The Divine Feminine in Ancient Europe by Sharon Paice MacLeod

Author:Sharon Paice MacLeod
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2013-12-06T05:00:00+00:00

The Amazons advised their Scythian husbands to return home and demand their traditional inheritances as married men. The men did as they were instructed, but later rejoined the women for a six-day trek deep into the northeastern steppes, where their progeny became known as the Sauromatians. Ever since then, the story said, the women of the Sauromatae followed their ancient usage, riding, hunting with their men (or without them), going to war, and wearing the same dress as the men.50

Herodotus added that none of the women would wed until she had slain a man from an enemy tribe. Apparently some of them grew old and died unmarried because they had not fulfilled this obligation. Hippocrates made a similar observation, saying that Sauromatian women did not “lay down their virginity” until they had killed three of their enemies. As to how the women gained the name “Amazon,” he made the dubious claim that these women had no right breasts. Their mothers arrested its growth when they were babies so that all of its strength and bulk were diverted to the right shoulder and right arm, allegedly making wielding the bow easier.51

Mounted warriors do require excellent muscle capacity for hurling spears and shooting arrows, and written and archaeological evidence shows that Scythian weapons were shot with the right arm over the left side of the body. Perhaps the Greeks believed a woman’s ability to perform these functions would have been hampered by the right breast. However, full-breasted women from steppe cultures in modern-day Mongolia are not impeded by their bosoms when shooting the bow, and they exhibit great expertise.52

The legend is apparently a rationalization, based on a spurious interpretation of the word “Amazon,” said to derive from a Greek phrase meaning “without a breast.” In actuality, the word is believed to come from an Indo-Iranian compound ha-maz-an, “(one) fighting together,” a phrase that may refer to women fighting together with men.53

The Amazons were frequently represented in Greek artwork, in some cases taming horses or bathing, but most often battling with Greek troops or heroes. They are sometimes depicted with both breasts, and at other times with a garment draped over one shoulder to cover the area of the reputed missing breast.54

They also featured in Greek legends, including the Twelve Labors of Hercules. Hercules had been commanded to capture the sacred girdle of the Amazon queen Hippolyte. A girdle is a sash made from leather, metal or cloth. In Classical Greece it was a symbol of chastity, and to remove a woman’s girdle was to make her defenseless against advances on her virginity. Not surprisingly, Hippolyte refuses to surrender her girdle without a fight. The object had been a gift to her from Ares, the god of war. During the conflict, many of the Amazon women perished in hand-to-hand combat with Hercules. Eventually queen Hippolyte also dies at his hand.55

The Amazons were also featured in the Greek epic poem The Iliad, where Homer refers to them as “the equals of men.” The poem describes their hopeful arrival in Troy, led by their brave and beautiful queen Penthesilea.

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