AMAZZONI

AMAZONS. - A mythical people of warrior women with customs that the Greeks considered barbaric. Legend held them to be daughters of Ares and Harmony, or Aphrodite. They dwelt in Themiscyra, on the river Thermodon, along the southern coast of the Black Sea, but in later times they were located in the Caucasus, among the Ethiopians, in Libya, in Thrace, and in Illyria. They worshipped Ares and Artemis; they were ruled by a queen and tolerated no men. Their sons, born of unions with a neighboring people to which the Amazons went once a year, if male, were either sent to their fathers or maimed so that they would not become dangerous. The Amazons devoted themselves to hunting and war; armed with axe, lance, and crescent shield, they made expeditions into Asia Minor or Greece and fought against the most famous heroes. Various cities of Asia Minor are said to have been founded by the Amazons: Myrina, Cyme, Mytilene, Smyrna, etc. At Ephesus they are said to have founded the temple of Artemis and to have been the first to enjoy its right of asylum. In Greece there are numerous tombs of Amazons, especially in Attica, where they had besieged Athens because Theseus had abducted their queen Antiope. During the Trojan War Achilles is said to have fought against Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons, who had come to the aid of the Trojans. The myth of Heracles includes an expedition by the hero, alone or in company with other heroes, to seize the girdle of their queen. Modern scholars see in the Amazons either a remnant of an ancient matriarchy or imaginary beings created by Greek fantasy.