What’s in a name? Amazons explained

We have an Amazons personality quiz on PlayBuzz, here’s a bit more about the results! For more Amazon names and their meanings, please visit our Pinterest board: http://www.pinterest.com/princetonupress/the-amazons/

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The meaning of Harman Dali is “Crazy-Brave”. Harman Dali was a beguiling berserker in the Turkmenistan region who thrived on killing would-be suitors who accepted her famous challenge: “I’ll only marry the man who beats me at wrestling and I chop off the heads of the losers.” She issued this challenge to Koroglu, a bandit hero, and in the course of their wrestling, he is overcome with desire and gives up. He sings for Harman Dali and she not only spares his life, but invites him to share her bed for one night.


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Though Kepes appears on a 6th-century Circassian vase, little other than the meaning of her name is known. However, when the meaning of your name is “Hot Flanks/Eager Sex,” perhaps that is enough.


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The meaning of Penthesilea is “She Who Brings Grief”. When Troy was under attack, they sent forth requests for help. One such request was sent to Penthesilea–a legendary warrior queen whose name would strike terror into the hearts of the Greeks. Penthesilea did have a starring role in the legendary Trojan War, though she did die there, struck down by Achilles.


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The meaning of Sanape is “From Wine Country.” In Greek thinking, extreme passion for warfare went hand in hand with compulsive drinking, so it is not surprising that tipsy Amazons could be synonymous with war-loving Amazons. Sanape’s name is derived from a Circassian word for wine, though whether this was because she was from a wine-producing region or because she was a drunk is unknown. What we do know is that the Sinopeans celebrated their Amazonian history by issuing coins with Sanape’s image and held a bacchanalian procession on the city walls of women dressed as armed warriors.


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The meaning of Sisyrbe is “Shaggy Goat-Skin”. Little is known of Sisyrbe, but given the meaning of her name, she must have cut a striking figure in the Ancient World. Actually, the reality is a little less hairy. Herodotus reported that several of the Libyan nomad tribes practiced free love, like the Amazons and the Massagetae, and noted that the women dressed in goat leather. In all likelihood, Sisyrbe is one of these nomad women.


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The meaning of Pantariste is “Best of All,” so you have earned bragging rights. Use them wisely.


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The meaning of Hypsicratea is “High or Mighty Power.” Hypsicratea was married to Mithradates, the famed Poison King, and they are often depicted riding together on horseback. “The queen Hypsicratea loved her husband Mithradates with boundless affection,” wrote Valerius Maximus. “She was happy to trade her splendid beauty for a masculine style, for she cut her hair and accustomed herself to riding horses and using weapons so that she could participate in the king’s toils and share his dangers.”


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The meaning of Atalanta is “Equal, Balanced.” Atalanta is the original Amazon, selected to accompany Hercules on his quest for the Golden Fleece. Self-reliant, with a “fiery, masculine gaze,” she wrestled like a bear and could outrun any animal or man.

Mayor_TheAmazonsThis information is taken from Adrienne Mayor’s new book The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World. You can read a free excerpt from the book here: http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s10302.pdf


  1. Barbara A. Smith says:

    What happened to all these Scythian tribes? Why did this egalitarian way of life disappear? After all, Central Asian tribes invaded Europe over and over again in the Middle Ages. Maybe Adrienne Mayor’s new book explains or speculates on this matter. The first chapter is fascinating; I am pre-ordering.