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Amazons
Women in Ancient Greece and Rome
Amazons:
•The female warriors of Greek
mythology appear in the earliest epic
literature (7th century BCE), and in
visual art beginning in the 6th
century BCE.
•They are portrayed as an all-female
group, rather than women warriors
within a mixed society
Amazons: a “paradoxical
mixture of youthful
attractiveness and a danger
that must be suppressed.”
(Fantham)
•They are both allies and enemies of
conventional male heroes –
•but many male heroes (Herakles,
Theseus, and Achilles, e.g.) have
noteworthy battles and/or love
affairs with Amazons
Were the Amazons Real?
The Greeks tend to put
Amazons as far away as
possible – in Scythia (on the
Black Sea), or in Ethiopia in
Africa.
So, there were not Amazon
groups living anywhere easily
accessible to Greeks; they
were thought of as living in
distant, even mythic, lands
(Ethiopia).
Nobody could prove they
didn’t exist, but we have no
contemporary historical
records of anyone ever seeing
one.
Is there independent archeological
evidence of Amazons?
Not of groups of women living
exclusively of men; all communities
for which archeological remains
have been found are of mixed
gender, across human history.
(Some religious groups, e.g.
convents or monasteries, may have
burials where only adults of one
gender are found; this is not true of
any prehistoric remains.)
Is there evidence that women
participated in war and government
in societies contemporary with the
ancient Greeks?
Historical Amazons?
“You see, although I was already convinced
by some ancient stories I have heard, I now
know for sure that there are pretty well
countless numbers of women, generally
called Sarmatians, around the Black Sea,
who not only ride horses, but use the bow
and other weapons. There, men and women
have an equal duty to cultivate these skills, so
cultivate them equally they do.” (Plato,
Laws)
“Fifty ancient burial mounds near the
town of Pokrovka, Russia, near the
Kazakhstan border, have yielded skeletons
of women buried with weapons, suggesting
the Greek tales may have had some basis in
fact.” (Archeology Magazine)
Reconstruction of the costume of a warrior-priestess
Nomads known as the Sauromatians buried their dead here
beginning ca. 600 B.C.; according to Herodotus the Sauromatians
were descendants of the Amazons and the Scythians, who lived
north of the Sea of Azov. After ca. 400 B.C. the Pokrovka mounds
were reused by the Sarmatians, another nomadic tribe possibly
related to the Sauromatians.
In general, females were buried
with a wider variety and larger
quantity of artifacts than males,
and seven female graves
contained iron swords or
daggers, bronze arrowheads, and
whetstones to sharpen the
weapons. (Archeology Magazine)
Grave goods, including arrowheads
and a sword, buried with a female
Some scholars have argued that
weapons found in female burials
served a purely ritual purpose, but
the bones tell a different story. The
bowed leg bones of one 13- or 14year-old girl attest a life on
horseback, and a bent arrowhead
found in the body cavity of another
woman suggested that she had been
killed in battle.
The Pokrovka women cannot have
been the Amazons of Greek myth-who were said to have lived far to the
west--but they may have been one of
many similar nomadic tribes who
occupied the Eurasian steppes in the
Early Iron Age. (Archeology Magazine)
Female warrior burial in situ
How did Greeks describe the Amazons?
Although the real women warriors they
might have encountered lived and worked
with men who also practiced war, the Greeks
invented the Amazons as an all-female group.
They created different “ethnologies” to
describe how Amazons bore and raised
children, and managed to live without men.
They situated them far away, to the East or
North or South.
They put them in contact with many major
heroes, either as lovers or as enemies
defeated in war – or, more commonly, both.
Almost all visual art with Amazons shows
them in defeat – often looking sensuous at the
same time.
Wounded Amazon, original c. 425 BCE, made
for the Sanctuary of Artemis, Ephesus.
Exotic Amazons
Most early vase paintings of Amazons show them in conventional
male clothing. Here Herakles (identified by his lionskin),
heroically nude, attacks an Amazon who is dressed in traditional
hoplite garb.
Other representations show
Amazons in the long pants and
pointy caps associated with
Persians, the Eastern Empire
that was the powerful enemy of
Greece from 490 BCE onwards.
The Greeks thought of the
Persians as slavish (since they
were subjects of a king, not
citizens of a polis) and
effeminate.
An Amazon in Persian clothes
worships at an altar (in a pose often
seen of Greeks worshipping)
Naturally, they dressed in formconcealing pants rather than
manly tunics; their aversion to
nudity was gendered as
feminine by Greek culture.
Amazons were thought of as horsewomen, and in some accounts
(e.g. Herodotus) were portrayed as nomads. Here an Amazon is
shown taming a horse with reigns and a stick.
The view of
Amazons as
nomadic
horsewomen fits
the evidence of
historical warrior
women.
Amazons are sometimes shown
with exotic weaponry, such as
crescent-shaped shields
(seemingly impractical but
probably historical, for some
peoples). The moon is evoked
by the crescent.
This Amazon fights with a
(probably double-headed) axe,
a weapon associated with
ancient history (e.g. the axes of
the archery contest in the
Odyssey) and with ritual use
(especially in Crete, where the
labyrinth is the house of the
double-ax, or labrys).
Amazons are
usually shown
in a favorable
light in early
Greek art
Here an
Amazon
(dressed in
Hoplite armor)
carries a
wounded
companion
from the
battlefield
Men might also
be portrayed in
such a scene
Mythical Amazon Realms (Near the Black Sea; also
Libya and Ethiopia)
“The edge of the oikoumene (inhabited world) is literally and metaphorically
the frontier between civilization and savagery” (W. Tyrell)
Ethnologies
Herodotus (mid-late 5th century BCE):
•Amazons and Scythian men meet and do battle
•but then a few pair off for “other pursuits,” resulting in peace
and desire for an alliance
•“We could not live with your women: our customs are quite
different from theirs . . . But if you truly wish to have us as your
wives and will conduct yourselves with strict justice toward us, get
your inheritance and come back to us, and let us live together by
ourselves.”
•Amazons are beautiful, noble
warriors
•“love (or sex) conquers all” –
note, no hint of homosexuality
•women will not get along
•Amazons can learn Scythian
language, not vice-versa
•husbands bring “dowry”
•new society is formed
(representing real ethnography?)
Diodorus Siculus (1st century CE):
•Amazons live with men in an inversion of normal sex-roles
•women are rulers and fighters, men “like married women in our
own society” look after home and children and obey their wives
•female infants have their right breast seared off (to improve bow
use & other fighting) (“a-mazon” means “without a breast” – but all
visual examples show them with two.)
•boys’ legs and arms are mutilated to make them unfit for war
•Amazons have a large military empire
•but are finally defeated by Herakles, who “thought that it would ill
accord with his resolve to be the benefactor of the whole of mankind
if he should allow any race to be under the rule of women.” (quoted
by Blundell)
Heroes and Amazons
Many Greek heroes battle Amazons. In this temple metope, Herakles
prepares to kill an Amazon.
Achilles and
Penthesileia
The Amazons came to
Troy to assist the Trojans
(though the Trojan king,
Priam, had fought
Amazons in his youth).
Penthesileia and Achilles
met in single combat.
At the moment he killed
her, their eyes met and he
realized too late that here
was the only woman he
could ever love.
What ideas of men,
women and love underlie
this story?
Herakles vs. the Amazons
Herakles was Greece’s most
universal hero – he went
everywhere, did everything,
and was worshipped and
commemorated all over
Greece.
One of his famous Twelve
Labors was to bring back the
girdle of the Amazon queen
Hippolyte (or Antiope).
Although Hippolyte was
willing to turn it over without
a fight, something went wrong
and a battle erupted.
Heracles’ fight with the
Amazons is a prominent
feature of Greek art.
Herakles conquers an Amazon, from the
Athenian Treasury at Delphi
Herakles and the Amazons
Herakles prepares to kill a fleeing Amazon, named Andromache. Note the gestures.
Theseus and Antiope (or Hippolyta)
Metope from the Treasury of the Athenians at Delphi, c. 480 BCE
•Theseus killed Antiope when
she attacked the wedding party
when he married Phaedra
•The Amazons attacked Athens
to get Antiope back, and she was
killed by Theseus in that battle
•She was accidentally killed by
Theseus went on an expedition
an Amazon, Molpadia
against the Amazons on the Black
Sea, either with Herakles or with his
friend Perithoos.
He either captured the Queen,
Antiope -- or she fell in love with
him and betrayed her city to run off
with him.
The different versions continue:
Theseus conquers an Amazon: Athenian
Treasury at Delphi
Amazons in Athens:
Almost all stories of
Amazons set them far
away, at the borders of
civilization.
Antiope was the mother of Hippolytus,
who was devoted to Artemis and rejected
sex and love (appropriate son for an
Amazon)!
Hippolytus was cursed by Theseus
through Aphrodite’s manipulations –
when Phaedra falsely accused him of rape.
This Athenian story is one
of the very few that show
the Amazons attacking a
Greek country, rather than
experiencing raids or
conquests by Greeks, or
fighting in far off locales
such as Troy.
The Amazons reached the
Areopagus (hill of Ares on
the Acropolis) and Theseus
either defeated them or
made a treaty with them.
Amazons and the City of Athens
•Theseus was the dominant
hero of the city of Athens
•His exploits were used to
explain the unity of the the
area around Athens (Attica)
under the power of Athens
•His exploits were often used
in a symbolic way in
Athenian political discourse
•defeat of Amazons showed
Athenian superiority over
(feminized, foreign-ized)
enemies of the current day.
“[The Amazons] were considered
men for their high courage, rather
than women for their sex; for they
seemed to outdo men in their spirit
more than to be at a disadvantage
in their form. . .
[But after they tried to conquer
Athens,] having met with valiant
men, they came to possess spirits
suitable to their own nature . . .and
by their disasters rather than their
bodies they were deemed to be
women.
And so those women, by their
unjust greed for others’ land, justly
lost their own.”
Lysias, Funeral Oration, 4th c. BCE
Four Really Scary (and Related) Things
(And the Mythic Battles to Conquer Them)
Chaos: usually represented
Nature: represented by the
by Giants, fought by gods
crazed, uncivilized, partanimal Centaurs, usually
fought by Lapiths
Barbarians (especially the
East), represented by Persians
or Trojans, fought by Greeks
And last but not least –
Women, represented by
Amazons, fought by Greeks
Amazonomachy
Many Greek temples and public monuments show
Amazonomachies (Battles with Amazons), sometimes in
conjunction with others of the “Four Big Battles” shown above.
What do Amazonomachies show about the Greek view of
Amazons?
Temple of Apollo Epikourios - Bassae: Amazonomachy, ca. 425-420 B.C.
Amazonomachy
Although there are scenes of Greeks in defeat, there are many more of
Amazons getting the worst of it. Here, one Amazon pleads for mercy while
another defends her.
The Amazons are wearing male “street clothes” rather than military gear.
On the other hand, men didn’t exactly go into battle nude, either.
Heroic artistic convention takes on a sensuous element.
Amazonomachy
Here a Greek seizes an Amazon by her hair – shorthand evocation of the
glorious defeat of an enemy city (i.e. dragging off the women into
slavery).
Another Amazon defends a fallen comrade.
Amazonomachy
In this frieze, the Amazons are distinguished by Phrygian caps, but are
otherwise similar to the ones in the Bassae frieze
Again, one Amazon pleads for mercy as a Greek draws back his sword to
kill her. Pleading for mercy appears more often in Amazon conflicts than
in other kinds.
It was usually seen as a feminine or at least non-combatant gesture;
perhaps in defeat the Amazons “revert” to expected feminine behavior.
Here an Amazon
seems to be at an
advantage, but the
seemingly
subdued Greek is
preparing to
strike
A Greek pushes an
Amazon back; his
physical force is
vitally portrayed.
The Amazon’s offbalance position is
emphasized by her
clothing, which falls
away to reveal her
body – female and
male nudity still
carried very
different cultural
meanings.
Late Hellenistic & Roman Amazons
By the 2nd century CE, Greek and Roman writers were
beginning to adopt a more favorable view of Amazons.
Perhaps because of the extensive multi-culturalism of
the time, or because women’s role in public life, both
business and civic, was much more pronounced, the
Amazons did not seem threatening to order and
decency.
In this modern world, mythological re-writes (such as
Lysias’ version of the Athenian defeat of Amazons) did
not draw on a shared politico-religious history and were
not as meaningful.
Amazons were favorably exoticized.
Plutarch’s Life of Theseus (1st c. CE)
•Historian, who considers many different versions
•No real political agenda
•A view of the Theseus episode that sounds very
different from the classical Athenian version
On Antiope:
•Plutarch dismisses the story that Antiope was a war-prize
given to Theseus; argues that Theseus took her prisoner.
•Argues that Theseus had to use deceit; “the Amazons,
being naturally lovers of men, [did not avoid Theseus]
when he landed on their coasts [but] sent him presents to
his ship.” Theseus invited Antiope aboard and kidnapped
her.
Plutarch’s Life of Theseus (1st c. CE)
On board ship, a young man fell in love with Antiope.
She rejected his advances kindly, but he committed
suicide
The Amazons came over land to get Antiope back;
Plutarch argues that after 4 months and defeats on both
sides, a truce was reached (despite differing accounts)
“Nor is it to be wondered at, that in events of such
antiquity, history should be disordered.”
Plutarch mentions burial sites of Amazons in Athens,
Megara, and Calchis – local traditions incorporate
Amazons into local history
The Alexander Romance (4th c. CE)
Many historians record that Alexander met with a troop of
Amazons led by Queen Thalestris
Arrian reports that the Medes sent Alexander a troop of
100 women who were known as Amazons –
Alexander sent them away, fearing his men would treat
them disrespectfully
but said he would come visit them someday and
impregnate their queen.
(Arrian says the more trustworthy sources reject this
story.)
The Alexander Romance dates from the 2nd-4th centuries
CE and ranges from military adventures to surreal under
sea and outer space explorations.
The Alexander Romance (4th c. CE)
We are on the other side of the river Amazon, but we live
on an island. The perimeter of our land is a river with no
starting point, whose circuit takes a year to travel . . .
There is a single road into our land.
We virgins who live here total 270,000.
There is nothing male among us: our men live on the other
side of the river and graze the land.
Every year we keep a festival and make a horse sacrifice to
Zeus, Poseidon, Hephaistos and Ares, which lasts for 30
days.
All of us who wish to end our virginity stay with the men.
The Alexander Romance (4th c. CE)
But they send all the female children they bear across to
us when they reach the age of seven.
When an enemy attacks, 120,000 of us ride out on
horseback, while the rest guard the island, the men
drawn up and following us.
Anyone who is wounded in the war receives adoration
from our proud hearts . . . if she dies, her next of kin
receive a large sum of money.
So we compete for reputation.
If we defeat the enemy or they just run away, a terrible
disgrace stays with them for all time.
But if they defeat us, they will be in a situation of having
defeated women.
The Alexander Romance (4th c. CE)
(Alexander writes respectfully asking for tribute and
hostages: “We will give each person you send a stater of
gold a month as maintenance; after a year, they will
return . . .” The Amazons agree.)
“We give you permission to come and see our country.”
(The Amazons send tribute of 100 talents of gold and
hostages of 500 women to stay for a year.) “But if any of
them loses her virginity to a foreigner, she shall stay
with you.”
“We accept allegiance to you . . . we have heard of your
exceptional qualities and your bravery.”
“We are people who dwell beside the world, but you
have come to us as our master.”
The Alexander Romance (4th c. CE)
(Alexander writes to his mother Olympias)
The river Thermodon . . .is a large river that cannot be
crossed and is full of animals.
It flows out onto a flat and fertile land inhabited by the
Amazons, women of exceptional height, noted for their
attractiveness and strength, wearing bright clothes.
They used silver weapons and axes – they did not have
iron or bronze.
They were drawn up with intelligence and ingenuity.
What did the Amazons mean to the women of Greece?
Sarcophagus relief
of pitched battle, with Achilles in the center holding the slain
Penthesileia. 3rd century CE