The Amazons were some of the most mysterious and lauded women in Greek mythology. An all-female nation of brave fighters, they rode horseback and were expert archers. Although the stories about the Amazons were first told more than two thousand years ago, these powerful women still strike a chord with readers today. Indeed, they are the same Amazons that DC Comics' Wonder Woman calls her family. Using engaging images, facts, sidebars, and pop culture references, this exciting book tells the Amazon origin myth while weaving in true stories of ancient Greek life and highlighting the relevance of the Amazons in modern-day society.

The real history of the Amazons in war and love Amazons—fierce warrior women dwelling on the fringes of the known world—were the mythic archenemies of the ancient Greeks. Heracles and Achilles displayed their valor in duels with Amazon queens, and the Athenians reveled in their victory over a powerful Amazon army. In historical times, Cyrus of Persia, Alexander the Great, and the Roman general Pompey tangled with Amazons. But just who were these bold barbarian archers on horseback who gloried in fighting, hunting, and sexual freedom? Were Amazons real? In this deeply researched, wide-ranging, and lavishly illustrated book, National Book Award finalist Adrienne Mayor presents the Amazons as they have never been seen before. This is the first comprehensive account of warrior women in myth and history across the ancient world, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Great Wall of China. Mayor tells how amazing new archaeological discoveries of battle-scarred female skeletons buried with their weapons prove that women warriors were not merely figments of the Greek imagination. Combining classical myth and art, nomad traditions, and scientific archaeology, she reveals intimate, surprising details and original insights about the lives and legends of the women known as Amazons. Provocatively arguing that a timeless search for a balance between the sexes explains the allure of the Amazons, Mayor reminds us that there were as many Amazon love stories as there were war stories. The Greeks were not the only people enchanted by Amazons—Mayor shows that warlike women of nomadic cultures inspired exciting tales in ancient Egypt, Persia, India, Central Asia, and China. Driven by a detective's curiosity, Mayor unearths long-buried evidence and sifts fact from fiction to show how flesh-and-blood women of the Eurasian steppes were mythologized as Amazons, the equals of men. The result is likely to become a classic.

"Golden-shielded, silver-sworded, man-loving, male-child slaughtering Amazons." That is how the fifth-century Greek historian Hellanicus described the Amazons, and they have fascinated society ever since. Did they really exist? Until recently scholars consigned them to the world of myth, but Lyn Webster Wilde journeyed into the homeland of the Amazons, and uncovered astonishing evidence of their historic reality. North of the Black Sea she found archaeological excavations of graves of Iron Age women buried with arrows, swords, and armor. In the hidden world of the Hittites, near the Amazons' ancient capital of Themiscyra in Anatolia, she unearthed traces of powerful priestesses, women-only religious cults and an armed bisexual goddess - all possible sources for the ferocious warrior women. Combining scholarly penetration with a sense of adventure, Webster Wilde has explored a largely unknown field and produced a coherent and absorbing book in On the Trail of the Women Warriors: The Amazons in Myth and History, which challenges our preconceived notions of what men and women can do.

'Golden-shielded, silver-sworded, man-loving, male-child slaughtering Amazons,' is how the fifth-century Greek historian Hellanicus described the Amazons, and they have fascinated humanity ever since. Did they really exist? For centuries, scholars consigned them to the world of myth, but Lyn Webster Wilde journeyed into the homeland of the Amazons and uncovered astonishing evidence of their historic reality. North of the Black Sea she found archaeological excavations of graves of Iron Age women buried with arrows, swords and armour. In the hidden world of the Hittites, near the Amazons' ancient capital of Thermiscyra in Anatolia, she unearthed traces of powerful priestesses, women-only religious cults, and an armed, bisexual goddess - all possible sources for the ferocious women. Combining scholarly penetration with a sense of adventure, Webster Wilde has produced a coherent and absorbing book that challenges preconceived notions, still disturbingly widespread, of what men and women can do.

The Amazons were tribes of warrior women who lived on the edge of the Greek world in ancient times. Greek mythology has the Amazon warrior women and their warrior queens tangling with Greek heroes, such as Achilles and Heracles, and mythical creatures, such as the terrible Gorgons. They also fought famous battles such as the Attic and Trojan wars. Historical records tell of mighty Emperors such as Alexander the Great and Cyrus of Persia, tangling with Amazons. But were the Amazons of ancient Greece the only warrior women ever to exist on earth? Myths, tales, songs, local history from different lands tell of the existence of mighty warrior women and warrior queens since ancient times to the modern era. Without a doubt, the continents of Asia, Europe, America and Africa, at different periods in history, witnessed the existence of Amazon warrior women in nations and tribes. They built cities and towns. Their armies went to battle against men and conquered. Warrior queens ruled mighty kingdoms that defied vast empires; one warrior queen even defeated Alexander the Great in battle! The Amazon warrior women glorified in violence, fighting and sexual freedom. By their brave deeds they rewrote history, but were denied recognition by the male-dominated society of their time, and so the world never heard of them. Today, so many people even doubt if the Amazons ever existed! Who were these mighty barbarian warrior women? Where did they come from and where did they go? In this well researched, far reaching, and well-illustrated book, author Gorge Kennedy presents a comprehensive account of Amazon warrior women and warrior queens throughout history from ancient times to present era, from the lands of ancient Greece and the Black Sea to the rainforests of Central and South America, from the old lands of Africa to the ancient lands of Central Asia, China and the Japans. Kennedy tells of the history and myths of Amazon women from different lands and eras, the warrior queens and mighty warrior women, their armies, nations and tribes. He reveals facts never known before, including evidence, such as astonishing new archaeological discoveries, that proves warrior women weren't just fabrications of human imagination. Combining historical facts, classical art and myth, oral and local traditions, and scientific proof, he reveals original details and insights about amazons lives and legends, which comprises all the Amazon women throughout world history. Kennedy separates fact from fiction as he shows how real-life warrior women who lived in different parts of the world at different times were mythologized as Amazons, the equals of men. Amazons live and legends. The fascinating history, tales and proof in one book! Tags: amazon warriors, amazon warrior women, warrior women, amazons lives and legends, female warriors, Greek mythology, ancient Greece, warrior queen, Amazon women, Amazon women warriors. Amazon women tales, Amazon women in history. warrior women in history, female warriors, female warriors in history, female warriors amazon women. .

The Amazons (Greek: Ἀμαζόνες, Amazónes, singular Ἀμαζών, Amazōn), also known as Oiorpata in the Scythian language, are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia (modern territory of Ukraine). Other historiographers place them in Asia Minor, or sometimes Libya.

Since the time of the ancient Greeks we have been fascinated by accounts of the Amazons, an elusive tribe of hard-fighting, horse-riding female warriors. Equal to men in battle, legends claimed they cut off their right breasts to improve their archery skills and routinely killed their male children to purify their ranks. For centuries people believed in their existence and attempted to trace their origins. Artists and poets celebrated their battles and wrote of Amazonia. Spanish explorers, carrying these tales to South America, thought they lived in the forests of the world’s greatest river, and named it after them. In the absence of evidence, we eventually reasoned away their existence, concluding that these powerful, sexually liberated female soldiers must have been the fantastical invention of Greek myth and storytelling. Until now. Following decades of new research and a series of groundbreaking archeological discoveries, we now know these powerful warrior queens did indeed exist. In Amazons, John Man travels to the grasslands of Central Asia, from the edge of the ancient Greek world to the borderlands of China, to discover the truth about the warrior women mythologized as Amazons. In this deeply researched, sweeping historical epic, Man redefines our understanding of the Amazons and their culture, tracking the ancient legend into the modern world and examining its significance today.

Scholars have long been divided over whether the Amazons of Greek legend actually existed. Postcolonial Amazons offers a groundbreaking re-evaluation of the place of martial women in antiquity, bridging the gap between myth and reality by expanding our conception of the Amazon archetype to include the real female warriors of the ancient world.