Amazons
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[edit] Introduction
The Amazons were a legendary tribe composed (depending on the source) mostly or wholly of women. According to the legends, Amazons took part in the Trojan War (assumed to have taken place around 1200 BC). Several notable Greek historians (foremost among them Herodotus) have treated the existence of Amazons as a proven fact, and stated that they lived in such widely varied places as Pontus (today´s northern Turkey), the area around the Azov Sea, or on the island of Lemnos.
[edit] Amazon Legends
The term "Amazon" might be derived from the Iranian "hamazan", meaning "warrior". The Greek historian Herodotus, one of the more prolific sources on Amazons, states that the Scythians (who would have been be their neighbors if they had lived around the Azov Sea) called them "Oiorpata", which means "man-killers"; however, Herodotus is known to have invented some of the more colorful parts of his Histories.
Wild Tales about the Amazons abound. They are said, among other things, to have killed all men they captured - after having used them for reproductory purposes.
[edit] Reality
While the Amazons, as depicted in legend and ancient Greek history, almost certainly never existed, there are nonetheless some historical events that might have contributed towards an Amazon myth.
For one thing, in the Scythian and Sarmatian cultures that lived in what is now Ukraine and Russia, it was apparently not uncommon for women -- at least those of noble birth -- to bear arms, and even fight in wars. A number of kurgans (burial sites of nobles) have been found all over these cultures´ former homelands containing the remains of women that were given weapons and armor for the afterlife - suggesting that these women used such weapons and wore armor when they were alive.
We also know that, not just by modern standards, ancient Athens around the time that Herodotus lived was a very strongly patriarchal culture, in which women - especially married women - were rarely even allowed to leave the house. (When the Persian army advanced on Athen after the battle of Thermopylae, there seems to have been considerable controversy in Athens over whether to evacuate the women, too, as this would have exposed them to being seen by men other then their husbands.) Against the background of such a culture, it is perhaps not surprising that, when faced with tales about a culture in which at least some women are allowed to fight (fighting being the most manly activity there is), that the imagination of Athenian men began running wild upon hearing that tale, leading to horror stories of a tribe of man-killing warrior women - although we should certainly allow for Herodotus (who lived in Athens for some time) to embellish this tale at least to some degree.
