Female Warriors in All Their Glory

Those who know me personally know that I love History. History in any shape or form.  It doesn't matter to me if you want to talk about the History of Baseball, Ancient Civilizations, Modern Philosophy, heck even the commode has it's history.  The origins of the subject matter is what fascinates me.  How did it come about?  Who thought of it first?  What circumstances necessitated such a contraption, political system, mathematical equation, way of life?  That is how my mind works!

I must admit, though, that of the few mentioned subjects above, my absolute favorite is Ancient Civilizations.  This blog will be dedicated to the Amazons.  A nation of all-female warriors in Classical Antiquity and Greek mythology.*  Please indulge me in a summary of these fascinating women and their culture.

Notable queens of the Amazons are Penthesilea, who participated in the Trojan War, and her sister, Hippolyte, whose magical girdle, given to her by her fatherAres, was the object of one of the labours of Hercules.  Meaning, Hercules, was commanded, as part of his many quests to prove his worth to the Gods, to captured Hippolyte's girdle.  Hercules, was not the only mythical entity lured to the magical girdle, in one of the many battles Hippolyte engaged in to protect her girdle, she lost her life to Archilles.

The Amazons have become associated with various historical peoples throughout the Roman Empire period and Late Antiquity.  In Roman historiography, there are various accounts of Amazon raids in Asia Minor.  From early Modern period, their name has become a term for women warriors in general.   The Amazon name is believed to have come from the Iranian language, "ha-mazan" which means warriors.  Another source is a Greek derivation from n-mn-gw-jon-es meaning "manless, without husbands."  Yet another, from Classical Greek comes from the word a-mazos, "without breast"; connected with a tradition that Amazons had their right breast cut off or burnt out so they would be able to use a bow more freely and throw spears without physical limitations or obstruction. Verbatim*-Wikipedia 

It is believed that these women originated from the area which is today known as Turkey.  Some versions of the myth surrounding these women are that no men were permitted to have sexual encounters  or reside in Amazon country, but once a year, to continue their race, they visited a neighboring tribe.  The male children produced by these encounters were either killed, sent back to their fathers or exposed to the wilderness; the females were kept and brought up by their mothers, trained in agriculture, hunting and the act of war.  In other versions, men were captured as a spoil of war and were brought back as slaves.  Then once or twice a year they would have sex with their slaves, thus, procreating the next generation of female warriors.

Although, the history of Amazon women has been tainted by mythology, there is an abundance of evidence to their actual existence.  Today we are aware of this amazing culture due mostly in part to literature, artwork and artifacts discovered throughout the ages.  Amazon tombs could be found in many different areas of what was once known as the ancient Greek world.  Amazonian portraits can be identified in vase paintings by the fact that they are wearing only one earring.  Amazons are accredited with inventing the Battle Axe.

The ultimate female warriors, the Amazons, an ancient culture of strong capable women.  Women who relied not only on their wits but also on their physical strengths.  Women who did battle with men and who won most of those battles.  Women warriors who accomplished the advancement of their culture, in spite of their exclusion of male participation and assistance.  Well, to me, that's just icing on the cake!