Xena: Warrior Princess became a cult classic of 1990s television, blending ancient myth, sword-swinging action, and a fiercely independent heroine into a stylised fantasy world. While the series was never intended to be historically or mythologically precise, it drew freely from Greek, Roman, and even Norse mythologies, reshaping figures and legends to suit its adventurous, often irreverent tone. But behind the camp and the choreography, some threads of real mythology and history can still be traced through the fabric of the show.
Was There a Real Xena?
There is no direct historical or mythological figure named Xena in ancient Greek sources. The character was invented as a spinoff from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and initially conceived as a villain. Yet her archetype, an outcast warrior woman seeking redemption, finds echoes in mythic traditions. Characters such as the Amazon queens Penthesilea and Hippolyta offered models of female martial prowess. In Homeric tradition, these women were foreign, fierce, and doomed, often defined in relation to male heroes. Xena, in contrast, takes command of her own narrative.
The Amazons in the series, while exaggerated, are loosely inspired by classical sources. Herodotus placed them around the Black Sea, describing their equestrian skill and warlike culture. Greek art frequently depicted them fighting with bows and crescent-shaped shields. In Xena, this mythology is appropriated but reoriented to celebrate female solidarity rather than depict it as a threat to male dominance.
The Show’s Use of Greek Myth
Greek myth forms the core of the show’s world-building. Gods like Ares, Aphrodite, and Hades appear regularly, though heavily stylised and modernised. Ares, for instance, shifts between villain and antihero, acting as both nemesis and love interest. In classical mythology, Ares was often portrayed as a brute, disliked by other gods and rarely the main figure in Greek cult practice. The show reinvents him as a seductive manipulator, shaping him into a dark reflection of Xena herself.
Other mythic episodes distort timelines and mix sources freely. One episode might involve the Trojan War, another the Norse Ragnarok. Such flexibility abandons any concern for historical chronology but serves the narrative’s needs. Gabrielle’s character often stands in for bardic figures like Homer or Orpheus, becoming a witness and chronicler of epic deeds, and offering a humanising foil to Xena’s more violent past.
Historical Inspirations and Anachronisms
Xena’s armour and weapons are eclectic, drawing from Roman, Byzantine, and even medieval designs. Her chakram, a signature throwing weapon, resembles an Indian war discus more than anything from Greek warfare. The show rarely attempts authenticity in material culture, but it does evoke a broad sense of the ancient world’s chaos and cruelty, particularly in its portrayal of slavery, warlords, and shifting allegiances.
Some historical threads do survive in characters like Julius Caesar, who appears in multiple episodes. Though his relationship with Xena is wholly fictional, it highlights how the show repurposes history as myth, weaving familiar names into its fantasy tapestry. This use of known figures, twisted through the lens of pulp fiction, is part of what made the show appealing: viewers recognised the names but never knew what to expect.
Moral Myths and Redemption
One of the more original mythic themes in Xena is its emphasis on moral transformation. Unlike many figures from ancient legend, who remain fixed in virtue or vice, Xena is defined by change. Her journey from warlord to protector parallels religious or mythic motifs of redemption, found in stories like those of Heracles seeking atonement or Buddhist tales of warrior monks turning to peace.
In myth, redemption is often transactional, earned through suffering or service. Xena’s arc plays with that expectation. Her guilt is ever-present, but so is her agency. She rewrites her fate not through divine intervention, but through her own choices, and that sets her apart from most ancient characters who are bound by prophecy or divine will.
Xena: Warrior Princess is not faithful to any single mythological or historical tradition, nor does it try to be. What it does is reframe elements of ancient myth, gods, warriors, Amazons, and empires, through a modern lens of empowerment, rebellion, and self-definition. By doing so, it creates its own kind of mythology, one that resonates less with the literal past than with the symbolic power that myths still hold. It reminds us that legends evolve, and sometimes the most enduring ones are the ones rewritten.
Watch: Xena discovers the Trojan Horse:
