Abstract:
In a favourite mythological motif of the Greeks, the Amazons fought many of the
most celebrated Greek heroes and lived in independent societies on the fringes of
the known world. These warrior women appear throughout Greek literature and
art of every kind, defined by characteristics which differentiated them from
‘ordinary’ women: heroic capability and skills in battle; an unusual lifestyle,
marked out by traditions often the very opposite of those of the Greeks, including
unique mothering customs; and a significant independence from men, including
systems of gynaecocracy or the wholesale exclusion of men from their society. Yet
despite their reputations as fierce and talented combatants, the Amazons were
constantly bested by their male counterparts and either killed in battle or
abducted for marriage. It seems that whenever they fought against the Greeks,
they lost.
In an interesting case of the adaptation of myth to the modern world, the
archetypal features of the Amazon (as the Greeks imagined her) can also be found
in a variety of television and film characters. Through an analysis of both the
ancient and ‘modern’ Amazon, I show how this symbol benefits greatly from the
vastly different social context of western society in the twentieth century which
enables the Amazon to become an affirmative model of female heroism. The
case-study approach adopted here examines instances of the ‘modern’ Amazon in
Wonder Woman, Xena: Warrior Princess, Alien/Aliens, The Terminator/Terminator 2:
Judgment Day and Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2 and notes that, while encompassing many
of the same traits as their ancient predecessors, these Amazons are no longer
constantly on the losing side of the battle. The successes of feminism and the
changing expectations which accompany them transform the Amazon from the
defeated warrior into the triumphant victor.
