It was the result of a story told by the members of the Francisco Orellana expedition. They were the first conquerors to navigate the river from the eastern Andean Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. They claimed that they were attacked by some ferocious women warriors that reminded them of the Amazons from Greek mythology. Shortly it was clear that no such warriors existed along the river.
At that time the story was ridiculed and it could have been totally forgotten. But, AMAZON is the name by which the river is known today, and it appeals to us as a name full of strength and suggestion.
They were a fictitious creation, a fabulous nation of female warriors, which according to legends, attacked the frontiers of Ancient Greece.
Like other ancient cultures, the Greek had their own version of a legendary, barbaric and, adjacent to their own, a land of weird and unorganized habits. Like this, the amazons being females, had chosen the male occupation of fighting the wars. The name meant, "BREAST LESS", because supposedly each woman would cut her right breast in order not to interfere with the use of the bow and arrow. Due to the fact that these warriors and their reigns were pure inventions, the Greek storytellers would move the habitat of these warriors every time their geography expanded. In the Iliad they used to "live" in Frigia and Licia; later they were to be "found" in the Black Sea. As soon as the Black Sea was colonized, they "moved" even farther; as a matter of fact, it is possible to trace the development of the Greek geographical knowledge through the remoteness of the Amazon "location". Similar to the character half man, half animal from exotic latitudes, their cultural function consisted of keeping the interest alive for adventure and exploration.
