In
800 B.C., the land of Pontus is ruled by women; women support the
men—weak, cowering creatures whose place is believed to be in the
home—and fight to protect them. After a victorious battle, the
warriors return to Pontus led by Hippolyta, their queen, and her
sister Antiope, the military leader, with male prisoners as their
spoils of war. Pomposia, who sells military equipment to the
government, warns Hippolyta of a pending attack by the Greeks, whose
men do the fighting, which surprises and shocks the queen.
Pomposia then agrees to supply needed equipment if Hippolyta will
consider her son Sapiens as a possible marriage partner.
Although the concept of marriage is an
alien one, Hippolyta is attracted to the effeminate Sapiens.
Two Greeks, Theseus, the virile commander of the army, and Homer, a
poet, are captured. Greatly attracted to Antiope, Theseus
tries to flirt with her, but when a messenger reports that at least
5,000 Greek soldiers have been sighted, Theseus and Homer escape.
Antiope relishes the thought of a good battle, as Hippolyta agrees
to marry Sapiens for the needed equipment. After the marriage
ceremony, Sapiens insists on following the warriors; however, he
soon suffers from neglect.
In a scheme to capture Hippolyta's
girdle, which, legend tells, was given to the Amazons' foremothers
by the goddess Diana and contains the source of their power,
Hercules, the Greeks' largest warrior, challenges Hippolyta to wear
the girdle in single combat against him. Hippolyta accepts the
challenge, but schemes to wear Antiope's girdle instead of her own.
Meanwhile, Sapiens complains to Antiope
that he is a husband "in name only," and flirts with her.
Irritated, she pushes him off a swing, and because he hits his head,
she carries him into Hippolyta's tent. When Antiope hears
Theseus and Hercules outside the tent, she hides the queen's girdle
in a strong box, but Sapiens, revived, sees her. Hercules, who
is grossly out of shape, runs from Antiope when she taunts him and
hides in the tent. Theseus and Antiope then fight with swords,
and after he knocks her sword out of her hands and throws his own
away, he admits that she has already conquered him completely and
kisses her. She struggles, but then embraces him and
afterwards blushes, and they kiss again. Because Theseus
refuses to leave, and Antiope knows that she will be expected to
kill him if he stays, she allows him to carry her off to his camp.
When Hippolyta returns, Sapiens claims
that he captured Hercules, and he is allowed to wear a soldier's
suit. Sapiens now wants to lead the men of Pontus to revolt,
so he secretly gives Hercules the queen's girdle. In his tent
at the Greek camp, Theseus proposes marriage to Antiope.
Disappointed in him, Antiope takes off her armor, saying she is a
woman of action and has no need for marriage.
The subsequent battle between the Greeks
and the Amazons interrupts their lovemaking, and when Theseus keeps
Antiope from leaving the tent, she stabs him; however, she then
confesses she loves him and pleads that she will do whatever he says
if he doesn't die. The Amazons are defeated, and the Greeks,
as they drag the women into their tents, find that the women like
it. Antiope is crushed that her people have been defeated, but
Theseus, who is not seriously hurt, says that Pontus has now joined
civilization and will be better off as men take their "rightful"
places. As he talks of the tranquil domestic life that they
will have, and she describes the joys of fighting together, Sapiens,
who has taken command of Pontus, tells Hippolyta that she will have
to stay at home where a woman belongs. They argue about the
number of nights a week that he must stay home, and the film ends
with the observation that in 1933 A.D. nothing has changed:
"women are still fighting and believe man's place is in the home."
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