Penthesilea's Wish [Vol.1]

Chapter Five

      (The Amazon culture: near the south coast of the Black Sea, 1600-1200 BCE)

The 'Daughters of the Moon' as a nomadic society of females was austere and ruled by simple laws and customs for survival. It grew out of their Proto-Scythian ancestry but flourished under an early charter the all-woman sect had developed to honor a code to remain male-free. They had coalesced over time into a warrior clan with the unprecedented ability to defend themselves against any marauders who threatened their autonomy-invariably these combative enemies were men. Their Spartan-like existence emulated the life and freedom of the animal they adored and with which they shared their world-the horse. 

All women in this culture had to be exceptional in combat; deft with a bow, sword and a spear; and able to perform these martial duties while in top flight on horseback. Heroism was expected at the risk of all their lives, as they were never to complain about pain or the burdens of a nomadic existence. A 'Daughter' had to remain unflinchingly loyal to her female comrades without fail, willing to sacrifice even her life for the clan if necessary. The penalty for betrayal within the Amazons of an individual woman, or the women collectively, was a suicidal mission in which she had to thrust of herself into the jaws of an uneven battle against males from an enemy clan. There there would be little chance of survival.

This severe penalty had to be selected carefully, often involving a large conflict between tribes-usually rare incidents of all-out war with men in order to employ this consequence as a 'trial by ordeal.' Any woman who awaited such potential atonement for her sin had sometimes to endure months, even years, before a dire opportunity of such appropriate magnitude would present itself. It was believed only then that the 'Magna Mater,' the Great Earth Mother would hand down a verdict-life or death, to the Amazon wishing to be absolved from her great sin of disloyalty or cowardice.

The earth goddess, "Asiatic Artemis" was known to the nomadic peoples of the Near East as well as to the Greeks. Later writers were to link her worship universally throughout the region and it was the Amazons whom it was said, later inspired the great temple of Ephesus in her honor, still standing in partial glory today in modern Turkey. This goddess of female power was at the heart of the Amazon spiritual order, and was often symbolized by the light or image of the moon. Later Cybele, to the Phrygians, and other female goddesses emerged in like kind and in later periods to provide powerful legacies of creation, birth and fertility to the ancient world.

 A woman's alignment to creation for her own reproductive prowess was a strong link to spiritual power in the primordial past, and out of which the Amazons emerged. Such female 'mother-deities' were to associate with the earth itself and its abilities of abundance and rejuvenation. They would later become infused with the mysteries of gender reversal, magic, and divine intervention in many of the myths, legends, and belief systems to develop in this greater eastern region of the formative world. It was nevertheless, 'Asian Artemis' who, as a female presence, gave great inspiration and motivation to the Amazon culture's everyday experiences, emerging some three thousand years ago.

Similar female influence coexisted at the time on the island of Crete among the Minoans and the Lycians, giving women a belief in their inner strength and abilities to compete in a world dominated by male physical strength. It was manifested in the art of the region which records their dual-gender leadership, granting equal and even greater power at times to women. The "Mother Goddess" whom they, the Egyptians and the Hatti-predecessors of the Hittites, adored. Such deities intervened constantly in matters of love, war, birth and death.

The Greek pantheon was to emerge with its own strong female deities, each with a more specialized domain, yet maintaining their feminine mystique and commanding respect by male counterparts for their unique abilities. Hera, Athena, Demeter, Aphrodite and Artemis were all worshiped and respected for their independent characteristics among the male gods to bring favor upon those whom they chose to support. And these females additionally provided the most insidious revenge upon those whom they did not. It was in this light that the Amazons paid homage to their own Artemis and waited for her judgment in the cases of betrayal. In the 'trial by warfare' a pardon would be observed as granted only if, through the Amazon's bravery and fierce combat, she somehow survived the ordeal.