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Chargement... Les Amazones. Quand les femmes étaient les égales des hommes, VIIIe siècle av. J.C-Ier siècle apr. J.C.par Adrienne Mayor
Books Read in 2015 (61) Evan's Wish List (61) Chargement...
Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. Adrienne Mayor has written another interesting and informative book about an uncommon topic. Mayor starts by taking a look at how the ancient Greeks described the Amazons in their myths. legends, literature and art, then comparing this with archaeological evidence (bones, burial sites, vases, coins etc) to determine truth from fiction. She also takes a look at what the ancient Chinese had to say about the Amazons. This beautifully written book includes many black and white illustrations, maps and colour plates. A clear and fascinating new look at the ancient world: http://allbookedup-elena.blogspot.ca/2015/02/the-amazons-lives-legends-of-warrio... The Amazons is a very detailed account of the myths, legends, and the historical facts behind those stories with myriad references to the writers of antiquity, Greek art, and the archaeological evidence that has been found in Asia from the Black Sea to China. While some of the stories were first recorded more recently they are often based on older legends from the times of Herodotus, Alexander, etc. The burial sites of warrior women that have been excavated have been dated to those times as well. In fact, some ancient burial sites in the Scythian homelands that were assumed to be for male warriors have now been found to be women via DNA analysis. These women were buried with their armor, weapons, and horses just as the men were and show the same signs of battle injuries. There were legends here that were new to me as well as a great deal of detail about the nomadic clans that gave rise to the stories that the Greeks based their ideas of Amazons on. One of the interesting things is that many of the customs have survived among people living in parts of countries like Kazakhstan in Central Asia. I would cautiously recommend this book but the text is over 400 dense pages and the long section on the archaeology can be a little dry and needs to be read in pieces to avoid a feeling of repetition. The photos, maps, cross referencing and analysis of the stories seem worth it however.
In this book Adrienne Mayor endeavors to demonstrate that the imaginary Amazons around which ancient Greeks constructed myths actually had contemporary counterparts: the historical “Amazon-like” Scythian warrior women of the nomadic horse-centered warrior cultures of the steppes of Eurasia that stretch to western China. Prix et récompensesListes notables
Fidèle à l'imaginaire mythologique, on a longtemps prêté aux Amazones des coutumes étranges, occultant ainsi l'idée d'Hérodote qu'il existait des tribus où guerrières et guerriers étaient égaux. À l'origine du mythe, des tribus nomades scythes qui considéraient hommes et femmes à égalité sans d'ailleurs se limiter à l'art de la guerre. En mobilisant ces figures féminines, réelles et légendaires, ce livre captivant rétablit les sources historiques d'un mythe galopant sur l'immensité des steppes. Depuis l' Iliade (VIIIe siècle av. J.-C.) jusqu'à Pompée et ses expéditions militaires en Orient (Ier siècle av. J.-C.), en passant par Alexandre le Grand, les mythiques Amazones ont toujours fasciné les Grecs, puis les Romains : des guerrières qui rivalisaient avec les héros grecs par leur courage et leurs prouesses militaires, mais qui ressemblaient aussi aux Barbares – la légende disait qu'elles se coupaient le sein gauche pour tirer à l'arc et qu'elles se débarrassaient de leurs enfants mâles. Mais les Amazones sont-elles seulement un mythe, un fantasme terrifiant inventé par les Grecs et les Romains ? Que peuvent-elles nous apprendre sur la réalité des civilisations avec lesquelles les Grecs étaient en relations commerciales ou guerrières ? Dans ce livre qui fera date, Adrienne Mayor révèle que les Amazones trouvent leur origine dans la réalité historique et met à bas le mythe selon lequel il n'y aurait jamais eu de femmes guerrières. Les découvertes archéologiques faites dans ces immenses étendues où nomadisaient les Scythes – et donc les Amazones décrites par Hérodote – ont permis d'identifier sans doute possible les restes de guerrières mortes au combat. On a longtemps cru qu'un squelette accompagné d'armes était celui d'un homme. Les analyses modernes (en particulier génétiques) montrent que c'est faux dans un nombre considérable de cas ! Il n'y a jamais eu de guerrières se mutilant la poitrine ou tuant leurs fils, mais il y a eu des tribus scythes où les femmes... Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)398.352Social sciences Customs, Etiquette, Folklore Folklore Real phenomena as subjects of folklore Humanity and human existence Persons without paranormal powersClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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In addition, I learned that, among the classical Greeks, there was widespread interest in Amazons. Amazons were featured much more prominently in classic Greek art than I had realized, there were many myths about Amazon, and there was also serious historical interest in the Amazons. This isn't as critical an insight as the one above, but it certainly affected my view of the role of Amazons in Greek thought.
Those are two plusses, and make the book worth reading, but be warned -- there are minuses as well. First, the book goes into way too much detail, listing grave sites and vase paintings that could far better have been summarized. Secondly, it spends way too much time on the "could it have been that --- " school of history, in which a lot of what is asserted about Amazons is based on fragmentary evidence at best. Finally, I listened to the audio book because I have vision problems: if you can, get a physical or Kindle copy. The illustrations in some cases sounded illuminating. ( )