Essay Paper on Amazons

While the existence of Amazonian women at times is contested, it is obvious enough that they exist in the legends and myths that they play there part in. Amazonian women are most known from there clashes with heroes’ such as Heracles, Theseus’ and Achilles; it is from these mighty battle that the Amazons are known as the warrior women. While at times the Amazons may be portrayed as feral and untamed, it is important to consider if these images was created due to the Greek’s fear of the ‘Other’ or from their great sense of Greek patriarchy as these fearless women threaten the Greek way of life.
The existence of the Amazons may be at time heavily debated but it is quite obviously that every great hero must have a least one encounter with the great warrior women. One of the most common features between most hero encounters with Amazonian women is that they all include the Queen of the Amazons, this is the case in Heracles capture of the Hippolyte’s belt, in one version Theseus Amazonian wife is an Amazon Queen, the dead Amazon that Achilles falls madly in love in is a Queen and of course the lovely Amazon who approached Alexander the Great to make a child was the Amazon Queen. This Queen status could be due to it is only fit for a great Hero to not only capture or kill a feral mighty Amazon but they are able to capture or kill the strongest and most superior Amazon. While there are many common threads throughout the legendary Amazon encounters, it appears that most encounters involve some form of warfare with the great hero. In the hero legends that involve warfare the Amazons are always defeated and in most encounters the Amazons die. For instance in Heracles encounter with Hippolyte, she was willing to give up her belt with no form of altercation but her tribe of Amazons are tricked by Hera and believe he is going to kill their Queen, so in an attempt to save her they get her killed as well as many more Amazons. While the Amazons are renowned for their fighting