The Amazons : lives and legends of warrior women across the ancient world
Title:
The Amazons : lives and legends of warrior women across the ancient world
Author:
Mayor, Adrienne, 1946- , author.
Personal Author:
Publication Information:
Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2014]
Physical Description:
xiv, 519 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm
Summary:
Amazons--fierce warrior women dwelling on the fringes of the known world--were the mythic archenemies of the ancient Greeks. Heracles and Achilles displayed their valor in duels with Amazon queens, and the Athenians reveled in their victory over a powerful Amazon army. In historical times, Cyrus of Persia, Alexander the Great, and the Roman general Pompey tangled with Amazons. But just who were these bold barbarian archers on horseback who gloried in fighting, hunting, and sexual freedom? Were Amazons real? In this deeply researched, wide-ranging, and lavishly illustrated book, National Book Award finalist Adrienne Mayor presents the Amazons as they have never been seen before. This is the first comprehensive account of warrior women in myth and history across the ancient world, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Great Wall of China.
Language:
English
Contents:
Atalanta, the Greek Amazon -- Ancient puzzles and modern myths -- Scythia, Amazon homeland -- Sarmatians, a love story -- Bones : archaeology of Amazons -- Breasts : one or two? -- Skin : tattooed Amazons -- Naked Amazons -- Sex and love -- Drugs, dance, and music -- The Amazon way -- Horses, dogs, and eagles -- Who invented trousers? -- Armed and dangerous : weapons and warfare -- Amazon languages and names -- Hippolyte and Heracles -- Antiope and Theseus -- Battle for Athens -- Penthesilea and Achilles at Troy -- Amazons at sea -- Thalestris and Alexander the Great -- Hypsicratea, King Mithradates, and Pompey's Amazons -- Caucasia, crossroads of Eurasia -- Persia, Egypt, North Africa, Arabia -- Amazonistan : Central Asia -- China.
ISBN:
9780691147208
Format :
Book
