Myths surrounding the warrior women of Amazon
In Greek mythology, the word ‘Amazon’ refers to a race of female warriors. Have you watched ‘Wonder Woman,’ an adventure film from 2017? In that case, you’ve seen how brave and fierce this all-female Amazonian race was! While Amazonian warrior women are considered to be mythological, you may wonder is there any historical basis for the legend? After Greeks invaded the Black Sea region, which was thought to be an Amazonian territory, myths about these women started to spread. Were the ancient Amazonian warrior women like those shown in modern movies? Or were they made up characters by the Greeks to glorify their heroes? Well, that is difficult to tell. For now, let us dive into these fascinating myths.
The myth of Hercules
In Greek mythology, Hippolyta is the queen of the Amazons and the daughter of Ares, the god of war. It is said that Ares gifted Hippolyta a waist belt, but Admete, Eurystheus’ (ruler of Tiyrns) daughter, wanted the belt for herself. To fulfil his daughter’s wish, Eurystheus asks Hercules, a Greek hero, to get the belt for his daughter. As a result, Hercules travels to Themiscyra, the home of the Amazon queen, to battle against Hippolyta to get the belt. Hercules defeats the Amazonian queen and gains the status of a hero.
The myth of Theseus
A similar story involves Theseus, a Greek hero and Hippolyta (also known as Antiope). Theseus was the founder of Athens. In a battle with the Amazonians, Theseus captures Hippolyta. According to another story, Hippolyta gladly leaves her Amazonian warrior women to be Theseus’s wife in Athens. There are several stories about how she died—some even debate whether Theseus killed her on purpose.
The myth of Achilles
Achilles and Penthesilea are two other Greek mythological characters from the 8th century BCE. The story about these two is mentioned in Aethiopis, a poem by Arctinus of Miletus. Penthesilea was an Amazonian from Thrace. She, together with twelve other Amazonians, helped the Trojans during the Trojan War. The women proved themselves as powerful warriors on the battlefield. Seeing this, Achilles challenged Penthesilea for a fight. Although Achilles managed to kill the Amazonian woman, he fell in love with her right when she was about to die.
Amazonians became Scythian warrior women
According to the historian Herodotus, Greeks successfully conquered the Amazonians in wars. They imprisoned the Amazonians and put them onto three ships. However, these fierce warriors escaped and arrived near Scythia and stole from the Scythian villagers. Soon, Scythians married these Amazonian women, and the two tribes lived alongside peacefully. Herodotus stated that the ‘Sauromatae’ were descendants of the Amazonians and Scythian men.
Archaeological evidence
In the 1940s, archaeologists discovered ancient human bones while digging kurgans, Scythian burial mounds, Caucasus. DNA analysis revealed that 300 of the skeletons were of women. Archaeologists even found horses, bows, axes and spears buried along with these Scythian warrior women. Many of these Scythian warrior women were buried beside their new-borns or young children. The skeletons were estimated to be 2,300 years old. You’d be surprised to know that the skeleton of the oldest Scythian woman was intact, with the calathos (ceremonial hat) still on her head!
The most common myth about the Amazonians is that they killed men! Greeks considered these women untamed and wild. Therefore, it is possible that they started considering these women as mythical figures owing to their power and valour and included these fierce ladies in their stories.
Thus, some of what we previously thought to be myth may actually be true!