|
Amazons
Descended from the war god Ares and the sea goddess Harmonia, Amazons were known and feared for their ruthlessness and savagery in battle. They were credited with the founding of the city of Themiscyra in Asia Minor, which was their capital, and also with Ephesus, center of an important cult of the goddess Artemis in classical times. Historical research indicates that Ephesus was actually founded by Greek colonists around 1050 BCE. Hercules had to steal the girdle of the Amazon Queen Hippolyta as one of his twelve labors, and even served for a time as the slave of another Amazon queen, Omphale. On their quest for the Golden Fleece the Argonauts, led by Jason, encountered and narrowly escaped a colony of Amazons living on the Aegean island of Lemnos, whose members mated with men who visited the island, then killed them. An Amazon army came to the assistance of Troy when it was beseiged by the Greeks, and Achilles fought and killed their queen, Penthesilea, impressed by her prowess in battle and then mourning her death after realizing how beautiful she was. Even Alexander the Great was said to have been visited by an Amazon queen, Thalestris, as he traveled through northern Iran. The Amazons were recorded as a wholly self-sufficient society of women, either interacting with men from neighboring tribes only to procreate, or keeping men as both slaves and breeding stock. Male infants were either killed at birth, kept to be raised as slaves and breeders, or sent away to be raised by their fathers, depending on which source is consulted. They were said to be ruled by two queens, one who led them in war and another who led them in peace. In addition to the bow, they used swords and spears, but their favorite weapon was the labrys, or double-edged battle ax. They preferred to fight on horseback, and were excellently skilled riders. Amazon stories may have been derived from encounters by the Greeks with the Berbers, Nubians, Celts, Scythians, and other peoples who had matriarchal societies and warrior women among their ranks. They may also be memories of prehistoric times, as some evidence suggests that women at one time may have lived separately from men in huts and stone houses, creating arts and crafts, composing music and poetry, and growing their own food, while men lived in the fields and woods, interacting with the women only to breed. Some archaeological evidence suggests that exclusive warrior women societies as described by the Greeks may well have existed in their own time. Encounters with such a tribe of Amazons, perhaps even those said to live at Themiscyra, may have impressed the Greeks so much that the term "Amazon" came to be applied to all warrior women, including those among the Berbers of Libya and the horseback riding tribes of Scythia, in what is now the Ukraine. Amazons today remain a powerful symbol for feminists and lesbians, and their preferred weapon, the labrys, has become a symbol of lesbian pride. Rumors of Amazon tribes living in the unexplored regions of Africa and South America still persist. Sir Walter Raleigh even claimed to have fought Amazons on the banks of the South American river which bears their name. The comic book character Wonder Woman is an Amazon, daughter of Queen Hippolyta. Originally called Paradise Island, her secret home is now called Themiscyra, after the Amazon home of ancient myth. Amazon Women Warriors in Ancient History Amazons - Mysteries of Ancient History and Archaeology Clio: Women in Mythology, Religion and Herstory
|
|||||||||
