Amazons in the Digital Era

Analysing the evolution of the myth of the Amazons that has survived in our imagination for millenia.

For more than 3,000 years, the Amazons have been a recognised symbol that transcends mythology and has influenced history itself. The image of the powerful warrior woman who defied the established patriarchal order proved so compelling that it became permanently enshrined in the collective imagination—first through oral tradition and later through texts and images. The contributions in this volume explore how this image has endured through the lens of classical reception. From Wonder Woman to the war in Ukraine, and across diverse genres such as video games, fashion, warfare and documentary film, the Amazonian archetype has evolved beyond anything once imagined. Today, however, we are witnessing a true transformation. No longer embodying the negative traits the Greeks once ascribed to them, the Amazons have become a symbol of strength, resilience and empowerment—a model for women’s rights in a global society and an icon of feminism and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Divided into three parts, this book analyses how the image of the Amazon has, at different times and in different contexts, been marginalised, put on a pedestal and globalised. For the first time, media case studies and lived histories are examined to compare and contrast modern frameworks with each other and with the 'original' Amazonian iconography. What emerges is a concept of the 'Amazon' as a modern paradigm that speaks as strongly to contemporary society as it did to the ancients, but with a very different meaning.