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Book II, 45,46 - General history of the Amazons
45:
Now in the country along the Thermodon river, as the account goes, the
sovereignty was in the hands of a people among whom the women held the
supreme power, and its women performed the services of war just as did
the men. Of these women one, who possessed the royal authority, was
remarkable for her prowess in war and her bodily strength, and gathering
together an army of women she drilled it in the use of arms and subdued
in war some of the neighbouring peoples. And since her valour and fame
increased, she made war upon people after people of neighbouring lands,
and as the tide of her fortune continued favourable, she was so filled
with pride that she gave herself the appellation of Daughter of Ares;
but to the men she assigned the spinning of wool and such other domestic
duties as belong to women. Laws also were established by her, by virtue
of which she led forth the women to contests of war, but upon the men
she fastened humiliation and slavery. Ans as for their children, they
mutilated both the legs and the arms of the males, incapacitating them
in this way for the demands of war, and in the case of the females
they seared the right breast that it might not project when their
bodies matured and be in the way; and it is for this reason that the
nation of the Amazons received the appellation it bears. In general,
this queen was remarkable for her intelligence and ability as a general,
and she founded a great city named Themiscyra at the mouth of the
Thermodon river and built their a famous palace; furthermore, in her
campaigns she devoted much attention to military discipline and at the
outset subdued all her neighbours as far as the Tanais river. And this
queen, they say, accomplished the deeds which have been mentioned, and
fighting brilliantly in a certain battle she ended her life heroically.
46:
The daughter of this queen, the account continues, on succeeding to the
throne emulated the excellence of her mother, and even surpassed her in
some particular deeds. For instance, she exercised in the chase the
maidens from their earliest girlhood and drilled them daily in the arts
of war, and she also established magnificent festivals both to Ares
and to the Artemis who is called Tauropolus. Then she campaigned
against the territory lying beyond the Tanais and subdued all the
peoples one after another as far as Thrace; and returning to her
native land with much booty she built magnificent shrines to the
deities mentioned above, and by reason of her kindly rule over her
subjects received from them the greatest approbation. She also
campaigned on the other side and subdued a large part of Asia and
extended her power as far as Syria.
After the death of this queen, as their account continues, women of her
family, succeeding to the queenship from time to time, ruled with
distinction and advanced the nation of the Amazons in both power
and fame. And many generations after these events, when the excellence
of these women had been noised abroad through the whole inhabited
world, they say that Heracles, the son of Alcmene and Zeus, was
assigned by Eurystheus the Labour of securing the girdle of
Hippolyte the Amazon. Consequently he embarked on this campaign,
and coming off victorious in a great battle he not only cut to
pieces the army of Amazons but also, after taking captive Hippolyte
together with her girdle, completey crushed this nation. Consequently
the neighbouring barbarians, despising the weakness of this people
and remembering against them their past injuries, wages continuous
wars against the nation to such a degree that they left in existence
not even the name of the race of the Amazons. For a few years after
the campaign of Heracles against them, they say, during the time of
the Trojan War, Penthesileia, the queen of the surviving Amazons,
who was a daughter of Ares and had slain one of her kindred, fled
from her native land because of the sacrilege.
And fighting as an ally of the Trojans after the death of Hector
she slew many of the Greeks, and after gaining distinction in the
struggle she ended her life heroically at the hands of Achilles.
Now they say that Penthesileia was the last of the Amazons to
win distinction for bravery and that for the future the race
diminished more and more and then lost all its strength;
consequently in later times, whenever any writers recount their
prowess, men consider the ancient stories about the Amazons
to be fictitious tales.
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Book III, 52-55 - History of the Libyan Amazons
52:
But now that we have examined these matters it will be fitting,
in connection with the regions we have just mentioned, to discuss
the account which history records of the Amazons who were in Libya
in ancient times. For the majority of mankind believe that
the only Amazons were those who are reported to have dwelt in
the neighbourhood of the Thermodon river on the Pontus;
but the truth is otherwise, since the Amazons of Libya were
much earlier in point of time and accomplished notable deeds.
Now we are not unaware that to many who read this account the
history of this people will appear to be a thing unheard of and
entirely strange; for since the race of these Amazons disappeared
entirely many generations before the Trojan War, whereas the
women about the Thermodon river were in their full vigour a little
before that time, it is not without reason that the latter people, who
were also better known, should have inherited the fame of the
earlier, who are entirely unknown to most men because of the
lapse of time. For our part, however, since we find that many
early poets and historians, and not a few of the later ones as well,
have made mention of them, we shall endeavour to recount their
deeds in summary, following the account of Dionysius, who
composed a narrative about the Argonauts and Dionysus, and
also about many other things which took place in most ancient times.
Now there have been in Libya a number of races of women who were
warlike and greatly admired for their manly vigour; for instance,
tradition tells us of the race of the Gorgons, against whom,
as the account is given, Perseus made war, a race distinguished
for its valour; for the fact that it was the son of Zeus, the
mightiest Greek of his day, who accomplished the campaign against
these women, and that this was his greatest Labour may be taken by
any man as proof of both the pre-eminence and the power of the
women we have mentioned. Furthermore, the manly prowess of
those of whom we are now about to write presupposes an amazing
pre-eminence when compared with the nature of the women of
our day.
53:
We are told, namely, that there was once in the western parts
of Libya, on the bounds of the inhabited world, a race which was
ruled by women and followed a manner of life unlike that which
prevails among us. For it was the custom among them that the
women should practise the arts of war and be required to serve
in the army for a fixed period, during which time they
maintained their virginity; then, when the years of their
service in the field had expired, they went in to the men
for the procreation of children, but they kept in their hands
the administration of the magistracies and of all the affairs
of the state. The men, however, like our married women, spent
their days about the house, carrying out the orders which were
given them by their wives; and they took no part in military
campaigns or in office or in the exercise of free citizenship
in the affairs of the community by virtue of which they might
became presumptuous and rise up against the women. When their
children were born the babies were turned over to the men, who
brought them up on milk and such cooked foods as were
appropriate to the age of the infants; and if it happened that
a girl was born, its breasts were seared that they might not
develop at the time of maturity; for they thought that the
breasts, as they stood out from the body, were no small
hindrance in warfare; and in fact it is because they have been
deprived of their breasts that they are called by the Greeks
Amazons.
As mythology relates, their home was an island which, because
it was in the west, was called Hespera, and it lay in the marsh
Tritonis. This marsh was near the ocean which surrounds the
earth and received its name from a certain river Triton which
emptied into it; and this marsh was also near Ethiopia and that
mountain by the shore of the ocean which is the highest of those
in the vicinity and impinges upon the ocean and is called by
the Greeks Atlas. The island mentioned above was of great size
and full of fruit-bearing trees of every kind, from which the
natives secured their food. It contained also a multitude of
flocks and herds, namely, of goats and sheep, from which the
possessors received milk and meat for their sustenance; but
grain the nation used not at all because the use of this
fruit of the earth had not yet been discovered among them.
The Amazons, then, the account continues, being a race superior
in valour and eager for war, first fo all subdued all the
cities on the island except the one called Mene, which was
considered to be sacred and was inhabited by Ethiopean
Ichthyophagi, and was also subject to great eruptions of
fire and possessed a multitude of the precious stones which
the Greeks call anthrax, sardion, and smaragdos; and after
this they subdued many of the neighbouring Libyans and
nomad tribes, and founded within the marsh Tritonis a
great city which they named Cherronesus after its shape.
54:
Setting out from the city of Cherronesus, the account continues,
the Amazons embarked upon great ventures, a longing having come
over them to invade many parts of the inhabited world. The first
people against whom they advanced, according to the tale, was the
Atlantians, the most civilized men among the inhabitants of those
regions, who dwelt in a prosperous country and possessed great
cities; it was among them, we are told, that mythology places the
birth of the gods, in the regions which lie along the shore of the
ocean, in this respect agreeing with those among the Greeks who
relate legends, and about this we shall speak in detail a little
later.
Now the queen of the Amazons, Myrina, collected, it is said, an army
of thirty thousand foot-soldiers and three thousand cavalry, since
they favoured to an unusual degree the use of cavalry in their wars.
For protective devices they used the skins of large snakes, since
Libya contains such animals of incredible size, and for offensive
weapons, swords and lances; they also used bows and arrows, with
which they struck not only when facing the enemy but also when
in flight, by shooting backwards at their pursuers with good effect.
Upon entering the land of the Atlantians they defeated in a pitched
battle the inhabitants of the city Cerne, as it is called, and
making their way inside the walls along with the fleeing enemy,
they got the city into their hands; and desiring to strike terror
into the neighbouring peoples they treated the captives savagely,
put to the sword the men from the youth upward, led into slavery
the children and women, and razed the city. But when the terrible
fate of the inhabitants of Cerne became known among their fellow
tribesmen, it is related that the Atlantians, struck with terror,
surrendered their cities on terms of capitulation and announced
that they would do whatever should be commanded them, and that the
queen Myrina, bearing herself honourably towards the Atlantians,
both established friendship with them and founded a city to bear
her name in place of the city which had been razed; and in it she
settled both the captives and any native who so desired. Whereupon
the Atlantians presented her with magnificent presents and by
public decree voted to her notable honours, and she in return
accepted their courtesy and in addition promised that she would
show kindness to their nation. And since the natives were often
been warred upon by the Gorgons, as they were named, a folk which
resided upon their borders, and in general had that people lying
in wait to injure them, Myrina, they say, was asked by the
Atlantians to invade the land of the afore-mentioned Gorgons.
But when the Gorgons drew up their forces to resist them a mighty
battle took place in which the Amazons, gaining the upper hand,
slew great numbers of their opponents and took no fewer than
three thousand prisoners; and since the rest had fled for refuge
into a certain wooded region, Myrina untertook to set fire to the
timber, being eager to destroy the race utterly, but when she found
that she was unable to succeed in her attempt she retired to the
borders of her country.
55:
Now as the Amazons, they go on to say, relaxed their watch during
the night because of their success, the captive women, falling
upon them and drawing the swords of those who thought they were
conquerors, slew many of them; in the end, however, the multitude
poured in about them from every side and the prisoners fighting
bravely were butchered one and all. Myrina accorded a funeral to
her fallen comrades on three pyres and raised up three great heaps
of earth as tombs, which are called to this day 'Amazon Mounds'.
But the Gorgons, grown strong again in later days, were subdued
a second time by Perseus, the son of Zeus, when Medusa was queen
over them; and in the end both they and the race of the Amazons
were entirely destroyed by Heracles, when he visited the regions to
the west and set up his pillars in Libya, since he felt that it
would ill accord with his resolve to be the benefactor of the whole
race of mankind if he should suffer any nations to be under
the rule of women. The story is also told that the marsh Tritonis
disappeared from sight in the course of an earthquake, when those
parts of it which lay towards the ocean were torn asunder.
As for Myrina, the account continues, she visited the larger
part of Libya, and passing over into Egypt she struck a treaty of
friendship with Horus, the son of Isis, who was king of Egypt
at that time, and then, after making war to the end upon the
Arabians and slaying many of them, she subdued Syria; but when
the Cilicians came out with presents to meet her and agreed to
obey her commands, she left those free who yielded to her of
their free will and for this reason these are called to this day
the 'Free Cilicians'. She also conquered in war the races in the
region of the Taurus, peoples of outstanding courage, and descended
through Greater Phrygia to the sea, then she won over the land
lying along the coast and fixed the bounds of her campaign at the
Caicus River. And selecting in the territory which she had won
by arms sites well suited for the founding of cities, she built
a considerable number of them and founded one which bore her
own name, but the others she named after the women who held the
most important commands, such as Cyme, Pitana, and Priene.
These, then, are the cities she settled along the sea, but others,
and a larger number, she planted in the regions stretching
towards the interior. She seized also some of the islands, and
Lesbos in particular, on which she founded the city of
Mitylene, which was named after her sister who took part in the
campaign. After that, while subduing some of the rest of the
islands, she was caught in a storm, and after she had offered
up prayers for her safety to the Mother of the Gods, she was
carried to one of the uninhabited islands; this island, in
obedience to a vision which she beheld in her dreams, she made
sacred to this goddess, and set up altars there and offered
magnificent sacrifices. She also gave it the name of Samothrace,
which means, when translated into Greek, 'Sacred Island',
although some historians say that it was formerly called Samos
and was then given the name of Samothrace by Thracians who
at one time dwelt on it. However, after the Amazons had returned
to the continent, the myth relates, the Mother of the Gods, well
pleased with the island, settled in it certain other people,
and also her own sons, who are known by the name of Corybantes-
who their father was is handed down in their rites as a matter
not to be divulged; and she established the mysteries which
are now celebrated on the island and ordained by law that the
sacred area should enjoy the right of sanctuary.
In these times, they go on to say, Mopsus the Thracian, who
had been exiled by Lycurgus, the king of the Thracians, invaded
the land of the Amazons with an army of fellow-exiles, and with
Mopsus on the campaign was also Sipylus the Scythian, who had
likewise been exiled from that part of Scythia which borders
upon Thrace. There was a pitched battle, Sipylus and Mopsus
gained the upper hand, and Myrina, the queen of the Amazons,
and the larger part of the rest of her army were slain. In the
course of the years, as the Thracians continued to be victorious
in their battles, the surviving Amazons finally withdrew again
into Libya. And such was the end, as the myth relates, of the
campaign which the Amazons of Libya made.
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Book IV, 16 - Heracles and the Amazons
16:
Heracles then received a Command to bring back the girdle of
Hippolyte the Amazon and so he made the expedition against the Amazons.
Accordingly he sailed into the Pontus, which was named by him
Euxeinus, and continuing to the mouth of the Thermodon River
he encamped near the city of Themiscyra, in which was situated
the palace of the Amazons. And first of all he demanded of them
the girdle which he had been commanded to get; but when they would
pay no heed to him, he joined battle with them. Now the general
mass of the Amazons were arrayed against the main body of the
followers of Heracles, but the most honoured of the women
were drawn up opposite Heracles himself and put up a stubborn battle.
The first, for instance, to join battle with him was Aella, who
had been given this name because of her swiftness, but she found
her opponent more agile than herself. The second, Philippis,
encountering a mortal blow at the very first conflict, was slain.
Then he joined battle with Prothoe, who, they said, had been
victorious seven times over the opponents whom she had challenged
to battle. When she fell, the fourth whom he overcame was known
as Eriboea. She had boasted that because of the manly bravery which
she displayed in contests of war she had no need of anyone to
help her, but she found her claim was false when she encountered
her better. The next, Celaeno, Eurybia, and Phoebe, who were
companions of Artemis in the hunt and whose spears found their
mark invariably, did not even graze the single target, but in
that fight they were one and all cut down as they stood shoulder
to shoulder with each other. After them Deianeira, Asteria and
Marpe, and Tecmessa and Alcippe were overcome. The last-named
had taken a vow to remain a maiden, and the vow she kept, but her
life she could not preserve. The commander of the Amazons, Melanippe,
who was also greatly admired for her manly courage, now lost her
supremacy. And Heracles, after thus killing the most renowned of
the Amazons and forcing the remaining multitude to turn in flight,
cut down the greater number of them, so that the race of them was
utterly exterminated. As for the captives, he gave Antiope as a gift
to Theseus and set Melanippe free, accepting her girdle as a ransom.
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