Amazon Warrior Women Essay

The first mention of a race of warrior women is found in Homer’s ILIAD, written in the 8th or 7th century B.C. Warrior women also appear later in the works of the ancient Greek writer, Herodotus. Amazons were described as a race of fierce women who ruled themselves with no men and worshipped the God of war, Ares.

They challenged the boundaries of accepted Greek behavior in a world where the lines drawn between men and women were clearly defined. The Amazon did not fit. Women were not meant to fight. “Women give life. Sustain life. Nurture life. They don’t take it.”

The existence of the Amazon warrior women has always been a debatable topic. Some ancient historians claim that they did exist. Many modern historians disagree, saying that they

Amazons are so common in Greek art, scholars have their own term for it: Amazonomachy. And in all of the Greek paintings, pottery, sculptures and other art, the Amazons are always presented as women. Usually very sultry, seductive women, in contorted sexual poses.

The Amazons remain in the past, untouchable by even modern archaeology. This one problem, the lack of physical evidence, is what perplexes all scholars who argue that the Amazons did exist. However, if Herodotus is to be believed, the remains of some of their descendants have already been discovered. In the time of Herodotus, there was a race of people called the Sauromatae. According to Herodotus, the women of this race were expected to be warriors. He claims that they ride “to the hunt on horseback sometimes with, sometimes without, their menfolk, taking part in war and wearing the same sort of clothes as men.” In his attempt to explain this unusual custom, Herodotus came to the belief that the Sauromatae were a result of the merging of the Scythians and the