Amazonomachy
Encyclopedia
An Amazonomachy was a portrayal of legendary battle between Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 and Amazons
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...

. The mythic all-female warrior society was believed to have been defeated by the likes of Heracles
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...

 and Theseus
Theseus
For other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were...

.

Examples

  • Pheidias portrayed an Amazonomachy on the shield of the Athena Parthenos
    Athena Parthenos
    Athena Parthenos was the title of a massive chryselephantine sculpture of the Greek goddess Athena made by Phidias and housed in the Parthenon in Athens. Its epithet was an essential character of the goddess herself...

    , the monumental cult statue of the Parthenon
    Parthenon
    The Parthenon is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their virgin patron. Its construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although...

    .
  • Micon
    Micon
    Micon the Younger of Athens was an ancient Greek painter and sculptor from the middle of the 5th century BC. He was closely associated with Polygnotus of Thasos, in conjunction with whom he adorned the Stoa poikile , at Athens, with paintings of the Battle of Marathon and other battles. He also...

     painted a version on the Stoa Poikile
    Stoa
    Stoa in Ancient Greek architecture; covered walkways or porticos, commonly for public usage. Early stoae were open at the entrance with columns, usually of the Doric order, lining the side of the building; they created a safe, enveloping, protective atmosphere.Later examples were built as two...

     at the Ancient Agora of Athens
    Ancient Agora of Athens
    The Ancient Agora of Athens is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora, located to the northwest of the Acropolis and is bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill known as the Colonus Agoraeus.-History:The agora in Athens had private housing, until it...

    .

See also

  • For discussion of such battles, see Amazons in historiography.
  • For the most famous Amazonomachy, see Attic War
    Attic War
    In Greek mythology, the Attic War is the conflict between the Amazons and the Athenians, led by Theseus. The Amazons came to free Antiope from captivity; she was the sister of their dead queen, Hippolyta. Theseus had abducted Antiope during Heracles' ninth labor. The Attican forces were said to...

    .
  • For representation of Amazonomachies as depicted in ancient visual art, see Amazons in art.
  • Amazon statue types
    Amazon statue types
    Pliny the Elder records five bronze statues of Amazons in the Artemision of Ephesus. He explains the existence of such a quantity of sculptures on the same theme in the same place by describing a 5th century BC competition between the artists Polyclitus, Phidias, Kresilas, "Kydon" and Phradmon;...

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