Religious Cults of Amazons by Florence Mary Bennett
January 22nd 2007 06:40
As I was reading about the Amazons, I stumbled on this piece by Florence Mary Bennett on the net. It's there on Bulfinch's mythology and on sacred texts as well. A scholary dissertation on the religious beliefs of Amazons, it searches for the extensive references of Amazons in classical literarture, wherever they are mentioned in regards to their religious beliefs.
The list is comprehensive as Bennett searches through the maze of classical references, she finds many instances to the religious practices of Amazons. theier main object of worship seems to be a baetylic or aniconic form of Mother Goddess, similar to the famous Phrygian Goddess Cybele whose baetyl was transferred to Rome to ward of Hannibal's attacks.
Amazons are said to have worshipped pre-eminently at the Artemesium of Ephesus, one of the seven wonders of classical antiquity. As Bennett searches the various Goddesses that Amazons said to have worshipped, she draws a common characteristic: they were all war-goddesses. Even Goddesses known for other attributes like Aphrodite seem to have war function.
Bennett then examines the male gods that Amazons were said to have worshipped and this is where she leads into hornet's nest. All the male gods seem to have an effeminate characteristic to them and this leads into the area of Corybantes, Curetes and Dactylii.
Bennett's thesis then is that Amazons were initially a cult of worshippers of a war-like Mother Goddess, just like the Corybantes and others, who probably cut off their breasts in the heat of worship. This gave them a fierce repuatation and whenever later classical writers met women warriors, they referredd to them as Amazons.
The treatise was written in 1913, so some of the intital discussion about the war-like goddess is somewaht dated but when Bennett steers into the cultic angle, the discussion gets complicated and fascinating. I thought her conclusion was a bit too pat but this is still remains a fascinating read.
The list is comprehensive as Bennett searches through the maze of classical references, she finds many instances to the religious practices of Amazons. theier main object of worship seems to be a baetylic or aniconic form of Mother Goddess, similar to the famous Phrygian Goddess Cybele whose baetyl was transferred to Rome to ward of Hannibal's attacks.
Amazons are said to have worshipped pre-eminently at the Artemesium of Ephesus, one of the seven wonders of classical antiquity. As Bennett searches the various Goddesses that Amazons said to have worshipped, she draws a common characteristic: they were all war-goddesses. Even Goddesses known for other attributes like Aphrodite seem to have war function.
Bennett then examines the male gods that Amazons were said to have worshipped and this is where she leads into hornet's nest. All the male gods seem to have an effeminate characteristic to them and this leads into the area of Corybantes, Curetes and Dactylii.
Bennett's thesis then is that Amazons were initially a cult of worshippers of a war-like Mother Goddess, just like the Corybantes and others, who probably cut off their breasts in the heat of worship. This gave them a fierce repuatation and whenever later classical writers met women warriors, they referredd to them as Amazons.
The treatise was written in 1913, so some of the intital discussion about the war-like goddess is somewaht dated but when Bennett steers into the cultic angle, the discussion gets complicated and fascinating. I thought her conclusion was a bit too pat but this is still remains a fascinating read.
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Comment by Adele
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Comment by Anonymous
Its on sacred-texts.com.