Conclusion

"They were considered men for their high courage, rather than women for their sex..." -Lysias 2.4, Funeral Oration, (4th c. B.C.E.)

            Conclusion
        Varying beliefs continue to persist on the meaning of the Amazon myths. Many attempts have been made to ascertain what important cultural phenomena these myths and representations convey.
         Because myth was used as metaphorical device to describe situations and events occurring during the time of Classical Greece, Amazons are thought to have been symbols. Perhaps the embodiments of social concepts transferred to concrete and understandable images.
        It has been postulated that in the times of the Persian Wars, the Amazons symbolized the brutal, barbarian Persians. In some representations, it is true, the depiction of the Amazons shares many characteristics with the that of the Persians. Sometimes they are outfitted as such and other other times they share the same roles in the conflicts represented artistically. According to some scholars, if the Greeks could equate the Persians with barbarians that lived at the outer edges of their societies, they could justify fighting and killing them. In this way any victory would only strengthen their own, ethnocentric views.
        The leaders of the time such as: Peisistros and his sons, Cimon and Pericles; could reclaim the mythic positions of Theseus and Heracles. That way they take on the roles of heroes in their conquests against foreigners, just as Theseus and Heracles had valiantly fought against the Amazons.
     These myths also served the purpose of uniting Attica with a common heritage, increasing nationalist sentiment in the time of war.
      Others have thought of the Amazons as the ultimate representation of the female evil as seen by Greek Phallic society. It was their job to tame and domesticate these quasi-animals, and even deter proper Greek women from acting inappropriately. This theory is somewhat contradicted by some representations of Amazons where there exists an extreme eroticization of many of the Amazon women. If the Amazons were so undesirable and unattractive they wouldn't hold any allure at all.
        Confusion is clear in the differing impressions of these mysterious women, they are foreboding and threatening, yet enticing and intriguing as well.
           No one will ever know the true intentions of the artists, popular sentiment, or the politicians of the time, and perhaps one clear cut answer is not sufficient. The Amazons could have represented the dichotomous nature of the woman in the Ancient Athenian polis: necessary, strong, powerful, attractive and seductive; yet not quite as powerful as the men, threatening of male control frightening.
        An analogy can be drawn between these ancient depictions and certain themes which exist today. The legends of the Amazons of Ancient Greece are similar to the female superheroes of comic strips and certain characters in modern television, books and film. Superwoman, Xena, la femme Nikita, certain women in Hemingway novels and certain stereotypes of athletic women and lesbian and bisexual women come to mind. They are all in some way living at the fringes of popular society, challenging traditional standards and attempting to be successful in the same ways that men traditionally have been.
        A more literal comparison can be drawn to female breast cancer survivors. They are somehow deformed in the conventional sense but are fighting for their own survival.
        In this way, Amazons have meaning as inspiration for women's independence, solidarity and strength.   When I think of modern Amazons, I think of courageous and brave women who have struggled with adversity of any form, never relenting.

Image Credit: Etruscan bronze Amazon, Parthian shot. Source: Warry, John. Warfare in the Classical World. 1980. New York.