According to Greek mythology, Amazons were a fearsome warlike tribe of women descended from the god of war, Ares. Ancient Greek myths depict them as being armed with silver axes and golden shields. Amazons were considered as very brave, daring and fearless combatants. Therefore only the most famous Greek heroes, such as Heracles, Achilleus and Theseus, were capable of defeating them. Besides being courageous and bold, they were also looked upon as warriors with dignity. They were depicted as risking their own life to help an injured comrade.
Amazons were said to have originated from the area around the Caucasus Range. Eventually, they settled on the bank of the Thermodon River in Boeotia and founded the town of Themiscyra. War, hunting and agriculture were their principal pursuits. Women ruled their society, and any men in their community were in servile positions. Two queens, one for defense and one for domestic affairs, shared the sovereign rule. For the continuation of the Amazon race, the women mated with the neighboring Gargarean men for a short period each year. Male children born from these unions were either sent to the Gargareans or killed. Female children were kept and raised by the Amazons.
A widespread belief about the Amazons is that the name, "Amazon" is Greek for "without one breast". This belief led to stories that Amazons cut off one of their breasts in order to make better use of the bow and arrow. However, scholars say the term more likely means "those who are not breast fed".
In Herodotus's account, the Amazons were not merely female warriors. Amazons were an entire society of warrior women who killed or gave away male infants and consorted with men only for sex, if at all. Herodotus, a 5th century B.C. historian, also reported that the Greeks defeated the Amazons at the battle of Thermodon and took many captives. During the sea voyage home, the warrior women killed their Greek captors and seized the ship. However, the Amazons were caught in a storm and were thrown ashore, only to face the army of the Scythians. The Scythians soon decided to make peace with the Amazons and eventually the two groups produced offspring. This resulted in a matriarchal society that was known as the Sauromatians, who were later replaced by the Sarmatians.
The Greeks had no doubt that the Amazons existed, and had once attacked the city of Athens itself. Some scholars have long believed that there was at least some truth in the Amazon legends. In the 1950's, scientists working at 4th century B.C. burial sites in the southern Ukraine observed that many graves of women contained swords, spears, daggers, arrowheads and armor.
New archeological excavations in the former Soviet Union, near the Kazakhstan borders, suggest that the Sarmateans did, around the time of Herodotus, have gender equality. The archaeological evidence indicates that some females were warriors who were buried with their weapons (bronze daggers, arrowheads, swords, etc.) while their men stayed home and did "women's" work, such as spinning. Further, women of this society often were buried with a wider variety and a larger quantity of artifacts than men, indicating that women were perhaps more influential than men in this society. Archaeological findings such as these suggest that the Amazons depicted in Greek mythology may have been inspired by these peoples.
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