Greek Women Warriors - The Amazons

From Queen Penthesilea and Athena of the Trojan war epic, to Boadicea of the Iceniian Celts, Joan of Arc, and Britannia of Europe and, in modern times, Emma Peel of the Avengers and her leather-clad successor Xena, Warrior Princess, woman warriors have fascinated mankind.

The Amazons were a nation of female warriors in Greek Mythology who lived in an undetermined place away from the civilized world in Asia or North Africa.

Many ancient historians, including Herodotus, were confident these women lived Scythia, a region of today’s Ukraine while others believed the Amazons inhabited areas farther east in the Caucasus region. The Amazons were also placed in Asia Minor , today’s Turkey or Libya.

Amazonian Society

The Amazons ruled. They also participated in trade, manufacturing and, of course war. There is plenty of discussion about their relationship with males.

Obviously, men were needed for procreation. One theory is that the Amazons would visit neighboring settlements to procreate with the men. Another supposition is that they would raid the towns and capture the males.

After they were impregnated by their captives, they killed or released them, or, it is also suggested, kept them as slaves.

If the child was female, she would be properly trained in the ways of the Amazons, if male, he was in trouble. In some stories the boys were kept to grow up as slaves, in other, killed, while in yet others, they were sent away to be raised by their fathers.

Proficiency in the art of war was basic to individuals in Amazonians society. From an early age the girls learned to ride horses. They became proficient in the use of the bow and arrow, a double edge axe known as the librys that Amazons supposedly invented and a shield in the form of a crescent.

Total authority over the Amazons was held by a queen, or maybe two. In several stories there was one ruler over civil affairs and another over military matters.

Amazon queens

Well known Amazon queens were the sisters Penthesilea, Hippolyta and Melanipie or Antiope. Penthesilea – with another dozen Amazons - took part in the Trojan War on the side of the Trojans.

The mighty Achilles seems to have had a soft spot for her, but he ended up killing her in battle.

Perhaps better known today as the mother of Wonder Woman (Diana Prince), Hippolyta was killed by Heracles as part of his famous labors. Heracles wanted the magic girdle Hippolyta’s father, Ares, had given her and she was willing to part with it.

But Hera, Zeus’ wife and scourge of Heracles, disguised herself as an Amazon and running through their camp shouted that the strong man was kidnapping the queen. In the ensuing battle, Hippolyta was killed and Heracles ripped the girdle from her lifeless body.

In the saga of Melanipie-Antiope, Heracles kidnaps her to force Hippolyta –who does not die – to give him the girdle.

Is there Evidence Amazons Were Not a Myth?

In the 1990s, evidence began to surface in the Scythian region of Sarmatia that substantiated the existence of warrior women.

Numerous tombs have been found where women were buried with weapon; bows by and large. It is known that Sarmatian women participated fully in the public, social and military activities.

These two particulars have lead archaeologists to believe that the Amazon myth originated from Sarmatian women defending themselves while the men were away fighting others.

The period of male absence seem to have been more common during the 7th and 5th centuries BC.

Amazons in Historic Times

The best claim in living memory to the Amazons, are the Gbeto, black Dahomey warrior women of the Gulf of Guinea (now Benin) who survived into the 19th century. Europeans first encountered them about 1600. In 1724 a British Royal African Co. agent made a written account and they were studied between 1840 and 1890.

Oral traditions confirm a royal warrior band of elephant huntresses supplying king Wegbala with ivory and meat. The Gbeto wore antelope horns on their heads and dressed to play down femininity. They had pierced ear lobes and exposed their breasts as an act of defiance. They were regimented, extremely athletic and skilled with many weapons including muskets.

English, Portuguese and French sources document the Gbeto fought in inter-tribal battles during the 18th century.

Source

_{The Amazons in Antiquity and Modern Times}

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