The Amazons Were A Group Of Warrior Women Who Fought Many Of The Great Greek Heroes

In the text Mythology by Edith Hamilton, women are portrayed as being property and objects. During this time women were seen to be not as "good" as men. They saw perfection in relationships between men and young male adults as the best relationships to have. However, homosexuality was frowned upon. Men were considered knowledgeable and educated, but women were seen as a burden placed on man by the Gods. When it came to women nothing was valuable about them but their beauty. When a woman was beautiful she was wanted by many men: a man would do almost anything to have the possession of a beautiful woman and have her as his property. It was as if a woman’s role was to only be a man’s beautiful possession and to procreate the lineage of a

Greek creation myth highlights how men and women differ in their status and roles. Women were the inferior sex when compared to men, they were seen as intellects, and child

Throughout ancient human history, men and women held vastly different roles. Women were often given the duty of bearing and raising children, whereas men were expected to fight, provide an income, and protect the household. Women were seen as totally inferior to men and described by Euripedes as “a curse to mankind” and “a plague worse than fire or any viper.” However, this misogynistic view of women and designated role of inferiority was not apparent in every ancient civilization. The role of the female in ancient Greek history can best be explored and contrasted between two important civilizations: The Spartans and the Athenians. The Spartan women were incredibly advanced for their time, and the Athenian women were drastically far behind. Both the Spartan and Athenian women held roles at home and lived lives far removed from the men of their societies. However, their lives were much different. While the Spartan women were strong and educated, the Athenian women held a status almost equal to slavery. The Spartan women were far more advanced than Athenians in aspects of life including education, athleticism, and independence.

Athena is fierce and brave; She is smart, somewhat ruthless, but she was praised by all. Athena took part in many wars and also fought in the Trojan War. She is “The Goddess of War”, so she is Ares counterpart. She is smart, she invents many things, like the flute, trumpet, the chariot, and much more. She is praised by many because of her “compassion and generosity.” to her followers.

Athena and Ares share many common characteristics and many differences. One major similarity is that they are both deities who’s realm of power deals with warfare. The difference in this, though, is that Ares is a god of brutal and simple warfare. He is sometimes even known simply as a butcher, and the Greeks did not respect him as much as Athena. Athena, on the contrary, is a goddess of strategic warfare, and is very respected because of it. Another similarity they hold is that they are both children of Zeus, although under very different circumstances. Ares had a normal birth, whereas Athena was born out of Zeus’ skull after Zeus had swallowed Athena’s pregnant mother.

Gender inequality has been a controversial topic for numerous religions and cultures throughout history. Women were commonly regarded as the subservient gender, an idea that was no different in Ancient Greece. Throughout Greek mythology, women were considered inferior and troublesome symbols, while men were known for courage, leadership, and strength. While there is no argument of the flagrant sexism that is illustrated in Greek mythology, it can also be claimed that women were given a situated position of freedom, necessity, and power as well. Many popular Greek plays and myths contain several complexes and well described female characters. These goddesses themselves, partook the role of victim, heroine, and villain as it illustrated the diversity of characters in which women were portrayed and seen in both Ancient Greek society and mythology, allowing us to question “Were the women of Ancient Greek mythology equally represented as free and superior?” The creation of the Greek mythological universe, the creation of multi-gendered goddesses or deities, and the free and superior personalities accredited to women in Ancient Greek mythology to answer the question that women were fairly represented as powerful in Ancient Greek mythology.

In the span of our history, women have always been outcasted as “something else,” to put lightly. Cultures tend to see women in different lights, usually ending up being the assumption that all women are home goers and weak, and not as strong and willed as their male counterparts. Not to say many women do not follow this assumption. Nonetheless, women can be perceived in many more lights than only one simple assumption. The Odyssey views women as strong, but ruthless and snake-like. Wonder Woman views women as strong, but weak and useless as well. Both these pieces of literature show women in the many limelights society has seen over the years. Both The Odyssey and Wonder Woman show women in different ways, together as strong, and separate in their own ways.

Although, the women often appears in Greek mythology as dangerous and immoral. In the myths of the Greeks from the earliest poems of the archaic period to the sophisticated dramas of classical Athens, there appears a pervasive fear of women. Female characters of many Greek dramas child killer Medea, the husband killing Clytemnestra, and the mother killing Electra. While these females appeared previously in Greek myth, the Greek authors further explored their characters and displayed their malice in greater depth. As can be seen from myths and drama, this fear as it surfaced in ancient Athens is voicing of the male concern that women are a threat to their masculine society and have the potential to disrupt and destroy

Spirts, monsters and other mythological beings: Many mythological and monstrous creatures that populated myths include; amazons (race of female warrior), Kered (evil female spirits), medusa (a winged female monster with hair made of snakes), Satyrs (half man, half goat nature spirits who dwelled in woods

The Amazons, a tribe of enigmatic warrior women of ancient Greek myth who are said to have lived in what was then Scythia and Sarmatia, which is now considered Eastern Europe and Central Russia. Achilles and Heracles both battled against these Amazons. Each noting their explicable warfare strategy and ability. But who exactly were these bow-wielding, horse riding women warriors of the Eurasian steppes? In this book, Mayor uses a wide variety of sources, ranging from a wide variety of different fields of study, to attempt to shed some light on this inscrutable society. Mayor uses some fairly new, yet certainly ground-breaking recent discoveries in the field of Archaeology to create a base for her argument. Giving numerous examples of women, some in their teens, being given the burial of a warrior.

The role of women in Greek literature has demoralized them and showing them in a maligned light. The women are portrayed as frail, cruel, insensitive, or as seductresses. These characteristics have been integrated into today’s society and [have] built the standards and defined the moral outlook of women. However, in Greek mythology, powerful and strong women are not as well celebrated, such as Athena. Homer’s The Odyssey construes the positive and negative role of women through the epic poem. The women in the poem are depicted through the contrasting actions of Penelope and the maids, in addition with the opposite personalities between the goddess Athena and the nymph Calypso.

Women in ancient Greece had very few rights in comparison to male citizens. Women were unable to vote, own property, or inherit wealth. A woman’s place was in the home and her purpose in life was to rear children. Considering this limited role in society, we see a diverse cast of female characters in Greek mythology. We are presented with women that are powerful and warlike, or sexualized, submissive and emotionally unstable. In many myths, we encounter subversive behavior from women, suggesting, perhaps, the possibility of female empowerment. While produced in an ostensibly misogynistic and oppressive society, these myths consider the possibility for a collapse of male power and the patriarchal system. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey,

In Greek society, women had few rights compared to male citizens, unable to vote, own or inherit land left women at a disadvantage. Yet all around these women were images and myths about a tribe of warrior women, the Amazons. The Amazons in Greek myth were a warlike group that clashed with the Greeks on several occasions; these battels were popularly depicted on pottery. The Amazons may have been based on northern tribes in which women had a higher equality with males in the home and the battlefield; however, the Amazons in Greek myth took on an identity of their own. On the Greek side, when women participate in warfare it was not on the battlefield. Nevertheless, several Greek women are remembered for helping during times of war through diplomacy,

The role of women in ancient Greek life was insignificant compared to that of Greek men. A woman's job was to take care of the children and to cook and clean unless she had servants or slaves that would do it for her. Yet, in Greek mythology, women were often written as major characters. Well-known Greek plays contain many well-written, complex, female characters. Female individuals in Greek mythology were often seen as very powerful and fierce and were depicted by “her wits, her beauty, or her bad deeds.”

The most difficult obstacle to face is simply starting the paper. I knew I was not interested in the warrior queens that I did not have any previous knowledge about, but I found myself drawn towards the amazon women. My freshman year of high school, I enrolled in the house “Trojan War Narratives,” and a good portion of the course focused on Homer’s The Iliad. Because of this course, I already had plenty of knowledge about the Trojan war as well as ancient Greece. I also had a personal interest in Ancient Greece before I started college because my father is very fascinated by ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Growing up, he often told me about the epic poems, and we watched documentaries many times together. For this research, I had a difficult time deciding on my paper’s topic. I tend to be a indecisive person, so found myself conflicted between certain options. I tend to best make such decisions when I can openly discuss my thoughts with another person and receive their opinions. I was able to finally decide on a topic that reflected my personal interests.