Was there any other special attire that could have been misunderstood by the Greeks as “breastlessness” in antiquity.? In vase paintings, many Amazons are clad in cuirasses (rigid bronze breastplates), scaled armored tunics, laced corselets, and upper garments and straps, much like those worn by men and all of which had a “flattening effect” (figs. 8.1, 12.1, 15.2, 16.3). These artistic depictions reflected the chest armor of padded or rigid materials and scaled armor worn by real nomad warriors of both sexes in antiquity. Archaeological discoveries in Saka-Scythian-Sarmatian lands have turned up a variety of armored tunics fashioned from horn, hooves, bone, and small gold plates or scales in the graves of both men and women (Chapters 4, 12, and 13). Baldrics (diagonal chest straps) and wide belts of leather with gold, bronze, and iron plates were also common in male and female burials. If the Greeks observed fighting women clad in protective chest armor that looked just like male armor, the flat-chested effect would help explain descriptions of “breastless” Amazons.
Modern “Amazon” fantasies often picture women wearing curvaceous metallic chest armor molded in the shape of breasts, a la Wonder Woman and Xena, Warrior Princess (Fig. 16.4). An ancient version seems to be depicted in figure 5.1. But such erotic “breasted” armor is impractical and dangerous. Experienced female soldiers of any era know that breast-shaped metal chest armor would be life-threatening. Why.? Because cone - or dome-shaped projections would direct the force of blows of weapons toward the sternum and heart. Even a fall could be fatal, causing the sharp metal separating the breast hollows to injure or even fracture the breastbone. Therefore, armored fighting women in antiquity would have worn padding under chest plates shaped exactly like the men’s, presenting a flat surface or a ridge down the center to deflect blows away from the heart.15
In antiquity, some male and female warriors wore heavier armor on one side of their bodies, leaving the other side less protected or exposed, which could give an impression of single-breastedness. As we saw in the archaeology of Scythians (chapter 4), the skeletons of warrior men and women indicated that most battle injuries were on the left side of the body, dealt by right-handed opponents. Heavy armor for a gladiator’s sword arm and shoulder was used in Roman times, especially for the gladiator known as the “Thracian.” Suits of armor with pauldrons, heavy plates protecting one shoulder and arm, were often used in mounted combat. One-sided armor or shoulder padding unfamiliar to the Greeks could have been mistaken for single-breastedness and could account for Arrian’s report of the asymmetrical chests of the Amazons encountered by Alexander.16
The notion of single-breasted Amazons—which seems to signal something about a warrior women’s sexuality, willpower, and masculine strength achieved by sacrificing a feminine attribute—has clung to the standard literary description of Amazons for more than two millennia. It seizes the imagination because it is gruesome, just as the tale of African mothers who cauterize their daughters’ breasts grabs attention today. A seductive false “logic” still clings to the ancient image. To people who have never drawn a Scythian-style bow or observed women archers competing in Mongolia, it seems to make sense that womanly breasts might present an encumbrance in archery. But drawing the bowstring back along the cheek or holding the bow out from the body while turning to the side means that breasts are no hindrance and there is no danger of injury to them. Instead, a real concern is that loose clothing might interfere with the bowstring. Therefore archers wear body-hugging upper garments, like those shown on many Amazons in ancient art. For beginning longbow archers, the most vulnerable area is the inner forearm, which can be struck by the bowstring. Yet the notion of protecting the chest persists in archery. Women—and men too—are often encouraged, even required, to wear chest-guards, even though expert male and female archers find that close-fitting shirts and a forearm guard are the only safety requirements. An analogy exists in modern boxing. Unsubstantiated safety concerns were long used to justify excluding women from boxing. Women won the right to box in the 1970s in the United States but were required to wear an unwieldy plastic chest shield, which caused more cuts and bruises and made the chest a much bigger target. In 2008, medical experts convinced the boxing commission to lift the regulation.17
Like Helen’s bared breasts in Greek myth, Amazon breasts were often exposed in scenes tinged with eroticism. This was not the only feature that Helen and the Amazons shared. Poets liked to portray the young Helen as an athletic Spartan girl, much like the Greek “Amazon” Ata-lanta, hunting topless with her brothers: “With naked breasts she carried her weapons, they say, and did not blush.”18 In the Greek myths, Amazons were presented as physically attractive. The literary topos that they removed one breast was ignored by artists. No vase painter or sculptor depicted lopsided Amazons. Going by the images in classical art, if an ordinary Greek were to find himself in the company of an Amazon, he would expect her bosom to be as symmetrical and enticing as Helen’s. Countless paintings and statues invited the Greeks and Romans to admire Amazons’ exposed breasts and to imagine what was barely concealed by their skintight bodysuits.
World History
