Amazons

Greek A legendary race of female warriors, supposed to live in Asia Minor or possibly Africa, or, as Greek navigators explored farther, "at the edge of the world." The Amazons were sometimes associated with Artemis, goddess of the hunt, but no close connection exists except that the name of one Amazonian leader was Artemis. Some scholars say that the legend of the Amazon warriors may be connected with the invasion of beardless nomads from the Russian steppes. The Amazons appear in several legends, including those of the hero Heracles. The most famous queen of the Amazons was Hippolyta, whose girdle Heracles stole, and who was vanquished by Theseus, to whom she bore a son, Hippolytus. Penthesilea, an Amazon queen, fought valiantly for the Trojans in the Trojan War. She was slain by Achilles. The Greeks cited the conquest of the Amazons as a triumph of civilization over barbarism. Scholars have cited it as a triumph of male dominance over female independence. Some say that the Amazon warriors cut off one breast in order to facilitate use of the bow. However, there are no known depictions of this phenomenon in ancient art.