THE AMAZONS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1324, 30 December 1911, Page 11

THE AMAZONS.

OLD LEGENDS CONFIRMED. Fresh 'evidence has been discovered of the actual existence of a race of Amazons, women who fought like men, and constituted an army entirely of their own sex. We imagine it will bo welcome news to tho defenders of women's rights to know that even in primitive times women.could perform the sternest.duties of men. The latest discovery- concerning tho -Amazons has been mado at Belmonte, in Central Italy. Tho remains found belong to tho age o.f tho Etruscans, a mysterious race, who reached a high stato of civilisation centuries before the Romans were of any importance in the world. At Belnionto two ancient tombs havo been excavated from beneath the ground. Around the stone work of each runs a frieze depicting female warriors in many . episodes of wur. The Amazons drive chariots and ride horses. None but women appear iu their army. One woman drives, a chariot, while another is" fighting with spear or with bow and arrows.' They are invariably conquering the' men in tlioir combats. They plunge tho spear and sword into their male opponents with remorseless ferocity. The poor men aro represented as fleeing for their lives or receiving the death thrust. Tho female warriors seem more than able to deal single-handed with the men, and have tremendously brawny arms. Within the tombs were found the remains of two .women of sturdy frame. With them were their bronze helmets, armour, swords, and spears. It is believed that one of these women is Camilla, the Virgin Queen of the Volscians, a redoubtable warrior mentioned by Virgil. It was not possible to 'decide from the inscriptions whether tho right breast had been removed .in order to facilitate the use of sword and spear, as ancient tradition asserts to havo been tho custom. This has long been a vexed point among archaeologists. The anciont Greeks asserted that tho Amazons wero mutilated in this way. It has been explained by the theory that tho word "Amazon" happened to resemble the Greek words meaning "without a breast," but was really a foreign word with an entirely different meaning. There is now a vast amount of evidenco indicating the existence of real Amazons in many •countries in ancient times. Among tho ruins of Horculaneum recently unearthed were found some exquisite .bronze statues of Amazons in fighting _ attitudes. Tho figures wero dressed in distinctive national ,costu»e, different from anything worn by Grribks or Romans, whicli seems strong cviikmce that, they were real people, and not creations of the imagination of tho artist, who was a Greek.

Distinct Race of Women, According to Greek legend, the Amazons were a race of women dwelling in Asia Minor. Their primitive home was in C'appadocia, on the banks of the Therniodon, not far from the now famous ruins of Boghaz-Keui. From there they issued forth to conquer the people of Asia Minor, and to found an empire which reached to the confines of Greece. The State was governed and composed entirely of women. ■When a woman wislied a husband, she obtained one from u neighbouring State, but he was treated very much as prisoner on probation in the Amazon country, and was never allowed (o live thcro permanently. Main children born in the country were either killed or sent to neighbouring States. One.of the most famous queens of the Amazons was Penthesilea, whose deeds are recorded in the Iliad. The Trojans secured her as an ally in the great siege of Troy, whon their causo was failing, and their great hero. Hector, had been slain by the Greeks. Penthesilea came with a band of 5000 Amazon warriors. Many ancient writers speak of the ferocity with which they fought. After a few encounters with the Amazon 3, tho Greek soldiers tied in terror at the sound of their peculiar shrill war-cry. Queen Penthesilea slew many of the bravest Greek warriors, but was herself plain at. last by Achilles, the unbeaten Greek champion. When the hero bent over his fallen foe, and contemplated her youth and beauty, lie regretted what he had done and wept bitterly. Tliursites, an insolent brawler, ridiculed tho grief of Achilles, and was in consequence killed by the hero. t "References to the Amazons in the classics are very numerous and interesting. Ono of the twelve labours of Hercules was to secure tho girdle of Hippolyte, tho Queen of tho Amazons,