Themiscyra (; grc-gre, Θεμίσκυρα ''Themiskyra'') was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

town in northeastern

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

; it was situated on the southern coast of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

, near the mouth of the

Thermodon The Terme River ( tr, Terme Çayı; la, Thermeh; el, Θερμώδων, rendered Thermodon) is a short river in Samsun Province, Turkey draining into the Black Sea. Its sources are in the Pontic Mountains. It runs through the fertile Çarş ...

, probably at or near modern

Terme Terme (formerly spelled ''Termeh''; Ancient Greek: Thèrmae, Θέρμαι) is the seat of Terme District, Samsun Province, Turkey. Terme is located on Terme River, about 5 km from its mouth, on the eastern end of the Çarşamba Plain. Te ...

. According to

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

, it was the capital city of the

Amazons In Greek mythology, the Amazons (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαζόνες ''Amazónes'', singular Ἀμαζών ''Amazōn'', via Latin ''Amāzon, -ŏnis'') are portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercule ...

Overview

The town is mentioned as early as the time of

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...

(iv. 86; ''comp.'' Scylax of Caryanda, p. 33; Pausanias i. 2. § 1) who also mentions the Amazon female warriors from Themiscyra.

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Gree ...

, in his play '' Prometheus Bound'', places the original home of the Amazons in the country about Lake Maeotis (the modern-day

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Ker ...

), stating that they later moved to Themiscyra.THE AMAZONS IN GREEK LEGEND
/ref>
/ref> According to

Pseudo-Plutarch Pseudo-Plutarch is the conventional name given to the actual, but unknown, authors of a number of pseudepigrapha (falsely attributed works) attributed to Plutarch but now known to have not been written by him. Some of these works were included in s ...

, the Amazons lived in and about the Tánais ( grc, Τάναϊς, now the

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

), formerly called the Amazonian or Amazon ( grc-gre, Ἀμαζόνιος) because the Amazons bathed themselves in it, before moving to Themiscyra. In addition,

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...

, in his ''

Geographica The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen of the Roman ...

'', mention that Themiscyra was the home of Amazons but later they were driven out of these places.

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

(v. 6 § 3) is undoubtedly mistaken in placing it further west, midway between the Iris ( Yeşilırmak) and Cape Heraclium. Scylax calls it a Greek town; but

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which ...

(ii. 44) states that it was built by the founder of the kingdom of the Amazons. After the retreat of Mithridates VI from Cyzicus during the

Third Mithridatic War The Third Mithridatic War (73–63 BC), the last and longest of the three Mithridatic Wars, was fought between Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman Republic. Both sides were joined by a great number of allies dragging the entire east of th ...

, Themiscyra was besieged by

Lucullus Lucius Licinius Lucullus (; 118–57/56 BC) was a Roman general and statesman, closely connected with Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In culmination of over 20 years of almost continuous military and government service, he conquered the eastern kingd ...

. The inhabitants on that occasion defended themselves with great valor; and when their walls were undermined, they sent bears and other wild beasts, and even swarms of bees, against the workmen of Lucullus (

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Ha ...

, ''Mithrid.'' 78). But notwithstanding their gallant defence, the town seems to have perished on that occasion, for Pomponius Mela speaks of it as no longer existing (i. 19), and

does not mention it at all. Some believe the town of

(Therme), at the mouth of the Thermodon, marks the site of ancient Themiscyra; but Hamilton (Researches, i. p. 283) justly observes that it must have been situated a little further inland. Ruins of the place do not appear to exist, for those which Texier regards as indicating the site of Themiscyra, at a distance of two days' journey from the Halys (now called the Kızılırmak River), on the borders of

Galatia Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace ...

, cannot possibly have belonged to it, but are in all probability the remains of Tavium. The editors of the '' Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World'', place Themiscyra "at or near" Terme. In ancient times, Themiscyra's bees were famous for their honey. Themiscyra was previously thought to have been the seat of a bishopric, but is not now included in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

's list of

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

Myth

In Greek myth, Themiscyra was the capital city of the Amazons.

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

journeyed to Themiscyra to complete his ninth labour, which was to retrieve the golden belt that belonged to the Amazonian queen

Hippolyta In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Gre ...

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describ ...

also visited the city, though there are two versions of this myth. In the first version he accompanied Heracles on his expedition and helped him capture the city, and in the second, Theseus led an expedition of his own, long after Heracles himself had visited the city.

Apollonius of Rhodes Apollonius of Rhodes ( grc, Ἀπολλώνιος Ῥόδιος ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; la, Apollonius Rhodius; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek author, best known for the '' Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and ...

, in his ''

Argonautica The ''Argonautica'' ( el, Ἀργοναυτικά , translit=Argonautika) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the ''Argonautica'' tells the myth of the voyage of Jas ...

'', mentions that at Thermodon the Amazons were not gathered together in one city, but scattered over the land, divided into three different tribes; in one part dwelt the Themiscyreians ( el, Θεμισκύρειαι), in another the Lycastians ( el, Λυκάστιαι), and in another the Chadesians ( el, Χαδήσιαι). Jason and the

Argonauts The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo ...

passed by Themiscyra on their journey to

Colchis In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the Colchians are generally though ...

. Zeus sent Boreas, the god of the north wind, and with his help the Argonauts stood out from the shore near Themiscyra where the Themiscyreian Amazons were arming for battle.

, ''

'': "Zeus once more sent forth Boreas (the North Wind), and with his help the Argonauts stood out from the curving shore where the Amazons of Themiscyra were arming for battle."

Modern cultural references

In comic books featuring

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byrne, are credited as bein ...

, Themyscira is a lush

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

and

island nation An island country, island state or an island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historical ...

, and the place of origin of Wonder Woman and the

References

Sources

{{coord, 41, 12, 33, N, 36, 58, 26, E, display=title, region:TR_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Greek colonies in Pontus Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Locations in Greek mythology Roman towns and cities in Turkey Former populated places in Turkey History of Samsun Province Populated places in ancient Pontus