Amazons

The Amazon myth is one of the most romantic and resonant in antiquity. Amazons reveals the truth behind the legends.

The idea of the Amazons is one of the most romantic and resonant in all antiquity. Greeks were fascinated by images and tales of these fierce female fighters. At Troy, Achilles' duel with Penthesilea was a clash of superman and superwoman. Achilles won the fight, but the queen's dying beauty had torn into his soul. This vibrant new book offers the first complete picture of the reality behind the legends. It shows there was much more to the Amazons than a race of implacable warrior women. David Braund casts the Amazons in a new light: as figures of potent agency, founders of cities, guileful and clever as well as physically impressive and sexually alluring to men. Black Sea mythologies become key to unlocking the Amazons' mystery. Investigating legend through history, literature, and archaeology, the author uncovers a truth as surprising and evocative as any fiction told through story or myth.

Autorentext
David Braund is Emeritus Professor of Classics at the University of Exeter. An internationally acclaimed authority on the ancient Black Sea, his books include Georgia in Antiquity: A History of Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia, 550 BCAD 562 (Oxford University Press, 1994) and Greek Religion and Cults in the Black Sea Region: Goddesses in the Bosporan Kingdom from the Archaic Period to the Byzantine Era (Cambridge University Press, 2018).

Zusammenfassung
'David Braund, in his rich and robust treatment of the topic, is throughout aware of the deficiencies of the extant ancient written sources and doesn't make the mistake of telling us what they would or should have said. He retells versions of ancient myths extremely well. He is particularly strong on the gender and sexuality dimensions of his subject. And he correctly sees and shows that the Amazons were fundamental to the Athenians' identity. This is a powerful and important study of an eternally fascinating and culturally significant subject.' Paula Cartledge, Emeritus A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture, University of Cambridge, author of The Spartans: An Epic History and of Thermopylae: The Battle that Changed the World

Inhalt

Preface; Introduction: Amazons in love, war, and mind: their significance in ancient Greek culture; 1. Approaching Amazons; 2. Amazons in battle: weapons, mind and body; 3. Sex and motherhood; 4. A duel of death and desire: Penthesilea vs. Achilles; 5. Heracles' Amazon labour: Delphi, Olympia and colonial worlds; 6. Shipwreck and reptiles: the queens of southern Russia; 7. Amazon cities in Asia: Themiscyra, Ephesus and Halicarnassus; 8. The pride of Athens; 9. Artemis vs. Aphrodite: Greek women go Amazon; 10. Alexander the Great and the Amazon queen; 11. Conclusions: Amazon realities; Bibliography; Index.