The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World

Few recent books have systematically examined the myths of the Amazons, and even fewer have seriously studied the historical basis for these women warriors. In this work, which the author describes as an "Encyclopedia Amazonica," Mayor (classics, Stanford; Poison King) does both. After summarizing the archaeological evidence from excavated burial sites that point to the Scythians as the origin of the stories of warrior women in Greek mythology, the book discusses, chapter by chapter, various traditions associated with the Amazons. Examples of these customs include sexual practices, body modifications, and even self-mutilation. The author compares the reality of the historical Scythians with the mythology and art of the Greeks. Next, she applies the same comparisons to each major Amazon myth (Hippolyte, Antiope, Penthesilea, Thalestris, and others) and finally concludes with examinations of similar myths about civilizations in the Far East.