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The Amazons were female warriors, as strong and skilled as men on horse and at war. Their society was made only of women: they met men only occasionally, for reproductive purposes. They raised their girls according to their customs, but killed the boys. The Amazons appear in several Greek myths, like the Labors of Hercules, the Argonautica, and the Iliad. There were two main Amazon groups: one in Libya, the other one in Asia Minor. In this article, we will discover the myth of the Libyan Amazons, and its historical roots.
Origins
According to mythology, the first queen of the Amazons, Otrera, had a relationship with Ares, the god of war. Their daughters Hippolyta and Penthesilea became the two most famous Amazon queens.
The name of the Amazons is not originally Greek. A popular etymology has it derive from amazos (ἀμαζός), “without breast”: it was said that the Amazons cut off or burned their right breast, to avoid hindrance when shooting with a bow. This idea is not true: all older representations of Amazons show them with two breasts (often one covered and the other uncovered). A more likely origin for their name is the Persian word ha-mazan, “warriors”.
Mythology
One of the twelve tasks of Hercules was to procure himself the girdle of the Amazon queen Hippolyta. Stealing her girdle clearly symbolizes taking her virginity: Hercules’ task was to sexually conquer the queen of the Amazons, of all women the most inaccessible to men.
According to the most common version of this myth, Hippolyta was so impressed by Hercules that she first accepted to willingly give him her girdle; but the Amazons, believing he was about to abduct their queen, attacked his ship. Hercules, thinking he had been betrayed, killed Hippolyta and took off her girdle as she lay dead.
Another myth tells Hippolyta was abducted by Theseus, king of Athens, who forced her to marry him and had a son from her. The Amazons then invaded Greece to free her. A later version of this myth, in order to reconcile it with the previous myth, has Hippolyta’s sister Antiope abducted instead.
Penthesilea, the sister of Hippolyta, succeeded her as a queen, and later took part in the Trojan War, on the Trojan side. She was killed by Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior, in single combat. After her death, Achilles regretted killing her when he saw her beauty.
The Libyan Amazons lived on the island of Hespera, in Lake Tritonis (probably Chott el-Djerid, in modern-day Tunisia). Their queen was Myrina. The Iliad mentions her tomb, close to the city of Troy. This obviously poses a chronological problem: if Myrina was already dead and buried at the time of the Trojan War, she must have lived long before Penthesilea, who took part in that war.
Historical reinterpretation
Later Greek authors tried to reinterpret their old myths, and find them a historical origin. Starting with the chronological problem mentioned above, they thought that the Libyan Amazons were older then the Asia Minor Amazons, and could possibly even be their ancestors.
One of these authors, Diodorus Siculus, gives a detailed description of the Libyan Amazon society. It was a matriarchal society: public life was the women’s sphere, while the men took care of the house. Women served in the military for several years, during which they were required to keep their virginity. After those years, they married and had children, which they gave to the men. The little girls’ breasts were burned in their early childhood, to prevent them from developing. Women who had finished their military service could assume public duties, while men spent all their lives at home, doing domestic chores and raising children. This description is basically an inversion of male and female roles in Greek society.
Still according to Diodorus Siculus, Myrina, the queen of the Libyan Amazons, led a military campaign, first in Libya, against other people groups in the region. Then, after establishing a peace treaty with Egypt, she conquered Syria, Arabia, and Cilicia, before invading Asia Minor, where she built several towns. She was finally defeated and killed by Mopsus, the son of the king of Thrace.
Diodorus Siculus’ account is not strictly historical: it is a historical reinterpretation of the old Greek myths.
Historical roots
While there definitely never was an entirely female civilisation in history, the myth of the Amazons is probably inspired by the female warriors in other peoples, whom the Greeks met in battle. The Scythians had female horse-fighters.
In Libya, the women from some Amazigh tribes fought in battle. In the Machlyes tribe, women drove war chariots. Greek historian Herodotus recounts that every year, the young Machlyes women fought the women of a neighbouring tribe in ritual battles with sticks and stones. Such ritual battles between certain Amazigh tribes still happened at the beginning of the 20th Century.
The Amazigh had women as tribal or confederation chiefs. The most prominent example is the famous Dihya (Kahina), Queen of the Aures, who led the resistance against the Arab conquerors. This matriarchal tradition can still be found today, with the Saharan Touareg.
