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68-456: The name Pleiades ostensibly derived from the name of their mother, Pleione , effectively meaning "daughters of Pleione". However, etymologically, the name of the star-cluster likely came first, and Pleione's name indicated that she was the mother of the Pleiades. According to another suggestion Pleiades derived from πλεῖν ( plein , "to sail") because of the cluster's importance in delimiting

136-457: A "manly weapon" should have been invented by a "tribe of women", but he accepts the attribution out of respect for his authority, Johannes Aventinus . Ariosto 's Orlando Furioso contains a country of warrior women, ruled by Queen Orontea; the epic describes an origin much like that in Greek myth, in that the women, abandoned by a band of warriors and unfaithful lovers, rallied together to form

204-474: A child's status was determined by the mother's reputation. This remarkably high esteem of women and legal regulations based on maternal lines, still in effect in the 5th century BC in the Lycian regions that Herodotus had traveled to, suggested to him the idea that these people were descendants of the mythical Amazons. Modern historiography no longer relies exclusively on textual and artistic material, but also on

272-685: A detailed account of the bad reputation Amazons had in the Renaissance. She notes that she has not found any Elizabethans comparing the Queen to an Amazon and suggests that they might have hesitated to do so because of the association of Amazons with enfranchisement of women, which was considered contemptible. Elizabeth was present at a tournament celebrating the marriage of the Earl of Warwick and Anne Russell at Westminster Palace on 11 November 1565 involving male riders dressed as Amazons. They accompanied

340-585: A great number of them at a site since called Panaema (blood-soaked field). The Christian author Eusebius writes that during the reign of Oxyntes , one of the mythical kings of Athens, the Amazons burned down the temple at Ephesus . In another myth Dionysus unites with the Amazons to fight against Cronus and the Titans . Polyaenus writes that after Dionysus has subdued the Indians, he allies with them and

408-591: A joint campaign into the Land of Women , to the Middle East at the border to India. Petechonsis initially fought the Amazons, but soon fell in love with their queen Sarpot and eventually allied with her against an invading Indian army. This story is said to have originated in Egypt independently of Greek influences. Sources provide names of individual Amazons, that are referred to as queens of their people, even as

476-423: A misunderstanding led to the fight. In the course of this, Heracles killed the queen and several other Amazons. In awe of the strong hero, the Amazons eventually handed the belt to Heracles. In another version, Heracles does not kill the queen, but exchanges her kidnapped sister Melanippe for the belt. Queen Hippolyte was abducted by Theseus , who took her to Athens, where she was married to him and bore him

544-624: A nation from which men were severely reduced, to prevent them from regaining power. The Amazons and Queen Hippolyta are also referenced in Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales in " The Knight's Tale ". Amazons continued to be subject of scholarly debate during the European Renaissance, and with the onset of the Age of Exploration , encounters were reported from ever more distant lands. In 1542, Francisco de Orellana reached

612-632: A number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Heracles , the Argonautica and the Iliad . They were female warriors and hunters, known for their physical agility, strength, archery, riding skills, and the arts of combat. Their society was closed to men and they raised only their daughters and returned their sons to their fathers, with whom they would only socialize briefly in order to reproduce. Courageous and fiercely independent,

680-564: A practice in ancient works of art, in which the Amazons are always represented with both breasts, although one is frequently covered. According to Philostratus , Amazon babies were not fed just with the right breast. Author Adrienne Mayor suggests that the false etymology led to the myth. Herodotus used the terms Androktones ( Ἀνδροκτόνες ) 'killers/slayers of men' or 'of husbands' and Androleteirai ( Ἀνδρολέτειραι ) 'destroyers of men, murderesses'. Amazons are called Antianeirai ( Ἀντιάνειραι ) 'equivalent to men' and Aeschylus used

748-530: A son, Hippolytus . In other versions, the kidnapped Amazon is called Antiope , the sister of Hippolyte. In revenge, the Amazons invaded Greece, plundered some cities along the coast of Attica, and besieged and occupied Athens. Hippolyte, who fought on the side of Athens, according to another account was killed during the final battle along with all of the Amazons. According to Plutarch , the god Dionysus and his companions fought Amazons at Ephesus . The Amazons fled to Samos and Dionysus pursued them and killed

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816-565: Is mentioned in the Iliad as the place of Myrine 's death. Later identified as an Amazon queen, according to Diodorus (1st century BC), the Amazons under her rule invaded the territories of the Atlantians , defeated the army of the Atlantian city of Cerne, and razed the city to the ground. The Poet Bacchylides (6th century BC) and the historian Herodotus (5th century BC) located

884-427: Is said to have killed the hero Clonus of Moesia , son of Doryclus , with her javelin. Stephanus of Byzantium (7th-century CE) provides numerous alternative lists of the Amazons, including for those who died in combat against Heracles, describing them as the most prominent of their people . Both Stephanus and Eustathius connect these Amazons with the placename Thibais , which they claim to have been derived from

952-881: The Amazon River , naming it after the Icamiabas  [ pt ] , a tribe of warlike women he claimed to have encountered and fought on the Nhamundá River , a tributary of the Amazon. Afterwards the whole basin and region of the Amazon ( Amazônia in Portuguese, Amazonía in Spanish) were named after the river. Amazons also figure in the accounts of both Christopher Columbus and Walter Raleigh . Beginning around 550 BC. depictions of Amazons as daring fighters and equestrian warriors appeared on vases. After

1020-722: The Battle of Marathon in 490 BC the Amazon battle - Amazonomachy became popular motifs on pottery. By the sixth century BC, public and privately displayed artwork used the Amazon imagery for pediment reliefs, sarcophagi, mosaics, pottery, jewelry and even monumental sculptures, that adorned important buildings like the Parthenon in Athens. Amazon motifs remained popular until the Roman imperial period and into Late antiquity . Apart from

1088-600: The Iliad and several other epics, is one of the works that in combination form the Trojan War Epic Cycle . In one of the few references to the text, an Amazon force under queen Penthesilea , who was of Thracian birth, came to join the ranks of the Trojans after Hector 's death and initially put the Greeks under serious pressure. Only after the greatest effort and the help of the reinvigorated hero Achilles ,

1156-550: The Indo-Iranian root *kar- 'make'. It may alternatively be a Greek word descended from *n̥-mn̥gʷ-yō-nós 'manless, without husbands' ( alpha privative combined with a derivation from *man- cognate with Proto-Balto-Slavic *mangjá- , found in Czech muž ) has been proposed, an explanation deemed "unlikely" by Hjalmar Frisk . A further explanation proposes Iranian * ama-janah 'virility-killing' as source. Among

1224-406: The ancient Greeks , the term Amazon was popularly folk etymologized as originating from the Greek ἀμαζός , amazos ('breastless'), from - a ('without') and mazos , a variant of mastos ('breast'), connected with an etiological tradition once claimed by Marcus Justinus who alleged that Amazons had their right breast cut off or burnt out . There is no indication of such

1292-673: The Amazon Thiba's name. Several of Stephanus' Amazons served as eponyms for cities in Asia Minor, like Cyme and Smyrna or Amastris , who was believed to lend her name to the city previously known as Kromna , although in fact it was named after the historical Amastris . The city Anaea in Caria was named after an Amazon. In his work Getica (on the origin and history of the Goths , c.  551 CE ) Jordanes asserts that

1360-724: The Amazon homeland in Pontus at the southern shores of the Black Sea, and the capital Themiscyra at the banks of the Thermodon (modern Terme river ), by the modern city of Terme . Herodotus also explains how it came to be that some Amazons would eventually be living in Scythia . A Greek fleet, sailing home upon defeating the Amazons in battle at the Thermodon river, included three ships crowded with Amazon prisoners. Once out at sea,

1428-615: The Amazon myth. In 2019, a grave with multiple generations of female Scythian warriors, armed and in golden headdresses, was found near Voronezh in southwestern Russia. The origin of the word is uncertain. It may be derived from an Iranian ethnonym *ha-mazan- 'warriors', a word attested indirectly through a derivation, a denominal verb in Hesychius of Alexandria 's gloss "ἁμαζακάραν· πολεμεῖν. Πέρσαι" (" hamazakaran : 'to make war' in Persian"), where it appears together with

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1496-515: The Amazon prisoners overwhelmed and killed the small crews of the prisoner ships and, despite not having even basic navigation skills, managed to escape and safely disembark at the Scythian shore. As soon as the Amazons had caught enough horses, they easily asserted themselves in the steppe in between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea and, according to Herodotus, would eventually assimilate with

1564-453: The Amazon queen resided at her capital Themiscyra , on the banks of the Thermodon river. Palaephatus , who himself might have been a fictional character, attempted to rationalize the Greek myths in his work On Unbelievable Tales . He suspected that the Amazons were probably men who were mistaken for women by their enemies because they wore clothing that reached their feet, tied up their hair in headbands, and shaved their beards. Probably

1632-506: The Amazons once ruled a large part of Asia . Appian provides a vivid description of Themiscyra and its fortifications in his account of Lucius Licinius Lucullus ' Siege of Themiscyra in 71 BC during the Third Mithridatic War . An Amazon myth has been partly preserved in two badly fragmented versions around historical people in 7th century BC Egypt. The Egyptian prince Petechonsis and allied Assyrian troops undertook

1700-607: The Amazons and takes them into his service, who serve him in his campaign against the Bactrians . Nonnus in his Dionysiaca reports about the Amazons of Dionysus, but states that they do not come from Thermodon. Amazons are also mentioned by biographers of Alexander the Great , who report of Queen Thalestris bearing him a child (a story in the Alexander Romance ). However, other biographers of Alexander dispute

1768-565: The Amazons had chosen to resettle beyond the borders of the Gargareans , an all-male tribe native to the northern foothills of the Caucasian Mountains . The Amazons and Gargareans had for many generations met in secrecy once a year during two months in spring, in order to produce children. These encounters would take place in accordance with ancient tribal customs and collective offers of sacrifices. All females were retained by

1836-493: The Amazons of Dionysus Androphonus ( Ἀνδροφόνους ) 'men slaying'. Herodotus stated that in the Scythian language, the Amazons were called Oiorpata , which he explained as being from oior 'man' and pata 'to slay'. The ancient Greeks never had any doubts that the Amazons were, or had been, real. Not the only people enchanted by warlike women of nomadic cultures, such exciting tales also come from ancient Egypt, Persia, India, and China. Greek heroes of old had encounters with

1904-527: The Amazons themselves, and males were returned to the Gargareans. 5th century BC poet Magnes sings of the bravery of the Lydians in a cavalry-battle against the Amazons. Hippolyte was an Amazon queen killed by Heracles , who had set out to obtain the queen's magic belt in a task he was to accomplish as one of the Labours of Heracles . Although neither side had intended to resort to lethal combat,

1972-530: The Amazons, commanded by their queen, regularly undertook extensive military expeditions into the far corners of the world, from Scythia to Thrace , Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands , reaching as far as Arabia and Egypt . Besides military raids, the Amazons are also associated with the foundation of temples and the establishment of numerous ancient cities like Ephesos , Cyme , Smyrna , Sinope , Myrina , Magnesia , Pygela , etc. The texts of

2040-669: The Amazons, hoping they would kill him, yet Bellerophon slew them all. The youthful King Priam of Troy fought on the side of the Phrygians , who were attacked by Amazons at the Sangarios River . There are Amazon characters in Homer 's Trojan War epic poem, the Iliad , one of the oldest surviving texts in Europe ( around 8th century BC ). The now lost epic Aethiopis (probably by Arctinus of Miletus , 6th century BC), like

2108-655: The Amazons. The leader was Hiera, wife of Telephus . 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 were deposited by Thetis . The ghost of the dead hero so terrified the horses, that they threw off and trampled upon the invaders, who were forced to retreat. Virgil touches on the Amazons and their queen Penthesilea in his epic Aeneid (around 20 BC). The biographer Suetonius had Julius Caesar remark in his De vita Caesarum that

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2176-534: The Elder, Curtius, Plutarch, Arrian, and Pausanius advocated the greatness of the state, as Amazon myths served to discuss the creation of origin and identity for the Roman people. However, that changed over time. Amazons in Roman literature and art have many faces, such as the Trojan ally, the warrior goddess, the native Latin, the warmongering Celt, the proud Sarmatian, the hedonistic and passionate Thracian warrior queen,

2244-711: The Goths' ancestors, descendants of Magog , originally lived in Scythia, at the Sea of Azov between the Dnieper and Don Rivers . When the Goths were abroad campaigning against Pharaoh Vesosis , their women, on their own successfully fended off a raid by a neighboring tribe. Emboldened, the women established their own army under Marpesia , crossed the Don and invaded eastward into Asia. Marpesia's sister Lampedo remained in Europe to guard

2312-410: The Greeks eventually triumphed. Penthesilea died fighting the mighty Achilles in single combat. Homer himself deemed the Amazon myths to be common knowledge all over Greece, which suggests that they had already been known for some time before him. He was also convinced that the Amazons lived not at its fringes, but somewhere in or around Lycia in Asia Minor - a place well within the Greek world. Troy

2380-593: The Pleiades in his poem " Locksley Hall ": Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising through the mellow shade, Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid. The loss of one of the sisters, Merope, in some myths may reflect an astronomical event wherein one of the stars in the Pleiades star cluster disappeared from view by the naked eye. Pleiades and Orion are mentioned in the Book of Job : "Can you bind

2448-467: The Pleiades were daughters of an Amazonian queen; their names were Maia, Coccymo, Glaucia, Protis, Parthenia, Stonychia, and Lampado. They were credited with inventing ritual dances and nighttime festivals. Pleione (mythology) Pleione ( Ancient Greek : Πληιόνη or Πλειόνη ) was an Oceanid nymph in Greek mythology and mother of the Pleiades . Pleione presided over the multiplication of

2516-436: The Pleiades, and Zeus transformed them first into doves, and then into stars to comfort their father. The constellation of Orion is said to still pursue them across the night sky. One of the most memorable myths involving the Pleiades is the story of how these sisters literally became stars, their catasterism . According to some versions of the tale, all seven sisters killed themselves because they were so saddened by either

2584-643: The Scythians, whose descendants were the Sauromatae, the predecessors of the Sarmatians . Strabo (1st century BC) visits and confirms the original homeland of the Amazons on the plains by the Thermodon river. However, long gone and not seen again during his lifetime, the Amazons had allegedly retreated into the mountains. Strabo, however, added that other authors, among them Metrodorus of Scepsis and Hypsicrates claim that after abandoning Themiscyra,

2652-556: The West, which they would begin to do just before dawn during October–November, a good time of the year to lay up your ship after the fine summer weather and "remember to work the land"; in Mediterranean agriculture autumn is the time to plough and sow. The poet Sappho mentions the Pleiades in one of her poems: The moon has gone The Pleiades gone In dead of night Time passes on I lie alone The poet Lord Tennyson mentions

2720-595: The account by Herodotus . In his Histories (5th century BC) Herodotus claims that the Sauromatae (predecessors of the Sarmatians ), who ruled the lands between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, arose from a union of Scythians and Amazons. Herodotus also observed rather unusual customs among the Lycians of southwest Asia Minor. The Lycians obviously followed matrilineal rules of descent, virtue, and status. They named themselves along their maternal family line and

2788-422: The ancient agricultural calendar. Here is a bit of advice from Hesiod: And if longing seizes you for sailing the stormy seas, when the Pleiades flee mighty Orion and plunge into the misty deep and all the gusty winds are raging, then do not keep your ship on the wine-dark sea but, as I bid you, remember to work the land. The Pleiades would "flee mighty Orion and plunge into the misty deep" as they set in

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2856-529: The artistic desire to express the passionate womanhood of the Amazons in contrast with the manhood of their enemies, some modern historians interpret the popularity of Amazon in art as indicators of societal trends, both positive and negative. Greek and Roman societies, however, utilized the Amazon mythology as a literary and artistic vehicle to unite against a commonly-held enemy. The metaphysical characteristics of Amazons were seen as personifications of both nature and religion. Roman authors like Virgil, Strabo, Pliny

2924-487: The beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs?" Although most accounts are uniform as to the number, names, and main myths concerning the Pleiades, the mythological information recorded by a scholiast on Theocritus ' Idylls with reference to Callimachus has nothing in common with the traditional version. According to it,

2992-500: The challengers carrying their heraldry. These riders wore crimson gowns, masks with long hair attached, and swords. Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel depicted the Battle of the Amazons around 1598, a most dramatic baroque painting , followed by a painting of the Rococo period by Johann Georg Platzer , also titled Battle of the Amazons . In 19th-century European Romanticism German artist Anselm Feuerbach occupied himself with

3060-413: The claim, including the highly regarded Plutarch . He noted a moment when Alexander's naval commander Onesicritus read an Amazon myth passage of his Alexander History to King Lysimachus of Thrace who had taken part in the original expedition. The king smiled at him and said: "And where was I, then?" The Talmud recounts that Alexander wanted to conquer a "kingdom of women" but reconsidered when

3128-740: The epic), descended from some Amazons and taken by Alexander from the Brahmans. John Tzetzes lists in Posthomerica twenty Amazons, who fell at Troy . This list is unique in its attestation for all the names but Antianeira , Andromache and Hippothoe. Other than these three, the remaining 17 Amazons were named as Toxophone , Toxoanassa , Gortyessa , Iodoce , Pharetre , Andro , Ioxeia , Oistrophe , Androdaixa , Aspidocharme , Enchesimargos , Cnemis , Thorece , Chalcaor , Eurylophe , Hecate , and Anchimache . Famous medieval traveller John Mandeville mentions them in his book: Beside

3196-468: The fate of their father, Atlas, or the loss of their siblings, the Hyades. In turn, Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods, immortalized the sisters by placing them in the sky. There these seven stars formed the star cluster known thereafter as the Pleiades. The Greek poet Hesiod mentions the Pleiades several times in his Works and Days . As the Pleiades are primarily winter stars, they feature prominently in

3264-665: The first Amazon queen, is the offspring of a romance between Ares the god of war and the nymph Harmonia of the Akmonian Wood , and as such a demigoddess. Early records refer to two events in which Amazons appeared prior to the Trojan War (before 1250 BC). Within the epic context, Bellerophon , Greek hero, and grandfather of the brothers and Trojan War veterans Glaukos and Sarpedon , faced Amazons during his stay in Lycia , when King Iobates sent Bellerophon to fight

3332-534: The first in a long line of skeptics, he rejected any real basis for them, reasoning that because they did not exist during his time, most probably they did not exist in the past either. Decades of archaeological discoveries of burial sites of female warriors, including royalty, in the Eurasian Steppes suggest that the horse cultures of the Scythian , Sarmatian and Hittite peoples likely inspired

3400-528: The flocks, fitting, since the meaning of her name is: "to increase in number" (from πλεῖων "more"). Pleione was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys who were the Titan God and Goddess of bodies of water. Pleione was mother to seven daughters, known as the Pleiades. Their names were: Maia , Electra , Taygete , Alcyone , Celaeno , Sterope and Merope . She is often said to be the mother of Calypso with Atlas as well. Among her grandchildren were

3468-529: The god Hermes and the demigod Iasion . Pleione lived in a southern region of Greece called Arcadia , on a mountain named Mount Kyllini . She married the Titan Atlas and gave birth to the Hyades , Hyas and the Pleiades . She was also the protectress of sailing. In some accounts, when Pleione once was travelling through Boeotia with her daughters, Orion who was accompanying her, fell in love with

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3536-498: The head of a dynasty. Without a male companion, they are portrayed in command of their female warriors. Among the most prominent Amazon queens were: Quintus Smyrnaeus , author of the Posthomerica 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

3604-548: The homeland. They procreated with men once a year. These women conquered Armenia, Syria and all of Asia Minor, even reaching Ionia and Aeolis , holding this vast territory for 100 years. In Digenes Akritas , the twelfth century medieval epic of Basil, the Greco-Syrian knight of the Byzantine frontier, the hero battles and then commits adultery with the female warrior Maximo (killing her afterwards in one version of

3672-586: The land of Chaldea is the land of Amazonia, that is the land of Feminye. And in that realm is all woman and no man; not as some may say, that men may not live there, but for because that the women will not suffer no men amongst them to be their sovereigns. Medieval and Renaissance authors credit the Amazons with the invention of the battle-axe . This is probably related to the sagaris , an axe-like weapon associated with both Amazons and Scythian tribes by Greek authors (see also Thracian tomb of Aleksandrovo kurgan ). Paulus Hector Mair expresses astonishment that such

3740-530: The most important is Queen Otrera , consort of Ares and mother by him of Hippolyta and Penthesilea. She is also known for building a temple to Artemis at Ephesus. Another different set of names is found in Valerius Flaccus ' Argonautica . He mentions Euryale , Harpe , Lyce , Menippe and Thoe . Of these Lyce also appears on a fragment, preserved in the Latin Anthology where she

3808-418: The mother and tried to attack her. She escaped but Orion sought her for seven years and couldn't find her, until at last, Zeus pitying the girls, changed them into stars which still continue to fly from Orion . Amazons The Amazons ( Ancient Greek : Ἀμαζόνες Amazónes , singular Ἀμαζών Amazōn ; in Latin Amāzon , -ŏnis ) were a people in Greek mythology , portrayed in

3876-427: The original myths envisioned the homeland of the Amazons at the periphery of the then-known world. Various claims to the exact place ranged from provinces in Asia Minor ( Lycia , Caria , etc.) to the steppes around the Black Sea , or even Libya ( Libyan Amazon ). However, authors most frequently referred to Pontus in northern Anatolia , on the southern shores of the Black Sea, as the independent Amazon kingdom where

3944-427: The power during an incursion in Europe and Asia, where they were slain. Marpesia's daughter Orithyia succeeded them and was greatly admired for her skill on war. She shared power with her sister Antiope , but she was engaged in war abroad when Heracles attacked. Two of Antiope's sisters were taken prisoner, Melanippe by Heracles and Hippolyta by Theseus. Heracles latter restored Melanippe to her sister after receiving

4012-453: The queen who commanded the Amazons in a military expedition in Libya, as well as her sister Mytilene , after whom she named the city of the same name . Myrina also named three more cities after the Amazons who held the most important commands under her, Cyme , Pitane , and Priene . Both Justin in his Epitome of Trogus Pompeius and Paulus Orosius give an account of the Amazons, citing the same names. Queens Marpesia and Lampedo shared

4080-438: The queen's arms in exchange, though, on other accounts she was killed by Telamon . They also mention Penthesilea's role in the Trojan War. Another list of Amazons' names is found in Hyginus ' Fabulae . Along with Hippolyta , Otrera , Antiope and Penthesilea , it attests the following names: Ocyale , Dioxippe , Iphinome , Xanthe , Hippothoe , Laomache , Glauce , Agave , Theseis , Clymene , Polydora . Perhaps

4148-532: The queens of their martial society and fought them. However, their original home was not exactly known, thought to be in the obscure lands beyond the civilized world . As a result, for centuries scholars believed the Amazons to be purely imaginary, although there were various proposals for a historical nucleus of the Amazons in Greek historiography. Some authors preferred comparisons to cultures of Asia Minor or even Minoan Crete . The most obvious historical candidates are Lycia and Scythia and Sarmatia in line with

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4216-402: The sailing season in the Mediterranean Sea : "the season of navigation began with their heliacal rising ". The Pleiades' parents were the Titan Atlas and the Oceanid Pleione born on Mount Cyllene . In some accounts, their mother was called Aethra , another Oceanid. Aside from the above-mentioned sisters (the Hyades), the Pleiades' other siblings were Hyas and the nymph Calypso who

4284-479: The spear." Diodorus Siculus lists twelve Amazons who challenged and died fighting Heracles during his quest for Hippolyta's girdle: Aella , Philippis , Prothoe , Eriboea , Celaeno , Eurybia , Phoebe , Deianeira , Asteria , Marpe , Tecmessa , and Alcippe . After Alcippe's death, a group attack followed. Diodorus also mentions Melanippe , whom Heracles set free after accepting her girdle and Antiope as ransom. Diodorus lists another group with Myrina as

4352-416: The subdued Asian city, and the worthy Roman foe . In Renaissance Europe, artists started to reevaluate and depict Amazons based on Christian ethics. Queen Elizabeth of England was associated with Amazon warrior qualities ( the foremost ancient examples of feminism ) during her reign and was indeed depicted as such. Though, as explained in Divina Virago by Winfried Schleiner, Celeste T. Wright has given

4420-429: The term Styganor ( Στυγάνωρ ) 'those who loathe all men'. In his work Prometheus Bound and in The Suppliants , Aeschylus referred to the Amazons as 'the unwed, flesh-devouring Amazons' ( ...τὰς ἀνάνδρους κρεοβόρους τ᾽ Ἀμαζόνας ). In the Hippolytus tragedy, Phaedra calls Hippolytus , 'the son of the horse-loving Amazon' ( ...τῆς φιλίππου παῖς Ἀμαζόνος βοᾷ Ἱππόλυτος... ). In his Dionysiaca , Nonnus calls

4488-412: The vast archaeological evidence of over a thousand nomad graves from steppe territories from the Black Sea all the way to Mongolia. Discoveries of battle-scarred female skeletons buried with their weapons (bows and arrows, quivers, and spears) prove that women warriors were not merely figments of imagination, but the product of the Scythian/Sarmatian horse-centered lifestyle. According to myth, Otrera ,

4556-399: The women told him: If you kill us, people will say: Alexander kills women; and if we kill you, people will say: Alexander is the king whom women killed in battle. Virgil 's characterization of the Volsci warrior maiden Camilla in the Aeneid borrows from the myths of the Amazons. Philostratus , in Heroica , writes that the Mysian women fought on horses alongside the men, just as

4624-432: Was famous in the tale of Odysseus . Sometimes they were related as half-sisters to the Hesperides , nymphs of the morning star. Several of the most prominent male Olympian gods (including Zeus , Poseidon , and Ares ) engaged in affairs with the seven heavenly sisters. These relationships resulted in the birth of their children. After Atlas was forced to carry the heavens on his shoulders, Orion began to pursue all of

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