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Columbia Encyclopedia entry: Amazon
Amazonăm'əzŏn, in Greek mythology, one of a tribe of warlike women who lived in Asia Minor. The Amazons had a matriarchal society, in which women fought and governed while men performed the household tasks. Each Amazon had to kill a man before she could marry, and all male children were either killed or maimed at birth. It was believed that the Amazons cut off one breast in order to shoot and throw spears more effectively. They were celebrated warriors, believed to have been the first to use cavalry, and their conquests were said to have included many parts of Asia Minor, Phrygia, Thrace, and Syria. Several of the finest Greek heroes proved their mettle against the Amazons: Hercules took the golden girdle of Ares from their queen Hippolyte; Theseus abducted Hippolyte's sister Antiope and then defeated a vengeful army of Amazons at Athens. A contingent of Amazons fought with the Trojans under Penthesilea.
Columbia Encyclopedia search results: Amazon
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  • Amazon, river, Peru and Brazil

    Amazon, Port. Amazonas, world's second longest river, c.3,900 mi (6,280 km) long, formed by the junction in N Peru's Andes Mts. of two major headstreams, the Ucayali and the shorter Marañón. I...

  • Penthesilea

    Penthesilea, in Greek mythology, an Amazon queen. In the Trojan War, she led a troop of Amazons against the Greeks. She was killed by Achilles, who then fell in love with her dead body.

  • Acuña, Cristóbal de

    Acuña, Cristóbal de, 1597–1676?, Spanish Jesuit missionary and explorer in South America, rector of the Jesuit college at Cuenca, Ecuador. In 1638 he was sent by the viceroy to accompany Teixe...

  • Teixeira, Pedro

    Teixeira, Pedro, d. 1640, Portuguese explorer, one of the early voyagers on the Amazon. He commanded the expedition sent by the governor of Maranhão up the Amazon in the autumn of 1637. He rea...

  • Marañón

    Marañón, river, c.1,000 mi (1,600 km) long, rising in Lake Lauricaucha in the Cordillera Occidental, W central Peru. It flows generally NW, then E across the Andes to join the Ucayali River in...

  • Juruá

    Juruá, river, c.1,500 mi (2,410 km) long, rising in the Cerros de Canchyuaya, E Peru. It flows in a winding course generally NE through Acre and Amazonas states, W Brazil, to the Amazon River ...

  • Leticia

    Leticia, town (1993 pop. 17,758), capital of Amazonas commissary, SE Colombia, on the upper Amazon. The Leticia region, a narrow strip of land extending S of the Putumayo River to the Amazon, ...

  • Marajó

    Marajó, island, c.150 mi (240 km) long and c.100 mi (160 km) wide, N Brazil, at the mouth of the Amazon River. It divides the river into the Amazon proper and the Pará. Cattle are raised on th...

  • Xingu

    Xingu, river, 1,230 mi (1,979 km) long, rising in central Mato Grosso state, Brazil, and winding north across Pará state into the Amazon River at the head of the Amazon delta. The Xingu, with ...

  • Iquitos

    Iquitos, city (1993 pop. 252,312), capital of Loreto dept., NE Peru, on the Amazon River, c.2,300 mi (3,700 km) from the Amazon's mouth. It is the farthest inland port of any considerable size...

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