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An Amazonomachy (English translation: "Amazon battle"; plural, Amazonomachiai Ἀμαζονομαχίαι (Ancient Greek) or Amazonomachies Αμαζονομαχίες (Modern Greek)) was a portrayal of legendary battle between Greeks and Amazons. The mythic all-female warrior society succumbed to the likes of Heracles and Theseus, and symbolised the triumph of Greek civilization over the barbarian.

Examples

• Pheidias represented an Amazonomachy on the shield of the Athena Parthenos, the monumental cult statue of the Parthenon.
• Another representation was painted by Micon, on the Stoa Poikile at the Ancient Agora of Athens.

Gallery

See also

• For discussion of such battles as depicted in mythology, Amazons in Greek Mythology.
• For representation of Amazonomachies as depicted in ancient visual art, see Amazons in Greek & Roman Art.
• For the most famous Amazonomachy, see Attic War.

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἀμαζονομαχία (Amazonomakhia) < Ἀμαζών (Amazōn) "Amazon" + μάχη (makhē) "battle".

Noun

Amazonomachy (plural Amazonomachies)

1. A battle with Amazons, especially their defeat by men; an artistic representation of such a scene.
   • 1998: Heracles' ninth labour was to fetch the girdle of the Amazon queen, Hippolyte, resulting in another Amazonomachy (Apollod. 4. 16). — The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilisation (Oxford 2004, p. 31)