Aegea is a back-formation from "Aegean", the sea that was named after an eponymous Aegeus in early levels of Greek mythology. The Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) mentioned an Aegea, queen of the Amazons, as an alternative eponym of the Aegean Sea. Legend says she commanded an army of Amazon women warriors that traveled from Libya to Asia Minor to fight at Troy, [1] and that she perished at sea with her army. [2]
Modern Italian has the adjective Egea ("Aegean"), but Classical Latin had none. Modern botanical Latin sometimes uses the specific epithet aegea to mean "of the Aegean".
The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some 215,000 square kilometres. In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea and the Black Sea by the straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. The Aegean Islands are located within the sea and some bound it on its southern periphery, including Crete and Rhodes. The sea reaches a maximum depth of 3,544 meters, to the east of Crete. The Thracian Sea and the Sea of Crete are main subdivisions of the Aegean Sea.
In Greek mythology, the Amazons are portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercules, the Argonautica and the Iliad. They were a group of female warriors and hunters, who matched men in physical agility and strength, in archery, riding skills, and the arts of combat. Their society was closed for men and they only raised their daughters, either killing their sons or returning them to their fathers, with whom they would only socialize briefly in order to reproduce.
Boudica or Boudicca, known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh as Buddug, was a queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60 or 61. According to Roman sources, shortly after the uprising failed, she poisoned herself or died of her wounds, although there is no actual evidence of her fate. She is considered a British folk hero.
Penthesilea was an Amazonian queen in Greek mythology, the daughter of Ares and Otrera and the sister of Hippolyta, Antiope and Melanippe. She assisted Troy in the Trojan War, during which she was killed by Achilles.
A shield-maiden was a female warrior from Scandinavian folklore and mythology.
The Dahomey Amazons were a Fon all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey which existed until 1904. They were so named by Western observers and historians due to their similarity to the mythical Amazons of ancient Anatolia and the Black Sea. This unusual emergence of an all-female military regiment was the result of Dahomey's male population facing high casualties in frequent warfare with neighboring West African states, as well as Dahomey being forced to annually give male slaves to the Oyo Empire. The lack of men likely led the kings of Dahomey to recruit women into the army.
Aigai or Latin(ized) Aegae/ Ægæ may refer to the following places and jurisdictions :
Calafia, or Califia, is the fictional queen of the island of California, first introduced by 16th century poet Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo in his epic novel of chivalry, Las sergas de Esplandián, written around 1510. The Californias, a region of North America encompassing the U.S. state of California and the Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur, take their name from Calafia and her kingdom.
Tomyris also called Thomyris, Tomris, or Tomiride, reigned over the Massagetae, a Saka people of Central Asia. Tomyris led her armies to defend against an attack by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire, and, according to Herodotus, defeated and killed him in 530 BC.
A virago is a woman who demonstrates abundant masculine virtues. The word comes from the Latin word virāgō meaning vigorous' from vir meaning "man" or "man-like" to which the suffix -āgō is added, a suffix that creates a new noun of the third declension with feminine grammatical gender. Historically, this was often positive and reflected heroism and exemplary qualities of masculinity. However, it could also be pejorative, indicating a woman who is masculine to the exclusion of traditional feminine virtues.
Onna-musha (女武者) is a term referring to female warriors in pre-modern Japan. These women fought in battle alongside samurai men. They were members of the bushi (Warrior) class in feudal Japan and were trained in the use of weapons to protect their household, family, and honour in times of war. They also have an important presence in Japanese literature, with Tomoe Gozen and Hangaku Gozen as famous and influential examples representing onna-musha.
Seh-Dong-Hong-Beh was a leader of the Dahomey Amazons. In 1851, she led an all-female army consisting of 6,000 warriors against the Egba fortress of Abeokuta, to obtain slaves from the Egba people for the Dahomey slave trade.
The role of women in ancient warfare differed from culture to culture. There have been common historical accounts of females participating in battle.
Women have played a leading role in active warfare. The following is a list of prominent women in war and their exploits from about 1500 up to about 1699.
The Amazons of DC Comics are a race of warrior women who exist as part of Greek mythology. They live on Paradise Island, later known as Themyscira, an isolated location in the middle of the ocean where they are hidden from Man's World.
Lampedo is an Amazon queen mentioned in Roman historiography. She ruled with her sister Marpesia. The sisters called themselves daughters of Mars to put terror in the heart of their enemies to show they were incredible warriors to be feared. Her name was speculated to refer to traditional New Moon torchlit processions in honor of Artemis, goddess of the hunt.
The portrayal of women warriors in literature and popular culture is a subject of study in history, literary studies, film studies, folklore history, and mythology. The archetypal figure of the woman warrior is an example of a normal thing that happens in some cultures, while also being a counter stereotype, opposing the normal construction of war, violence and aggression as masculine. This convention-defying position makes the female warrior a prominent site of investigation for discourses surrounding female power and gender roles in society.
Teuta was the queen regent of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, who reigned approximately from 231 BC to 228/227 BC.