10-12-14

tags: Ancient Amazons

Adrienne Mayor, a Research Scholar in Classics and History of Science, Stanford University, is the author of "The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy," a finalist for the National Book Award, nonfiction. Her most recent book is "The Amazons."

Thalestris , Queen of the Amazons, visits Alexander (1696)





The most notorious "fact" that almost everyone has heard about Amazons is based on zero evidence. The idea that the warrior women sacrificed a breast in order to draw a bow is illogical, as any archer or fan of "The Hunger Games" knows. The claim was rejected in classical antiquity by writers and artists--yet this hoary barnacle of false information has not budged for more than 2,500 years. The fascinating origins and tenacity of this belief warrant an entire chapter's discussion (see chapter 5 of my new book, The Amazons). But single-breastedness is only one of many misunderstandings perpetuated about the fierce warrior women of myth and history.



Another stubborn image of Amazons pictures a tribe of man-hating virgins. The notion that Amazons were committed to lifelong chastity and were hostile to men might have arisen from comparisons with the virginal Greek goddesses of war and hunting, Athena and Artemis. The Greek playwright Aeschylus (fifth century BC) described Amazons as “maidens fearless in battle.” Maiden is often conflated with virgin today, but it simply meant “unmarried” in antiquity.



“Man-killers” was another ancient label for Amazons. The Greek historian Herodotus (ca 450 BC) remarked that real-life Amazons of the Scythian steppes did not "marry" unless they had slain a man in battle. Among nomadic tribes of horse people on the vast steppes of Eurasia, where everyone rode, hunted, and made war, it made sense for young women and men to prove their mettle before forming couples and mating. Herodotus commented that a few women never married. But these customs did not mean that unproven warrior-girls and single women were technically virgins. Herodotus and other ancient authors describe plenty of Amazon sex with men outside of traditional marriage as understood by the Greeks.



The persistent idea that Amazons were hostile toward all men was contradicted in antiquity. Hellanikos, a contemporary of Herodotus, described Amazons as “man-loving." Far from preserving virginity, Amazons were said to be lusty lovers of men of their own choosing. Ancient writers identified Amazons as self-confident women of the steppe cultures who fought for glory and survival and enjoyed male companionship, but on independent terms that seemed extraordinary to the Greeks. Numerous ancient accounts describe the Amazons as controlling their own sexuality and reproduction in companionate relationships based on equality.



A strong bond of sisterhood was another famous Amazon trait in classical art and literature. This is often interpreted as a sexual preference for women by modern commentators. But the identification of lesbians with Amazons is a twentieth century twist, declared by the Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva (b. 1892), Natalie Clifford Barney (Pensées d'une Amazone, 1920), and Ti-Grace Atkinson (Amazon Odyssey, 1974). The Greeks were forthcoming about male and female homosexuality, yet no surviving writer mentions homosexuality among Amazons. That does not preclude such relationships among the historical counterparts of the Amazons of the steppes, of course--and a unique painting on an ancient Greek vase imagines that option. The artist illustrated a courting scene between a Thracian huntress and the great Amazon queen Penthesilea who fought in the legendary Trojan War.



Other convincing evidence from antiquity confirms that Amazons were perceived as sexually active: More than 130 personal names of Amazons were recorded in classical literature and art. Only 3 of those named Amazons—Alkippe, Sinope, and Orithyia—were singled out as extraordinary because of their vows of virginity. Verdict: Amazons were man-killers on the battlefield but not man-hating virgins.



Archaeological discoveries of the graves of hundreds of battle-scarred female skeletons buried with weapons now confirm the reality of women known as Amazons. Yet many still believe that the Greek imagination alone summoned Amazons into existence just so they could be killed off by Greek heroes. Amazons only existed in myth to be defeated, goes the argument, and heroic warrior status is impossible for women. True, Amazons are always killed by Greek heroes in myths. But more significantly, the women are the men's equals in valor and prowess. Every Amazon warrior is as brave and noble as the hero she duels. Greek vase paintings of the battles with Amazons are filled with suspense; Amazons fight and die courageously and some even kill Greek warriors. Combat with an Amazon foe requires a fair match, or there is no honor for the ultimate Greek victor.



Die young and beautiful. Amazons invariably do. But a brief, splendid life and death in battle was the ideal heroic destiny: every Greek hero craved “imperishable glory." The heroic spirit proclaims “If our lives be short, let our fame be great.” Remarkably, in Greek myths and historical accounts, Amazons consistently display that valiant spirit, dying heroically in battle. No Amazon ever died old.



In fact, Amazons actually surpass the Greek mythic heroes in the manner of their deaths. Despite their vaunted courage and might, not one of the greatest Greek heroes achieves a glorious death on the battlefield. Perseus, the slayer of Medusa? Died naturally at a ripe old age. Odysseus? Accidentally stabbed by his own son. Bellerophon? Thrown by his flying horse Pegasus into a thorn bush, ends up blind and lame. The superhero Heracles? Pathetic death by poisoned tunic, a gift from his wife. Theseus, Athens’ founding hero? Shoved off a cliff by an elderly king. The mighty Achilles? Ingloriously cut down by an arrow in the heel, shot from behind. Jason, leader of the Argonauts? Crushed by a rotting beam from his old ship the Argo.



Amazons were heroines from exotic lands, evoking awe and respect. The praiseworthy heroic status of the Amazons is at odds with seeing them as victims in some tragedy of ancient misogyny. Instead, the Amazons of myth represented worthy human adversaries for mortal Greek heroes. Amazons had desires, virtues, hopes, flaws, and vulnerabilities like those of Greek heroes. Moreover, like the greatest Greek male champion, each Amazon queen was the protagonist of her own mythic biography, with multiple alternate versions.



It is commonly taken for granted that Amazons were the exclusive creative property of the ancient Greeks alone. But this Hellenocentric assumption also turns out to be false, disproved by literary, historical, artistic, linguistic, and archaeological evidence for traditions of Amazon-like women across many other ancient cultures, much of it only coming to light recently.



So the Greeks did not invent Amazons. But there is a stark difference between the Greek mythic script and other ancient Amazon traditions. In the Greek myths, heroes always destroy Amazons. But in the tales told by non-Greek cultures that actually met female horse-archers on the battlefield, more realistic scenarios unfold. The warlike women forge alliances and friendships with former foes, they fall in love, they win victories, suffer defeats, and live to fight again. In the Greek Amazon myths that have come down to us, Amazons are doomed. But outside Greek mythology—and beyond the Greek world—women warriors and male warriors might make love and war together as equals—and even live happily ever after.



