October 13, 2011
Book Review by Jennifer Gann

Last of the Amazons
By Steven Pressfield
(New York: Doubleday, 2001)

Theseus, King of Athens, traveled to the land of tal Kyrte, the "free people", a nation of proud woman warriors called Amazons, where he fell in love with Queen Antiope, who eloped with him and the Greeks. Thus began the war which would bring about the downfall of the independent Amazon nation.

Author Steven Pressfield has created a masterpiece of historical fiction by recreating the ancient Amazon nation, its matriarchal culture, and its militaristic ferocity. From a young age, Amazon girls become attracted to a skyle—the world for "battalion" and "family" being the same in the Amazon dialect—and at ages eight and twelve, novices formalize their trikonai, "bonds of three." with a bonding ritual of savage hand-to-hand combat they called anitome, or "anytime, anywhere." Thus, the three become bonded forever as lovers and warriors—bonded by blood!

Last of the Amazons is the legendary story of the Great Battle of Athens, circa 1250 B.C.E., in which the Amazons, Scyths, and other tribal allies of the Asian steppes laid waste to the Greek city of Athens in response to Theseus' epochal abduction of their Queen Antiope, the granddaughter of Hippolyta, of the eventual defeat and downfall of the Amazons under constant attack by other nations; and their last generation's passing into the pages of history.

Yet the legacy of the Amazons remains, and their daughters even today carry the hope of Women's Liberation. From radical feminists to indigenous women struggling against the oppression of imperialism and patriarchy, I see the continuing existence of the Amazon nation and its potential restoration to its rightful place among the nations of Earth.

I am here to bear witness and proclaim as a modern-day Amazon in the belly of the beast: My sisters! We shall rise again! Our day will come!