Editing Amazonomachy (section)

=== Ancient Greek Pottery ===
Amazons began to be featured prominently on [[Pottery of ancient Greece|Attic vases]] from around 570 BCE onward until the middle of the 5th Century. During the beginning of this time period, Amazons were most popularly depicted on Attic [[black-figure pottery]], depicting Amazon battle scenes during the Trojan War or, more commonly, during Hercules' legendary ninth labor. Some of such vessels were inscribed with names of Amazons, with [[Andromache (disambiguation)|Andromache]] being named the most often, though none of the non-Herculean battles possessed such inscriptions. Hercules was quite often portrayed on such vessels to be in single combat against three Amazons or more.<ref name=":2" />

The motifs gradually shift from a mismatch of gendered clothing to portraying them as one of the eastern neighbors or the 'Other'.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Von Bothmer |first=Dietrich |title=Amazons in Greek art |date=1957 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-813202-8 |series=Oxford monographs on classical archaeology |location=Oxford |page= |pages=}}</ref> The non-Greek values associated with the Amazons are reflected in their attire. Most significantly, the clothing Amazons were depicted wearing, such as Attic tunics, chitons, or Corinthian caps, played a key role in representing their foreign identity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mayor |first=Adrienne |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7zvndm |title=The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World |date=2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-14720-8 |page=34|doi=10.2307/j.ctt7zvndm |jstor=j.ctt7zvndm }}</ref> These elements were drawn from eastern cultures familiar to the Greeks at the time. Thus, the foreign aspects of Amazonian attire were culturally constructed and were limited primarily to the East Greek islands. Portraying the Amazons as parthenoi, the symbol of defying societal norms also reflects the ‘otherness’ as well. This is demonstrated by the depiction of Amazonomachy in Amphora (storage vessel): Herakles in Combat with the Amazon Andromache, White-ground alabastron: Amazon and Terracotta Nolan neck-amphora (jar).

Amazons were eventually seen on [[red-figure pottery]] as black-figure pottery gradually became less popular during the last quarter of the 6th Century. It was also around this time that Theseus also became a common feature in art depicting the Amazonomachy.<ref name=":2" />
[[File:1955 225 side 1.jpg|alt=|thumb|Greek amphora by the Antimenes Painter depicting Herakles battling the Amazon Andromache, originating from Attica, Greece, dated to 525–500 BCE.|223x223px]]
[[File:White-ground alabastron Amazon, ca. 480–470 BCE.jpg|thumb|357x357px|The white-ground alabastron, dated to around 480–470 BCE, is a Greek Attic ceramic attributed to the Syriskos Painter (ca 500–475 BCE)]]

==== '''Amphora (storage vessel): Herakles in Combat with the Amazon Andromache''' ====
The ovoid neck amphora depicts a battle scene between the Amazons and Herakles, a popular Graeco-Roman hero in many myths. The Amazon’s liminal identity of both adhering to Greek and ‘non-Greek’ values is demonstrated through the female body dressed as a Greek Hoplite, an infantry soldier.<ref name=":10" /> This is shown through the armory and the shield they are wearing. It’s interesting to note that the Amazon depiction still follows the conventions of depicting Greek figures in white flesh in black-figure pottery, despite non-conformity.

==== '''White-ground alabastron: Amazon''' ====
The vase depicts an Amazon warrior, its depiction inspired by elements of Eastern culture, particularly the Scythians. The Amazon is wearing the ependytes, an Eastern-style garment consisting of long-sleeved pants under a sleeveless tunic. This attire was a common indicator of Amazons in Greek art, as artists frequently used it to convey the Amazons’ Eastern origins.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stellings-Hertzberg |first=Niki |date=2011 |title=An Atypical Pairing of an Amazon and a White Lekythos |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/41421514 |journal=Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin |page=75 |jstor=41421514 |issn=0084-3539}}</ref> She also wears a Scythian cap with two points. These garments are unfamiliar to Athenian tradition but instead reference Scythian attire, which would have been recognizable to Athenians at the time. However, she is still identified as an Amazon warrior due to the lack of a pointed beard.<ref name=":9" />

The reference to Eastern culture and the Amazons’ nonconformity to Greek values associates them with the concept of the ‘barbarian Other’—a term referring to anyone who was not Greek, including civilians from Asia Minor, Assyria, and Persia.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |title=Not the classical ideal: Athens and the construction of the other in Greek art |date=2000 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-11618-4 |editor-last=Cohen |editor-first=Beth |location=Leiden ; Boston |page=228}}</ref> As Athenians began to familiarize themselves with Eastern-style attire and customs by 550 BCE due to increasing contact, artists often employed Eastern characteristics to represent the ‘Other’ in art.<ref name=":10" /> By depicting the Amazons with attributes associated with the Scythians, a group from the Eurasian steppes, they are categorized as the "Other" as well by being categorized as foreign both geographically and physically. 

==== '''Terracotta Nolan neck-amphora (jar)''' ====
[[File:Terracotta Nolan neck-amphora (jar) MET DP115268.jpg|left|thumb|218x218px|Classical Greek Attic terracotta Nolan neck-amphora (ca. 440–430 BCE), attributed to the Dwarf Painter.]]
The vase depicts a combat between a Greek (left) and an Amazon warrior (right). Amazons, unlike male heroes or female prostitutes, were never portrayed nude; however, like most depictions of women, they were usually clothed.<ref name=":10" /> She wears a chiton with a pattern, an attire that is worn by athletic girls.<ref name=":9" /> This connects with Stewart’s analysis mentioned above, where Amazons were depicted as wild and unrestrained prepubescent girls—parthenoi. However, the Amazon representation here falls vaguely into the third gender, not truly feminine despite the chiton attire nor masculine, though engaging in warfare like Greek heroes.<ref name=":9" /> This reinforces their status as ‘other’ by not conforming to the traditional gender norms of Ancient Greece.