The Amazons (in Greek, Αμαζ?νε?) are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia. Notable queens of the Amazons are Penthesilea, who participated in the Trojan War, and her sister Hippolyte, whose magical girdle was the object of one of the labours of Hercules. An Amazonomachy is a battle between Amazonian raiders and Greeks, frequently depicted in classical art. In Hellenistic and Roman era historiography, there are various accounts of Amazon raids in Asia Minor. The Amazons become associated with various historical peoples throughout Late Antiquity. From the Early Modern period, their name has become a term for woman warriors in general.

Etymology

This word is probably derived from an Iranian ethnonym *ha-mazan-, with a meaning "warriors". A connected word is probably Hesychius of Alexandria's gloss ?μαζακ?ραν・ πολεμε?ν. Π?ρσαι (hamazakaran: "to make war" (Persian), containing the Indo-Iranian root kar- "make" also in kar-ma).[citation needed] Among Classical Greeks, amazon was given a naive etymology as from a- (privative) + mazos, "without breast", connected with an etiological 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 the physical limitation and obstruction; there is no indication of such a practice in works of art, in which the Amazons are always represented with both breasts, although the right is frequently covered. Other suggested derivations have included: a- (intensive) + mazos, breast, "full-breasted"; a- (privative) masso, touch, "not touching" (men); maza, a Circassian word said to signify "moon", has suggested their connection with the worship of a moon-goddess, perhaps the Asiatic representative of Artemis. According to John Colarusso,[1] the Circassian word a-maz(?)-ah-na, pronounced like the Greek Amazon (stress on the last syllable), means "mother-of-the-forest", but could also be interpreted as "moon-mother". (The Circassians were known for the beauty of their women.)

Greek mythology

Amazons were said to have lived in Pontus, which is part of modern day Turkey near the shore of the Euxine Sea (the Black Sea). There they formed an independent kingdom under the government of a queen, often named Hippolyta ("loose, unbridled mare").The Amazons were supposed to have founded many towns, amongst them Smyrna, Ephesus, Sinope, and Paphos. According to the dramatist Aeschylus, in the distant past they had lived in Scythia, at the Palus Maeotis ("Lake Maeotis", the Sea of Azov), but later moved to Themiscyra on the River Thermodon (the Terme river in northern Turkey). Herodotus called them Androktones ("killers of men"), and he stated that in the Scythian language they were called Oiorpata, which he asserted had this meaning.

In some versions of the myth, no men were permitted to have sexual encounters or reside in Amazon country; but once a year, in order to prevent their race from dying out, they visited the Gargareans, a neighbouring tribe. The male children who were the result of these visits were either put to death, sent back to their fathers or exposed in the wilderness to fend for themselves; the females were kept and brought up by their mothers, and trained in agricultural pursuits, hunting, and the art of war.

In the Iliad>, the Amazons were referred to as Antianeira ("those who fight like men").

The Amazons also make an appearance with the Argonauts, who came across the island of Lemnos on their way to the land of Colchis. They found Lemnos inhabited only by women and ruled by Queen Hypsipyle. They named the island Gynaikokratumene, a Greek word which roughly translates to "reigned by women". Apollonius of Rhodes writes that the women received Jason and his companions in battle array -- "Hypsipile assumed her father's arms, and led the van, terrific in her charms." The young queen tells them that Lemnos was invaded in the past and all of the men were killed. The Amazons invite the Argonauts to take their fallen husbands' places. What the Argonauts do not realize is that the men of the island were slain by their own womenfolk. The Argonauts fortunately were not persuaded to stay long. As they sailed away through the Hellespont and crept up the Euxine they are told -- "flee the Amazonian shore, Else Themyscira soon, with rude alarms, Had seen the assembled Amazons in arms."

The Amazons appear in Greek art of the Archaic period and in connection with several Greek legends. They invaded Lycia, but were defeated by Bellerophon, who was sent out against them by Iobates, the king of that country, in the hope that he might meet his death at their hands (Iliad, vi. 186). The tomb of Myrine is mentioned in the Iliad; later interpretation made of her an Amazon: according to Diodorus, Queen Myrine led her Amazons to victory against Libya and much of Gorgon.

They attacked the Phrygians, who were assisted by Priam, then a young man (Iliad, iii. 189). Although in his later years, towards the end of the Trojan War, his old opponents took his side again against the Greeks under their queen Penthesilea "of Thracian birth" (Quintus Smyrnaeus), who was slain by Achilles, in the Aethiopis that continued the Iliad. (Quintus Smyrn. i.; Justin ii. 4; Virgil, Aeneid i. 490).

One of the tasks imposed upon Heracles by Eurystheus was to obtain possession of the girdle of the Amazonian queen Hippolyte (Apollodorus ii. 5). He was accompanied by his friend Theseus, who carried off the princess Antiope, sister of Hippolyte, an incident which led to a retaliatory invasion of Attica, in which Antiope perished fighting by the side of Theseus. In some versions, however, Theseus marries Hippolyta and in others, he marries Antiope and she does not die. The battle between the Athenians and Amazons is often commemorated in an entire genre of art, amazonomachy, in marble bas-reliefs such as from the Parthenon or the sculptures of the mausoleum of Halicarnassus.

The Amazons are also said to have undertaken an expedition against the island of Leuke, at the mouth of the Danube, where the ashes of Achilles had been deposited by Thetis. The ghost of the dead hero appeared and so terrified the horses, that they threw and trampled upon the invaders, who were forced to retire. Pompey is said to have found them in the army of Mithridates. They are heard of in the time of Alexander, when some of the great king's biographers make mention of Amazon Queen Thalestris visiting him and becoming a mother by him. However, several other biographers of Alexander dispute the claim, including the highly regarded secondary source, Plutarch. In his writing he makes mention of a moment when Alexander's secondary naval commander, Onesicritus, was reading the Amazon passage of his Alexander history to King Lysimachus of Thrace who was on the original expedition: the king smiled at him and said "And where was I, then?" The Roman writer Virgil's characterization of the Volscian warrior maiden Camilla in the Aeneid borrows heavily from the myth of the Amazons.

Lists

There are several (conflicting) lists of names of Amazons. Quintus Smyrnaeus (Posthomerica i) lists the attendant warriors of Penthesilea: "Clonie was there, Polemusa, Derinoe, Evandre, and Antandre, and Bremusa, Hippothoe, dark-eyed Harmothoe, Alcibie, Derimacheia, Antibrote, and Thermodosa glorying with the spear."

Mames of Amazons listed by ancient authors include:

* Ainiaan, enemy of Achilles and an Amazon, one of the twelve who accompanied Penthesilea to the Trojan War. Her name means "swiftness."[citation needed]

* Antianara, succeeded Penthesilea as Queen of the Amazons. She was best known for ordering her male servants to be crippled and castrated "as the lame best perform the acts of love".[citation needed]

* Antibrote, one of the twelve followers of Penthesilea in Quintus Smyrnaeus's Posthomerica (book i)

* Antiope

* Asteria, sixth Amazon killed by Heracles.

* Cleite, one of the twelve followers of Penthesilea . Her ship was blown off course and she landed in Italy, founding the city of Clete.

* Helene, daughter of Tityrus. She fought Achilles and died after he seriously wounded her.

* Hippolyte, the Amazonian queen who possessed a magical girdle she was given by her father Ares, the god of war.

* Melanippe, sister of Hippolyte. Heracles captured her and demanded Hippolyte's girdle in exchange for her freedom. Hippolyte complied and Heracles let her go.

* Otrera, the consort of Ares and mother of Hippolyta and Penthesilea.

* Penthesilea

* Thalestris, a queen of the Amazons in the Alexander Romance.


Informations take from wikipedia

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