RELIGIOUS CULTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE AMAZONS
By Florence Mary Bennett
Bennett's thesis explores the possible religious beliefs of the Amazons. She examines the legend of the Amazons and many of the goddess cults of ancient Greece and Asia Minor (Turkey). Her research is, as befits a scholarly paper, extensively documented. The footnote to text ratio is extremely rich.
Bennett describes in great detail what is known about ancient goddess worship through primary documents. She describes many details that are taken for granted today, such as the double axe symbol, and some aspects that are not so well understood. For instance, some of the male deities of later classical Greek religion turn out to originally be of ambiguous gender. And Aphrodite, who in later mythology is a love goddess, was originally a war goddess.
Whether or not the Amazons were literal history or belonged to the realm of pure mythology, they left an indisputably huge trace in classical literature. This monograph is a superb summation of this evidence.
THE AMAZONS IN ANTIQUITY AND MODERN TIMES
By Guy Cadogan Rothery
Behind the global myths of woman warriors , the legend of the Amazons is amazingly consistent across three continents, even though actual documentary proof seems elusive. In particular, the Athenians were most insistent about the historical reality of a nation of all-women warriors; their legends described a prehistoric conflict with the Amazons as one of their finest hours. Although later the Amazons became just another map-filling imaginary creature alongside Centaurs, Cyclops, and Giants, Greek legend gives many fine-grained details about the geography, history and anthropology of the Amazon nation. It would be most interesting to see if any of these can be verified using modern techniques.
By Florence Mary Bennett
Bennett's thesis explores the possible religious beliefs of the Amazons. She examines the legend of the Amazons and many of the goddess cults of ancient Greece and Asia Minor (Turkey). Her research is, as befits a scholarly paper, extensively documented. The footnote to text ratio is extremely rich.
Bennett describes in great detail what is known about ancient goddess worship through primary documents. She describes many details that are taken for granted today, such as the double axe symbol, and some aspects that are not so well understood. For instance, some of the male deities of later classical Greek religion turn out to originally be of ambiguous gender. And Aphrodite, who in later mythology is a love goddess, was originally a war goddess.
Whether or not the Amazons were literal history or belonged to the realm of pure mythology, they left an indisputably huge trace in classical literature. This monograph is a superb summation of this evidence.
THE AMAZONS IN ANTIQUITY AND MODERN TIMES
By Guy Cadogan Rothery
Behind the global myths of woman warriors , the legend of the Amazons is amazingly consistent across three continents, even though actual documentary proof seems elusive. In particular, the Athenians were most insistent about the historical reality of a nation of all-women warriors; their legends described a prehistoric conflict with the Amazons as one of their finest hours. Although later the Amazons became just another map-filling imaginary creature alongside Centaurs, Cyclops, and Giants, Greek legend gives many fine-grained details about the geography, history and anthropology of the Amazon nation. It would be most interesting to see if any of these can be verified using modern techniques.
