesileia, the daughter of the god of war, Ares. The beautiful queen was also a fierce warrior, and had in fact, killed another queen, Hippolyte.

Penthesileia led the Amazons to fight in Troy to support King Priam, to whom she owed a favor. She killed many Greeks at Troy, until she was finally killed herself by Achilles.

As Achilles was disarming her body, he fell in love with her beauty, and regretted killing her. Her body was never properly buried, as an enemy of Achilles had it tossed into a river.

The reverse of the vase shows the god Dionysos with his son, Oinopion, which means "Wine maker" in Greek. The artist signed the sign "Exekias Epioison" on the left side of the vase, which means "Exekias made it".