Did the Amazons really exist? - Adrienne Mayor

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It was long assumed that Amazons, the fierce and fearsome women warriors of Greece, were imaginary. But curiously enough, stories from ancient Egypt, Persia, the Middle East, Central Asia, India and China also featured Amazon-like warrior women. And Amazons were described in ancient historical accounts, not just myths. Who were the real women warriors known as Amazons? Adrienne Mayor investigates.

Lesson by Adrienne Mayor, animation by Silvia Prietov.

Since the time of Homer,

ancient stories told of fierce warriors
dwelling beyond the Mediterranean world,

striking fear into the mightiest
empires of antiquity.

Their exploits were
recounted by many epic poets.

They fought in the legendary Trojan War
and their grand army invaded Athens.

Jason and the Argonauts
passed by their shores,

barely avoiding their deadly arrows.

These formidable fighters faced off
against the greatest champions of myth:

Heracles,

Theseus,

and Achilles.

And every single one
of these warriors was a woman.

The war-loving Amazons,
"the equals of men" in courage and skill,

were familiar to everyone in
ancient Greece.

Amazon battle scenes decorated
the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis;

paintings and statues of Amazons
adorned temples and public spaces.

Little girls played with Amazon dolls,

and Amazons were a favorite subject
on Greek vase paintings.

In Greek art and literature,

they were depicted as daring
and desirable,

but also terrifying and deadly,

and doomed to die
at the hands of Greek heroes.

Were Amazons merely figures of myth,
or something more?

It was long assumed
that they were imaginary,

like the cyclops and centaurs.

But curiously enough,
stories from ancient Egypt,

Persia,

the Middle East,

Central Asia,

India,

and China

also featured Amazon-like warrior women.

And Amazons were described in ancient
historical accounts, not just myths.

Writers like Herodotus, Plato,
and Strabo never doubted their existence.

So who were the real women
warriors known as Amazons?

Ancient historians located
the Amazon homeland in Scythia,

the vast territory stretching from

the Black Sea across
the steppes of Central Asia.

This immense region was populated
by nomadic tribes

whose lives centered on horses,

archery,

and warfare.

Their culture flourished for about
1,000 years beginning around 800 BC.

Feared by Greeks, Persians, and
the Chinese, the Scythians left

no written records.
But we can find clues in how

their neighbors described them,
as well as in archaeology.

Scythians' ancestors were
the first to ride horses

and they invented the recurve bow.

And, because a female mounted archer
could be as fast and as deadly as a male,

all children were trained
to ride and shoot.

Women hunted and fought alongside men,
using the same weapons.

The harsh landscape
and their nomadic lifestyle

created its own form of equality.

This amazed the ancient Greeks,
whose women led restricted indoor lives.

The earliest stories of the Scythians,
and Amazons,

may have been exaggerated rumors.

But as the Greeks began to trade around
the Black Sea and further east,

their portrayals became more realistic.

Early depictions of Amazons showed them
with Greek weapons and armor.

But in later representations,

they wielded bows and battle-axes,

rode horses,

and wore pointed caps
and patterned trousers

characteristic of steppe nomads.

Until recently, no one was sure
how strong the links were

between Scythians
and the Amazons of Greek myth.

But recent archaeological discoveries
have provided ample evidence.

More than 1,000 ancient Scythian kurgans,
or burial mounds, have been excavated,

containing skeletons and weapons.

Archaeologists had previously assumed

that weapons could only
belong to male warriors.

But modern DNA analysis so far

has revealed that about 300 skeletons
buried with weapons

belong to females ranging
in age from 10 to 45,

and more are being found every year.

The women's skeletons
show battle injuries:

ribs slashed by swords,

skulls bashed by battle-axes,

and arrows embedded in bones.

In classical art and writings,

the fearsome Amazons were always portrayed
as brave and heroic.

In male-dominated classical Greece,
however,

the very idea of strong women who gloried
in freedom and war aroused mixed feelings.

And yet, the Greeks were also drawn
to egalitarian ideals.

Is it possible that the mythic realm
of thrilling Amazon tales

was a way to imagine women
and men as equal companions?