Hippolyta, Antiope and Penthesilea. These are the names of Amazonian women warriors made famous in folklore, thanks in large part to male Greek storytellers like Homer and Herodotus.
希波吕忒、安提俄珀、彭忒西勒亚,这些都是民间传说中著名亚马孙女武士的名字。她们之所以出名,在很大程度上要归功于荷马及希罗多德等古希腊男性作家。
They were huntresses, founders of cities, rivals and lovers of adventurous men. They battled the Greek hero Heracles and fought alongside the Trojans in the final hours of Troy. And yet, they are widely held to be little more than figments1 of Greco-Roman imagination.
她们是女猎手,是城市的创建者,是爱冒险的男人的对手与恋人。她们曾与古希腊英雄赫拉克勒斯交手,也曾在特洛伊城即将陷落之际与特洛伊人并肩作战。然而,人们普遍认为她们是古希腊-罗马人想象出来的。
But warrior women actually existed, according to Stanford’s Adrienne Mayor, a research scholar in the Department of Classics. In her new book, “The Amazons2: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World,” Mayor explains the real-world underpinnings3 and history behind the Amazonian folklore.
但斯坦福大学古典学系的研究学者阿德里安娜·梅厄却认为,女武士是真实存在的。有关亚马孙人的民间传说源于现实,有其真实的历史背景,梅厄在她的新书《古代世界亚马孙女战士的生活与传说》中对此作了阐述。
In Hellenic legends, as Mayor learned, Amazons often faced defeat and death at the hands of male Greek heroes. Yet the storytellers also described these female foreigners as exceptionally heroic, civilized and worthy counterparts to the Greek champions.
正如梅厄所了解到的,在古希腊传说中,亚马孙女战士常被希腊男性英雄击败,甚至被杀,但讲故事的人却又把这些异邦女子描绘得极有英雄气概又文明开化,还说她们是与希腊斗士旗鼓相当的女中豪杰,是值得尊敬的。
“Amazons were modeled on stories of self-confident women of steppe4 cultures who fought for glory and survival and enjoyed male companionship,” but, as Mayor puts it, “on terms that seemed extraordinary to the ancient Greeks.”
“亚马孙女战士的原型是自信的游牧民族女子,有关她们的故事是大草原文化的一部分,她们为了荣誉和生存而战,喜欢与男子为伴。”但如梅厄所说,“在古希腊人看来,她们与伴侣的关系似乎有点奇特”。
The hereditary stories left quite a mark on the Greeks. “The popularity of Amazon stories and images suggests that Greek women and men enjoyed imagining heroes and heroines interacting as equals and seeking adventure and glory in hunting and battle,” Mayor said.
这些故事世代流传,极大地影响了希腊人。梅厄说:“亚马孙女战士的故事脍炙人口,她们的形象深入人心,这些都说明希腊的男男女女都喜欢想象男女英雄人物平等交流,一起在狩猎和战斗中寻求冒险与荣耀。”
Real women warriors
真正的女武士
Mayor began her investigation by amassing all the surviving ancient Greek and Latin accounts she could find that told of encounters with Amazons as well as “warlike, barbarian” women who behaved like Amazons of myth. The texts described them as members of nomadic tribes roving the territories that the Greeks collectively called “Scythia”—a vast expanse between the Black Sea and Mongolia—from the seventh century B.C. until the fifth century A.D.
现存的古希腊语和拉丁语文献记录下了遭遇亚马孙女战士的情形,以及遭遇“野蛮好战”女子的事件,后者举止行为犹如神话中的亚马孙女战士。
