Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1996 The Amazon Myth in Western Literature. Bruce Robert Magee Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Magee, Bruce Robert, "The Amazon Myth in Western Literature." (1996). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6262. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6262 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the tmct directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter 6ce, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Hgher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE AMAZON MYTH IN WESTERN LITERATURE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Interdepartmental Program in Comparative Literature by Bruce Robert Magee M.A., Louisiana Tech University, 1980 M.Div. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 1983 Th.D., New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 1988 August 1996 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9706345 UMI Microform 9706345 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Several people have been helpful in the writing of my dissertation. I especially appreciate the patience and cooperation of my wife, Brenda, and my sons, Jeffrey and Jonathan. A difficult process would have been impossible without their support. I am grateful for the help of my doctoral committee, especially for the guidance of Dr. Robert J. Edgeworth, the chairman of my committee. I also appreciate the help of the other members of my committee, Joseph V. Ricapito, John D. Pizer, Josephine A. Roberts, Emily E. Batinski, and Daniel M. Fogel. I also appreciate those who helped in the composition and editing of my dissertation. Cynthia Wyatt proofread the rough draft of the dissertation. Dr. Edgeworth read the complete rough draft of the dissertation, and Dr. Roberts read the rough draft of the fourth chapter. Megan Assaf prepared the figures in the dissertation. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................ ü LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................... v ABSTRACT ........................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 1 The Statement of the Problem ........................ 1 The Delimitations ............................................... 2 Methodology ....................................................... 3 2 CLASSIC AMAZONS .................................................... 20 Introduction ....................................................... 20 Overview of the Myth ..................................... 21 "A" Is for "Other" ............................................. 29 Like Father, Like Son? ..................................... 51 The Shield Effect ............................................... 64 The Great Chain ............................................... 74 The Amazon Example ....................................... 77 Conclusion .......................................................... 81 3 MEDIEVAL AMAZONS ............................................... 84 Introduction ....................................................... 84 Knight Makes Right .......................................... 85 Quiting the Knyght, or A City of Their Own .......................... 107 Conclusion ......................................................... 134 4 RENAISSANCE MAN, AMAZON WOMAN ............. 137 Introduction ....................................................... 137 New World, Old Amazons ............................... 139 Amazon Queens and Fairies .......................... 164 Conclusion .......................................................... 204 III Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5 ROMANTIC AND VICTORIAN AMAZONS ................. 207 Introduction ....................................................... 207 Kiss of the Amazon Woman .......................... 210 Stone Age Amazons .......................................... 241 A Nowhere Land of Their Own ..................... 279 Conclusion ......................................................... 315 6 CONCLUSION ............................................................... 320 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................... 330 VITA ...................................................................................................... 353 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES 1. Reconstruction of the shield of Athena Parthenos, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. (Leipen 91) 52 2. Veronese. "La Virtu che frena il Vizio." (Robertson plate 6. Photo Alinari-Giraudon) ................................... 89 3. Lucas van Leyden. "Phyllis and Aristotle." (Lavalleye 194) 91 4. Thamyris decapitates Cyrus. (Miélot pi. 5 7 ) .............................. 119 5. "The Amazon." (Burton 3: vi) .................................................. 268 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT This dissertation identifies and evaluates the ways in which the Amazon myth has functioned. The Amazon myth functions within broader discourses about the Orient, Africa, and women. It has implications for the ways we define "self" and "other." Because they are often represented as a threat to the border from long ago and/or far away, Amazons can serve both as an excuse for fortifying the center against the margin, and as a way of projecting fantasies into the void. The Amazon myth has incited men to action as they have searched for adventure and Amazons abroad. Intended in part as a warning to women of what they could become and of what could happen to them if they rebelled against traditional roles, it has also provided an alluring model to women searching for more power and autonomy. The Amazon myth projects onto foreign soil tensions felt in the home society and provides a safe sphere for the expression and resolution of those tensions. As a breach of the Great Chain of Being, usurping Amazons can serve either as a critique of that idea or as a call to arms for heroic men to defend it. The first chapter develops the theoretical framework for the dissertation. This framework is derived primarily from Michel Foucault, VI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Edward Said, and Christopher Miller. Foucault devised what he termed the three axes of genealogy: the axes of truth, power, and ethics. The giuses of the Amazon myth reflect the interplay of these during different eras. Said and Miller have shown how Foucault's theory applies to discourses about the Orient and Africa, respectively. Interpretations of the Amazon myth have tended to reflect each era's thought about the "other," whether other-as-foreigner or other-as-woman or both. The