Amazons- Who were they:

In Greek mythology, the Amazons were a race of warlike women noted for their riding skills, courage, and pride, who lived at the outer limits of the known world, sometimes specifically mentioned as the city of Themiskyra on the Black Sea. Their queen was Hippolyte, and although Homer tells us they were ‘the equal of men’, they most famously fought and lost separate battles againstthree Greek heroes: Hercules, Thesus, and Bellerophon. Scenes from these battles were popular in Greek art, especially on Pottery and in monumental sculpture adorning some of the most important buildings in the Greek world, including the Parthenon of Athens. Intriguingly, archaeological investigation of tombs across Eurasia has shown conclusively that many women of nomadic steppe tribes were indeed warriors, particularly around the Black Sea area. 

Origins & Name

In mythology, the Amazons were daughters of Ares, the god of war. They were members of a women-only society where men were welcomed only for breeding purposes and all male infants were killed. They were thought to dwell at the edge of what the Greeks considered their ‘civilized’ world and were most often associated with the area around the southern coast of the Black Sea, particularly the city-state of Themiskyra. Another Anatolian connection was at Ephesus, where it was thought Amazons had sacrificed to the goddess of hunting Artemis at her temple there and performed war dances, a ceremony repeated annually thereafter. Indeed, the foundation of many settlements in Asia minor was credited to Amazons, notably Epseus, Cyme, Sinope, Priene, Myrina, Smyrna, and Mytilene on Lesbos. 

Herodotus

Herodotus (c. 484 – 425/413 BCE), writing in his Histories (Bk. 4, 110-117), gives a lengthy description of a meeting between Amazons and Scythians. Young warriors of the latter group persuaded. A number of visiting Amazons to set up a new society together, with the women. Insisting neither they nor their offspring would change their lifestyles at all. This new race was considered the origins of the Sarmatians in southern Russia. Appropriately enough, a people famous for their horses and military aggression. 

Essentially, the society of the Amazons was thought of as Greek male-society. In reverse and so they pursued such traditional male-dominated activities as horse-riding, hunting, and warfare. In legend (with no supporting historical evidence). The Amazons burnt off their right breast in order to better use a bow and throw a spear, indeed. The term amazon was popularly understood as meaning ‘breastless’. Although alternative meanings include. ‘One breast’ or ‘not breast-fed.’ Another alternative origin of the name is that it comes from Persian. And means simply ‘warrior.’ One final interpretation is that the name derives from the Armenian. Meaning ‘Moon-goddess’, and refers to priestesses of the Moon. On the southern shores of the Black Sea who did, on occasion, bear arms.

Mastos

Interestingly, Amazons are not depicted in ancient Greek art with a missing breast. The historian Adrienne Mayor suggests that the literary confusion. Therefore, comes from the similarity between amazon and the Greek word for breast mastos. In art, Amazons are most often depicted wearing hoplite armour and they frequently ride a horse. The most common weapons are the bow and spear, but there are also examples where Amazons carry axes. They were not only regarded as capable warriors but also particular experts at ambush and cavalry charges. 

Bellerophon& Amazons

Bellerophon was involved in a third meeting between Greeks and Amazons. He was another hero who had to perform impossible tasks in service to a king. This time Proitos, king of Argos, outraged at (false) accusations from his wife that Bellerophon had attacked her. Sent the hero to serve Iobates, king of Lycia. It was he who set the hero the task of killing the Chimera. A fantastic creature which was a fire-breathing mix of lion. Snake, and goat – and when Bellerophon managed that feat, he was told to go off and fight the Amazons. Naturally, the Greek hero won the day and was even made heir to Iobates’ kingdom on his victorious return.

Amazonomachies

More general Amazonomachies (battles with Amazons) were present on the shield of the cult statue of Athena Parthenos. Inside the Parthenon (438 BCE), on the west pediment of. The Temple of Asclepias at Epidarurus (395-375 BCE), on the Temple of Athena Nike on the Athenian Acropolis (c. 425-420 BCE), on the Tholos of Delphi (380-370 BCE), and on the Temple of Ares in the Agora of Athens. The oldest depiction of a warrior fighting an Amazon is on a terracotta votive shield from 700 BCE. Hercules fighting Amazons is the hero’s second most popular labour depicted. On Greek black-figure Pottery (after the Nemean lion) with almost 400 surviving examples. Amazons fighting unnamed warriors were common throughout the 6th and 5th centuries BCE both on black- and red-figure Greek pottery.

In particular, during the 5th century BCE in Athens. These mythological battles with Amazons came to represent contemporary events, i.e. the battles between Greeks and the invading Persians during the Persian wars. The armies of Darius I at Marathon (490 BCE), Xerxes at Salamis, and the Persian attack on Athens itself in 480 BCE came to be represented by Amazons as the ultimate in barbarous foreigners; indeed depictions of Amazons on pottery in this period are shown actually dressed in Persian costume. Public buildings and their accompanying sculpture were, without doubt, an important method of mass communication, and depictions of heroes fighting Amazons reminded ordinary people that the political leaders had successfully defended Greek culture against the threat of foreign, and in Greek eyes less civilized, invaders.

Amazons in Archeology

Archaeological excavation of Sarmatian tombs and those of other nomadic tribes elsewhere, especially in Kazakhstan and dating to the time of Herodotus, has revealed the likelihood that some of these women were warriors. Female skeleton remains were not only found with weapons, armour, and horse trappings but also signs of injury from blades and arrowheads. One particular Scythian grave, dating to the 4th century BCE and located near ancient Tyras on the Dniester River on the northern coast of the Black Sea, contained a female skeleton with a wound in the skull probably caused by a battle-axe and a bronze arrowhead firmly stuck in one knee. The deceased had been surrounded by two iron spears, 20 arrows with bronze arrowheads and a bronze knife, as wells as pieces of body armour.

Far from being unique, skeletal analysis and study of their accompanying objects reveal that of over 1,000 such steppe nomad graves, spread across territories from Turkey to Russia, an impressive 37% were warrior women, many of whom had survived and/or succumbed to injuries typical of one-on-one violent combat. Most graves date to the 5th-4th century BCE and the women are, like the Amazons of Greek mythology, always young – between the age of 16 and 30 years old. It certainly seems then, that once again, Greek myth-makers, historians and artists were inspired not only by their imaginations when they created and depicted the Amazon legends but by the historical reality of Eurasian fighting women. 

This was an ancient tale of women who were at par with men. It’s quite heart-breaking that today women are subject to such cruel atrocities. Where we worship idols as Devi, we impose cruelty on women. So keep following us for more. We will be back soon.