Amazon

The tale of the Amazons

Far to the north-east of Greece, beyond the Black Sea, the Greek storytellers said, lived a nation of warrior women: the Amazons. They were daughters of Ares, the god of war, and the nymph Harmonia. They lived without men, ruled by their own queens, rode horses better than any Greek and fought with bows, axes, spears and crescent-shaped shields. Their capital was Themiscyra, on the river Thermodon in what is now northern Turkey.

The Greeks were fascinated by them and a little afraid of them, and almost every great Greek hero had to face them at least once.

Heracles and the belt

For his ninth labour, Heracles was sent to bring back the war belt of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, a gift from Ares himself. When he arrived, Hippolyta liked him and agreed to give it to him freely. But Hera, who hated Heracles, disguised herself as an Amazon and spread the rumour that the stranger had come to kidnap their queen. The Amazons attacked, and in the confusion Heracles thought he had been betrayed and killed Hippolyta, then took the belt home.

Theseus and Antiope

Theseus of Athens also came to their land and carried off the Amazon Antiope (in some tellings Hippolyta herself). The Amazons marched all the way to Athens to get her back and fought a great battle in the middle of the city. Athenian artists carved the Amazonomachy, the battle of Greeks and Amazons, on the Parthenon itself.

Achilles and Penthesilea

In the last year of the Trojan War, the Amazon queen Penthesilea came to help Troy with twelve of her warriors. She fought so bravely that she killed many Greeks, until she met Achilles. He killed her with his spear, but when he took off her helmet and saw her face, he was overcome with sorrow and admiration. The story says he wept over her.

History behind the myth

The Greeks may not have been inventing everything. Archaeologists digging in the burial mounds of the Scythians, horse-riding nomads of the steppes north of the Black Sea, have found many graves of women buried with bows, arrows, spears and horses, some of them with battle wounds. These steppe women may be the real Amazons.

Amazon in Battle of Myths

The Amazon is a cost 1 Greek hero with two aspects. As an Archer (hunter) she shoots a Volley of arrows at several enemies. As the Amazon Queen (warrior and assassin) she makes a Queen's Charge, riding behind the farthest enemy to strike it. With every Greek hero she shares Glory: whenever an enemy falls, the Greeks grow stronger and heal.

Did you know?

• The great river Amazon in South America was named after them by a Spanish explorer who claimed he had fought warrior women on its banks.
• Wonder Woman, the comic book hero, is an Amazon princess from the island of Themyscira.