Written by News from The Classical Association…
The Amazons
We are delighted to announce the completion of our newest chapter on the Amazons. Please check it out here: https://classicalassociation.org/queering-the-past/
Myths about the Amazons have captured the imagination of writers and artists for thousands of years. This legendary society of warrior women who typically lived without men was one of the most popular subjects for artists in ancient Greece, and they remain popular today in games and movies about the ancient Mediterranean world, from the “Wonder Woman” comics, TV series and movies, to “Assassins’ Creed Odyssey” and beyond.
This chapter provides some of the literary, historical and material evidence about these very complex figures and poses significant questions. For instance, were they simply made up by the Greeks? Or were they based on real warrior women? Or, as is likely, some combination of the two? The resource encourages students to consider the representation of the Amazons from the perspectives of gender and sexuality, on the one hand, and “otherness,” on the other.
Queering the Past(s)’ main goal remains to provide high quality digital resources to secondary school teachers who wish to teach a queer-friendly curriculum using ancient material. Previous chapters focused on Sappho and Elagabalus—a Lesbian poet and a genderfluid Roman emperor. These resources enable teachers to lead students in discussions of some tricky issues, such as how do modern understandings of gender and sexuality inform the ways we interpret the past, and how do past experiences inform our modern conceptions of gender and sexuality? How is evidence constructed and used? Can we use modern terminology to discuss the past? Should we do so?
We remain open to new members! Contact us at if you would like to get involved—there are many tasks and many levels of engagement available.
