I would be the Amazon Queen, Otrera

I was ready for battle as I sat astride the most beautiful of white horses which I have named Fury. Her name complimented her fiery hot temper. Fury reared and bucked against the weight upon her back. She was ready to ride, had been idle for days and showed her impatience.

I am Queen Otrera, the first Amazon Queen, the offspring of a romance between Ares the god of war and the nymph Harmonia of the Akmonian Wood, and as such I am a demi-goddess.

I am leader of the amazing Amazonian group of female warriors and hunters, they are as skilled and courageous, oftentimes better than the men, in physical agility, strength, archery, riding skills, and the arts of combat. Our society is closed to men, which means we only raise daughters and return sons to their fathers. Socialization with men is kept to a mere few months every year, just for the sake of reproduction.

"The Amazons had chosen to settle beyond the borders of the Gargareans, an all-male tribe native to the northern foothills of the Caucasian Mountains. The Amazons and Gargareans had for many generations met in secrecy once a year during two months in spring, in order to produce children. These encounters would take place in accordance with ancient tribal customs and collective offers of sacrifices".

The Amazonian women are trained from a young age on how to fight, they attended gladiator type schools. They learn many types of defensive strategies as well as psychological warfare. During the training, they are versed on how to use superior strength as well as skills in the battlefield. For them battles and wars are always imminent.

WAR

Daima had been out scouting, word had come down from the Gargareans of a fleet of ships converging and sailing towards the Amazon shores. She came thundering up at a fast gallop, her horse snorting and fidgeting, she had ridden him fast and far.

"What news Daima"? I asked softly, not betraying my growing impatience. As Queen, I had to show restraint and respect for my warriors.

"They are half a days ride away, maybe less, my Queen, I rode as fast as I could to return with the news".

"Thank you Daima. It matters not now, we are ready". I raised my right arm which held my golden lance, and yelled loudly.

"Amazons, forward. We will not wait for our victory today. Let us ride out to meet the enemy on common ground, they must not live to tell the world where to find us. I, Queen Otrera, will be at the head of all of us women, leading the charge into battle".

The warriors raised their weapons and roared loudly. They were ready.

"Daima, rest and guard the young ones until we return". The young warrior bowed, grateful for the brief respite. She knew that she may be called upon to rejoin the fight at any moment.

The women rode out from behind a curtain of trees which was completely hidden and obscured their home from view, accessible only unless one knew where to look. The actions of a young Amazon had compromised our location. Thinking herself in love she had violated the trust and had been betrayed by her intended tryst. I knew well the foolish actions of the young, yet the child had to face the consequences of her actions. Order had to be maintained. Because of her actions, people may die today.

Courageous and fiercely independent, the Amazons, commanded by me as their queen, regularly undertake extensive military expeditions into the far corners of the world, from Scythia to Thrace, Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands, reaching as far as Arabia and Egypt. Besides military raids, we Amazons are also associated with the foundation of temples and the establishment of numerous ancient cities like Smyrna, Sinope, Myrina, Magnesia, and Pygela among others.

Many wanted to own our fertile lands, many had tried to find it. We had been safe for years. Now that safety was being threatened, we had to defend it with our lives.

The women arrived at the edge of the forest where we had a strategic view of the approaching boats. We blended with the vegetation and waited until the boats landed, then rode out from among the trees, but we were outnumbered three to one. After a fierce battle, unfortunately, I was captured, and at least a dozen women were either killed or injured. The Greek fleet lost three quarters of their men, but threats of killing the queen caused the women to surrender.

The Amazon homeland is in Pontus at the southern shores of the Black Sea. The Greek fleet, sailing home upon defeating the Amazons in battle at the Thermodon river, included three ships crowded with Amazon prisoners. Once out at sea, the Amazon prisoners overwhelmed and killed the small crews of the prisoner ships and, despite not having even basic navigation skills, managed to escape and safely disembark at the Scythian shore. As soon as the Amazons had caught enough horses, we easily asserted ourselves into the steppe in between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.

We eventually found our way back home with the help of the Scythians. Most of the fighters that day had only been badly injured but were fast healing. Six women had been killed and buried after the war. A cenotaph was erected in memory of those lost in the battle at sea.

A Cenotaph is a monument to someone buried elsewhere, especially one commemorating people who died in a war.

In time to come, we Amazons hope that modern civilizations will discover the truth of our existence. We will have left vast archaeological evidence of over a thousand nomad graves in steppe territories from the Black Sea, and all the way to Mongolia. Spectacular discoveries of battle-scarred female skeletons buried with their weapons (bows and arrows, quivers, and spears) will prove that women warriors were not merely figments of imagination, but the product of the Scythian/Sarmatian horse-centered lifestyle.

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Famous medieval traveller John Mandeville, mentions the Amazons in his book: The travels of Sir John Mandeville, or Mandevilles's travels, (1357-1371).

"Beside the land of Chaldea is the land of Amazonia, that is the land of Feminye. And in that realm is all woman and no man; not as some may say, that men may not live there, but for because that the women will not suffer no men amongst them to be their sovereigns".

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