Warrior Women of Greek Mythology: The Show Notes

We’re starting off the show notes with a clip from the 2017 Wonder Woman movie. Amazons vs. Germans in World War I. Because why the hell not.

One of our most important sources for this episode was Adrienne Mayor’s Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World. We CANNOT say enough in praise of this book. Just do yourself a giant favor and buy it:

We also got a lot out of John Man’s Searching for the Amazons: The Real-Life Warrior Women of the Ancient World. 

On to our ancient sources. These were great resources for original accounts of the Amazon myths:

The Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus 

Apollodorus’ The Library, translated by James George Frasier:

Quintus Smyrnaeus’ The Fall of Troy (A.S. Way Translation):

Herodotus’ Histories, David Grene translation:

Plutarch’s Lives of Theseus (Bernadotte Perrin translation):

Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War:

Aristotle also came into play here (warning; he makes you ragey):

And the ever-classy Robert Graves:

For insight into women’s roles in ancient Greece, we used Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity by Sarah Pomeroy:

Also, here are some articles along these lines that we found useful:

“Not Worth the Rearing: The Causes of Infant Exposure in Ancient Greece,” by Cynthia Patterson

“Law, Custom, and Myth: Aspects of the Social Position of Women in Ancient Greek Society,” by John Gould

And! Podcasts we love that talk about the Amazons and women in ancient Greece include:

Myths and Legends: Amazons: Wonder Women

Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby!: They’re Not So Awful After All, Ancient Greek Women in Herodotus’ History

Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby!: Theseus, Ruiner of Women and All Around Awful Person

The History of Ancient Greece Podcast: A series of episodes on women in ancient Greece, including women in religion; abortion, pregnancy, and divorce; and marriage and domesticity.

The Trojan War Podcast: Achilles’ Heel