Summary
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Amazons, a tribe of formidable female warriors first described in Greek literature. They appear in the Homeric epics and were described by Herodotus, and featured prominently in the decoration of Greek vases and public buildings. In later centuries, particularly in the Renaissance, the Amazons became a popular theme of literature and art. After the discovery of the New World, the largest river in South America was named the Amazon, since the warlike tribes inhabiting the river's margins reminded Spanish pioneers of the warriors of classical myth.
With:
Paul Cartledge A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University
Chiara Franceschini Teaching Fellow at University College London and an Academic Assistant at the Warburg Institute
Caroline Vout University Senior Lecturer in Classics and Fellow and Director of Studies at Christ's College, Cambridge.
Producer: Thomas Morris.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Thank you for downloading this episode of In Our Time for more details about In Our Time |
| 0:04.1 | and for our terms of use, please go to bbc.co.uk slash radio for. |
| 0:09.0 | I hope you enjoy the program. |
| 0:11.0 | Hello, in 1542, a Spanish explorer, a fanchisco de oleana, |
| 0:16.5 | traveled 800 miles down a massive and uncharted river, |
| 0:20.0 | the largest in South America. |
| 0:21.6 | His expedition faced extraordinary dangers, |
| 0:23.7 | and on his return to Spain, he told his king, Charles V, |
| 0:26.8 | that his men had been attacked by a fearsome tribe of female warriors. |
| 0:31.2 | As a result of this incident, the river was named the Amazon, |
| 0:34.6 | in reference to an earlier and celebrated race of war-like women. |
| 0:38.0 | The Amazons were said to be a nation of female warriors |
| 0:41.1 | who made frequent appearances in Greek and Roman mythology and art. |
| 0:44.6 | According to tradition, they lived near the Black Sea |
| 0:47.1 | and were ruled by a queen called Epolyta. |
| 0:49.6 | From the Middle Ages onward, European writers |
| 0:51.6 | we discovered the stories of the Amazons, |
| 0:53.3 | which feature in the country of Brutales, |
| 0:54.8 | in Bacaccio's Decameran, as well as numerous famous Renaissance paintings. |
| 0:58.7 | But where does this tradition come from? |
| 1:00.7 | And why did the Amazons prove so fascinating to generations of artists and writers? |
| 1:05.0 | And is there any hard evidence for their existence? |
... |
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