Female Warriors of the Amazon: A Literary Approach

Whilst reflecting on how to go about writing this article, I realised that there are a variety of ways to approach this interesting topic. As the title has indicated, I have opted for a literary approach, focusing on some Classical sources, the narratives of Alexander the Great, and the medieval Alexander Romances.

One of the earliest references to the existence of a race of warrior women called the Amazons can be found in Homer’s Iliad. In Book 6 of that epic, the Greek hero, Diomedes comes face to face with a Lycian captain, Glaucus, the son of Hippolochus. Diomedes proceeds to ask Glaucus of his lineage. Accordingly, Glaucus gives an account of his ancestors, one of them being Bellerophon. It is through this character that Homer makes a reference to the Amazons, as he wrote: “Then for a third test he brought the Amazons down, a match for men in war.”