Greek Mythology Notes

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Amazonomachy

concept

Ἀμαζονομαχία

Battle of Greeks and Amazons

The Amazonomachy was the legendary battle between the Athenians and the Amazons who invaded Athens — depicted alongside the Centauromachy as a key symbol of Greek triumph.

The Myth

After Heracles took Hippolyta's girdle (or after Theseus abducted the Amazon Antiope), the Amazons invaded Attica and besieged Athens itself. The battle raged around the Areopagus and the Acropolis before the Athenians drove them back. The Amazonomachy was depicted on the Parthenon, the shield of Athena Parthenos, and the temple of Apollo at Bassae. Like the Centauromachy, it symbolised civilised Greece defeating foreign barbarism — though some modern scholars note the Amazons' courage was as admired as it was feared.

Symbols

battleAcropoliscrescent shieldshorseback

Fun Fact

The Amazonomachy was carved on Athena's shield itself — the Amazons attacking the Acropolis were depicted on the very building they supposedly attacked.

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