AMAZON, How did
it get its name? 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. 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.
WHO WERE THE ORIGINAL AMAZON
WARRIORS? 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 exotics latitudes, their cultural function
consisted in keeping alive the interest for adventure and exploration.
