Amazons are warrior women first attested in the Bronze Age. They participate in the legendary Trojan War and colonize regions of the Black Sea. Myths arise around these fierce female legions, known as man-eaters and forces of chaos.
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Female warriors and hunters, the Amazons are feared and revered for their agility, strength, archery and riding skills, and diverse arts of combat. Men aren't allowed in their society. They interact with men to make babies, and keep only the girls.
According to Strabo (1st century BCE), the Amazons meet with an all-male culture, the Gargarians of the north Caucasus hills. The two groups meet for sex once a year. Female children are kept by the Amazons, and the male children go to their fathers.
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Numerous settlements bear the names of Amazon queens. Origin of the Amazons is suggested as the prehistoric lands of the Pontic–Caspian steppe, later called Scythia.
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The Pontic-Caspian steppe is home to the early originators of the Indo-European language. A great migration happens, beginning c. 4000. Some migrants travel from the northwest coast of the Black Sea to the Aegean, where the Amazons are first described.
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Fact and fiction entwine as deeds and tales of the Amazons spread throughout the ancient world. Amazon warriors are involved in the labors of Hercules as well as the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts.
The homeland of the Amazons is thought to be at the end of the earth, which the Greeks place at the Black Sea. It's about as far from the balmy Mediterranean as one can get.
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Early Greeks call it the Póntos Áxeinos or "inhospitable sea". The only way in by ship is through the Bosporus Strait, which the legendary Jason and the Argonauts open up for Greek colonization and trade. The cliffs and rocks of the Pontic Mountains range the coast
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By the late Bronze Age the Amazons are already making history. Described by Homer in the Iliad, written in the 8th century BCE and set several centuries earlier, the Amazons are among the fighters of the legendary Trojan War.
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In the ninth labor of Heracles, the mythical hero must obtain the war belt or zoster of Amazon queen Hippolyta (Hippolyte). The belt or girdle is a gift to Hippolyta from her father Ares, Greek god of war. Ares is also the creator of the infamous Stymphalian Birds.
In one version of the story, Heracles slays the Amazon Queen Hippolyta. In another version she's not slain. She gives Heracles the war belt of Ares, in exchange for the release of her captured sister Melanippe.
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Debate arises whether she's the same Hippolyta abducted by Theseus of ancient Athens. The Theseus adventures take place later than the Herculean tasks. In some versions Theseus abducts Melanippe.
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Hippolyta is the second Queen of the Amazons, daughter of Ares and Otrera, the first Amazon Queen. Otrera is considered daughter of the East Wind. She's credited with founding the shrine of Artemis in Ephesus, a former Arzawan capital on the Aegean coast.
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The temple of Artemis is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Historically it's dedicated to Artemis Ephesia (Artemis of Ephesus) and finished in 550 BCE. In later Rome Artemis equates to Diana the Huntress.
From Antipater of Sidon's list of the Seven Wonders:
"I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labor of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, "Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand".
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The Attic War of Greek myth occurs because of the abduction of the Amazon Queen, Hippolyta, or one of her sisters, Minelanippe or Antiope. Amazon queen Penthesilea attacks the Athenians, who are led by Theseus or Heracles.
The war lasts 4 months, ending with a peace treaty. Depending on the version, the Amazons fight to rescue Hippolyta, Minelanippe or Antiope after her abduction, or as vengeance because she betrays them to wed Theseus.
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According to Apollonius of Rhodes, author of the epic Argonautica, three cities of the Amazons are in the plain of Doias. Also known as the Thriasio plain in west Attica, it's now part of Athens.
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He further mentions a temple of Ares, built by Amazons Otrera and Antiope on an island full of ravening birds. It's identified as Giresun Island in the Black Sea. Ruins of early building and use as a ritual center date as far back as c. 2000 BCE.
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The temple is described as roofless, made of local rock. Outside the temple an altar is built of pebbles. A sacred black stone is said to have been in the temple.
The Amazons are also part of the adventures of Jason and the Argonauts, the Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes. In the 3rd century BCE Apollonius Rhodius or Apollonius of Rhodes is librarian of the Musaeum (University) at Alexandria, Egypt.
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The library is famous for its wealth of knowledge and scholarly writings. Apollonius uses historic and contemporary sources in his work.
In the Argonautica, Jason gets advice from a blind prophet, who tells him,
" .... ye must beach your ship upon a smooth island, when ye have driven away with all manner of skill the ravening birds, which in countless numbers haunt the desert island. In it the Queens of the Amazons, Otrere and Antiope, built a stone temple of Ares ... "
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And later in the epic:
"Then all together they went to the temple of Ares to offer sacrifice of sheep; and in haste they stood round the altar, which was outside the roofless temple, an altar built of pebbles; within a black stone stood fixed, a sacred thing, to which of yore the Amazons all used to pray. Nor was it lawful for them, when they came from the opposite coast, to burn on this altar offerings of sheep and oxen, but they used to slay horses which they kept in great herds."
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Today the island is a bird sanctuary especially for native cormorants. Ruins of buildings include those of a Byzantine monastery. It's said the island is still a fertility ritual site. In May, women gather from the mainland to partake in spring celebrations.
By the 9th century BCE, the Amazons are documented as living in the later region of Pontus at the southern Black Sea coast. The site of Terme is the seat of Amazon power, located on a river of the same name flowing into the sea.
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Palaephatus (possibly a pseudonym) of the 4th century BCE tries to rationalize Greek myths in his work On Unbelievable Tales. He suspects the Amazons are men mistaken for women, because they wear garments to their feet, tie up their hair and shave their beards.
Archaeological discoveries of burial sites of female warriors, including royalty, are found in the Eurasian Steppes. Some scholars suggest the horse cultures of the Scythian, Sarmatian and Hittite peoples inspired the Amazon legends.
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In 2019, graves of several generations of female Scythian warriors, armed and in golden headdresses, are found at Voronezh, Russia. The bodies are in looted burial mounds. Grave goods include iron arrowheads, horse harness, iron hooks, knives, and horse bones.
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