Amazons have been traditionally read as a mythical group of women warriors.[1] In the past fifteen years, however, some scholars have proposed different interpretations of the Amazons dossier. Some scholars, especially Adrienne Mayor, have argued that the mythical Amazons of Greek and Roman traditions hide the reality of nomadic peoples (usually Scythians) living in the steppes of Eurasia where women are thought to have been ‘equals to men.’[2] Other recent readings of the Amazon myth, such as the valuable study by Walter Duvall Penrose Jr. have attempted, by using postcolonial perspectives, to avoid an “Athenocentric perspective” and to rethink the role of women in ancient Greece.[3]
The main argument of Amazons. The History behind the Legend, by David Braund –author of various contributions on Amazons, including a book on Amazons published twelve years ago (Amazons: The legendary Warrior Women of Antiquity, London: I.B. Tauris 2014)–is that Amazons were mythical and fully imaginary: their myth mattered so much because it had real effects on Greek culture and ancient Greek everyday life. As Braund declares, Greek culture is the focus of this study “so that Roman material is only considered insofar as it has a direct relevance to Greek matters” (p. xiii). Methodologically, the author often reminds readers of the need to historically contextualise all the available sources. As for the purpose and results of his analysis, Braund considers “A major new finding of this study [..] the proximity and similarity of Amazons and Greek women […] Greek women could become ‘Amazonian,’ especially when driven to such lengths by unreasonable menfolk” (p. x). Introducing the term ‘Amazonian,’ to indicate women who behave like Amazons, obviously an undesirable outcome in a male-dominated culture, allows Braund to expand the analysis to texts dealing with women who are not “Amazons” strictu sensu.
The book begins with a short preface by the author and with an introduction, where Braund outlines the main themes of the book; this section is followed by eleven chapters. In the first chapter, Braund examines the Homeric term antianeirai that he translates as “matches for men,” and how the Amazons, daughters of Ares, are also described as a people (“ethnos”), who efficiently run a state, and live in cities. For Braund, Amazons are not champions of women’s rights, freedom and independence fighting male patriarchal society. Finally, Braund discusses contemporary interpretations of the Amazons insisting that “the reality of Amazon myth is to be found …in its expression and agency within the Greek culture that created it” (p. 35).
Chapter 2 illustrates the outstanding martial abilities of Amazons and the sharpness and resourcefulness of their minds. As Braund reminds us, Greek authors like Plato did not reject the idea of women warriors, whereas authors like Lysias, while praising the fine spirit of Amazons, affirmed that female nature is not suited for battle. Amazons seem to be characterised as cavalry or light troops and as archers, carrying the crescent shield (or pelta), a weapon bearing a strong association with Thrace; their emblem is the Amazon axe (sagaris). This representation purposefully opposes them to the exemplary manliness of the hoplites. Braund examines several examples of mythical and legendary “Amazonian” Greek women, from Atalanta to Telesilla, or Marpessa who seem to rush into action in times of crisis: most of them do not appear to challenge normative society. Amazon bodies take centre stage in the final part of the chapter: Amazons are often represented as partially nude (a representation that combines heroic nudity and erotic allure) and most often wounded; such bodies do not show the imagined (but clearly impossible) mutilation of breasts on which a small number of literary sources dwell.
The following chapter is devoted to “Sex and Motherhood.” In the case of Amazons, the connection between sex and battle is strong. Sex was linked to marriage and motherhood, which were both, as Braund notes, “fraught with problems” for Amazons (p. 65): the author examines and contextualises stories about Amazon mothers deliberately crippling their male babies, and tales of ‘problematic’ Amazon-like wives, finally focusing on at how all male Amazon children appear to be somewhat a tragic failure–the most famous example being Hippolytus, son of Theseus and his Amazon partner.
In chapter 4, Braund examines first the famous duel of Penthesilea and Achilles, then focuses on the characterisation of Amazons such as Penthesilea and her mother, Queen Otrera, as Thracian; he also looks at the representation of Philadea, an ‘Amazonian’ woman of Thracian descent, important in the local traditions of Byzantium. Finally, Braund lists and discusses the many possible reasons why Amazons are presented as Thracian in Greece—even if there are no Amazons in the civic traditions of Thrace.
The first part of Chapter 5 focuses on Heracles’ ninth labour, an enterprise aimed at obtaining the golden belt of the Amazon queen; the encounter leads to the destruction of Themiscyra and of the Amazons. Braund then examines the presence of Amazons in sacred centres such as Delphi and Olympia which connected the Greeks from continental Greece and their colonial foundations. The reason why Amazons can be ‘found’ not only in Themiscyra, in the south eastern Black Sea region, but also in North Africa, and in colonial traditions of Southern Italy is that, according to Braund, the Amazon myth was central in the construction of the patriarchal culture of the Greeks.
In chapter 6, Braund points out that once Heracles destroyed Themiscyra (a fully imaginary) diaspora began that enabled Amazons to spread their influence up to the northern shores of the Black Sea. The chapter discusses the origin story of Sauromatians, thought to be descendants of Scythians and Amazons, the Greeks’ anxiety about the possible rule of women in Aristophanes, as well tales on an interesting group of legendary queens of the northern Black Sea who appear to behave like Amazons.
The next chapter deals with Amazonian traditions in cities (and cults) that claimed an Amazon founder or an Amazonian connection, even if quite loose. From Themiscyra, (linked to Athens, after Amisus became an Athenian settlement in 435 BC), to Ephesus, a city with strong ties with both Artemis and Amazons, where Artemis protected and tamed them, Sinope, Smyrna, Cyme, and Halicarnassus, whose sovereigns show a strong interest for Amazons.
In Chapter 8, Braund highlights the complexity, substantial coherence, and continuity in time of the Athenian representation of Amazons, showing how they play a key role in some of the founding myths of Athens, whose citizens claimed that their ancestors had defeated Amazons and destroyed them for good. Athens’ topography appears to be punctuated by memorials, tombs and images of Amazons and of the Athenians fighting against them; indeed, Amazons appear in the decoration of several Athenian temples, including the Parthenon. Braund underlines how defeating the army of the Amazons was presented as a highly prestigious achievement for the Athenians.
The ninth chapter, focusing on Lemnian traditions on Amazonian Greek women, is, in my view, the most suggestive and original section of the book. Besides analysing the famous story of the Lemnian women killing all the males on the island, as a consequence of their disdain of Aphrodite, Braund examines Lemnian tales about the Amazon Myrine/Myrrhine, the role played by Hephaestus, and the sea nymph Kabeiro, who appears at the centre of a local mystery cult. Then, Braund looks at the link between Artemis and Lemnian Earth, rich in alum and famous for its curative properties (well known to Dioscorides and Galen) as well as central to religious life and practice on the island. All myths and rituals are framed within the opposition between Artemis, protector of Amazons, and Aphrodite, a goddess that Amazonian women cannot disdain without undergoing (terrible) consequences. The power of both goddesses is seen in the vicissitudes of Philoctetes, while the story of Maroula, who led the fight against invading Turks, suggests the persistence of the Amazonian model in the island.
In the following chapter, the fantastic story of the encounter between Alexander the Great and an Amazon queen named Thalestris is indicated as the starting point for subsequent fictions such as the history of the Amazons produced by Diodorus Siculus and, later on, the accounts of Philostratus and Procopius on Amazons and their mating customs.
In the final chapter, Braund argues that the Amazon myth had several different political and cultural functions simultaneously. Amazons mattered because they exemplified an alternative order, in which women were in control of their own lives but were also destined to an early, violent death. Braund concludes by indicating the reason for the success of the myth. Amazon tales warned men that women were potentially a special danger, but also warned them not to mistreat them, offering also a more nuanced view of women: Amazons are daughters of Ares but also of a nymph significantly named Harmonia.
In this scholarly work by an experienced author, there seems to be an attempt to appeal to a wider audience: all Greek words are transliterated, and Greek texts are translated by the author, as stated in the preface. Also, there is only a general index for key themes, geographical names and personal names.[4] The structure of the book is sound, even if there are, at times, inevitable repetitions, since some important sources are examined from several different angles in different chapters.[5] The selected bibliography includes some key works on Amazons in art, archaeology, mythology, and history.
The iconographic apparatus is one of the strengths of the book: there are 35 plates (all grouped together between pages 144 and 145) accompanied by a short text commenting on and contextualising the images. There is also a black and white figure in the text (figure 1, on p. 203). All the illustrations are truly functional to the development of the author’s thesis as they are well integrated in the construction of the author’s argument. In conclusion, the book is an interesting contribution to the ongoing debate on Amazons and enhances our understanding of the Amazons as a Greek cultural construction aimed at strengthening the foundations of its male-dominated society, while showing, at the same time, an appreciation of women’s qualities and abilities.
Notes
[1] On Amazons see, for example, Lorna Hardwick, “Ancient Amazons – Heroes, Outsiders or Women?”, Greece & Rome 37.1 (1990):14-36; Ken Dowden, “The Amazons: development and functions”, Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, 140.2 (1997): 97-128.
[2] See Adrienne Mayor, The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2014 (https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2015/2015.12.05/)
[3] Walter Duvall Penrose Jr., Postcolonial Amazons: Female Masculinity and Courage in Ancient Greek and Sanskrit Literature. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. xv, 317. ISBN 9780199533374. (https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2018/2018.06.48/)
[4] The index is not complete: for example, it does not include neither Ephorus nor the Persians, both mentioned in the text more than once.
[5] Occasionally, precise references to ancient authors are not present because Braund references directly, in a note, the academic article dealing with that specific topic, as on p. 53 (note 32), or on p. 243 (note 24), where the author is probably referring to several different passages from the Anabasis.