- This article contains information from the Hercules and Xena Wiki.
- "To a strong Amazon Nation!"
- — The remnants of the unified Amazon Nation
The Amazon Nation was the union of various Amazon tribes that was originally created by the first Amazon queen Cyane who was displaced in time, and its members descended from the ancient Tretomlec tribe of female and formerly male warriors. They lived in a small village located in or near Greece.
After the breakup of the Amazon Nation into various different tribes, each tribe left their native territory and travelled to new places across the known world, where they were ruled by a single sovereign queen. Eventually, however, the Nation was restored centuries later with the union of various tribes with Varia as its supreme leader before it was officially rendered extinct by the mid-to-late 20th and into the early 21st century.
Description[]
In order to become an Amazon, a female initiate was generally required to be born and raised into a certain tribe, although Xena, a non-Amazon, was offered on a few occasions to ritualistically join the Northern Amazon tribe but declined and turned on the tribe during her dark warlord days as she followed the path of Ares and became the "Destroyer of Nations" instead. During a ritual, a fledgling newborn or initiate was generally anointed with the blood of a recently-deceased animal that was killed in an act of sacrificial tribute, such as a horse, and received a cut on their arm with a ritualistic blade, although the usage of water could be offered as a substitute. They could also be granted some type of jewellery or personal belonging, including a beaded necklace, Amazonian mask, etc.
Each tribe had its leader and followed a centralized type of monarchy in a matrilineal lineage of succession, although each minor tribal queen recognized the named Cyane as their traditional supreme leader with the highest authority as the unifying force of the entire Amazon Nation. They most often inherited their Rite of Caste from a previous leader by a birthright, victory in a royal challenge, or conquest, and served the post until they died, abdicated, or were removed from the post due to other unforeseen, unfortunate circumstances. Once issued by any living relative of a royal bloodline, the challenge becomes binding, and takes the form of a physical fight or duel to the death with the usage of certain weapons or hand-to-hand combat, and the victor was considered a new leader of their respective tribe and entitled to decide the fate of the losing party, including the latter's ritualistic death or pardon. They also served as the leader of the High Council of their respective tribe's elders.
There also existed the royal High Council made up of all the minor tribal queens from each tribe, and which was overseen and directed by the Amazon High Queen as its supreme governing leader. In addition to their tribal royal responsibilities, they were tasked with overseeing various criminal trials and upholding Amazon law across their respective tribes and the Amazon Nation as a whole.
Laws[]
There existed a variety of laws that were given and governed by an Amazon Queen.
- If a male should look at an Amazon's natural grace without her permission, he shall lose an eye.
- If an accused pledges their allegiance to an Amazon queen, they might be pardoned for a first offence.
- In response to a second offence, the offender must be able to accept and participate in a royal challenge against an Amazon queen.
- Per Hercules in 1.12 - Battle Lines II, Amazons do not fight with fire.
History[]
The original incarnation of the Amazon Nation
During the Stone Age, the Amazons were a small tribe known as the Tretomlecs. They lived on the Siberian steppes. The tribe was constantly at war with a group of bloodthirsty cannibals. According to their legends, a warrior called the Atma would someday come and help the Tretolmecs defeat their enemies. After consulting a medicine man, the vengeful Tretolmec warrior Samsara manages to bring the Atma to her people. The Atma ends up being a teenage girl named Cyane from the distant future. She eventually helps the Tretolmecs defeat their enemies by forging peace with them through Kor, the leader’s sympathetic son, and also taught them to tame and ride horses. Unable to forgive her enemies, Samsara leaves the tribe. Karina, the tribe’s leader, declares that future tribe leaders should be named after Cyane. She also changes the tribe’s name from Tretolmecs to "Amazons". In the years to come, some of the Amazons would travel to places such as Greece and Sumeria, establishing new tribes.
At some point, a great war broke out between the Amazons and centaurs which resulted in the separation of the Nation into various tribes that were spread across the known world by Zeus, king of the gods. Later, Artemis, the chief Amazon goddess, took the blame for Zeus' separation of the Nation as a result of her inaction.
Reunion[]
Varia and Gabrielle make peace with each other and the remnants of the re-unified Amazon Nation
In response to the call of unity by a queen Varia who was the leader of the tribe which was hosting the event with the help of a recently re-deified Olympian war god Ares, various scattered tribes of the Amazon Nation from all over the world agreed to a meeting with the other remnants of the Nation in an attempt to reunite in an ancient Greek Amazon valley near Hyperus, the legendary alleged birthplace of all the Amazons. The Amazons also had the old Temple of Artemis re-dedicated to the worship of Ares. Sometime later, a recently-redeemed Eve, who was previously banished from the tribe under the penance of death for her past crimes against the Amazons, was inadvertenly accompanied by the Roman soldiers to the Amazon valley during her failed attempt to make peace with the tribe, and was taken captive and given a trial after her Roman guard were killed off by the Amazons after surrendering the fight.
Later, Xena, Typhuss and Gabrielle, a Telaquire queen, returned to the Amazon village to bear witness to Eve's trial after being informed of her capture by the last surviving Roman soldier. Eventually, Gabrielle challenged Varia to a royal duel in a failed attempt to prevent Eve's execution order by the other fellow tribal Amazon queens, however, she ultimately lost the duel and Eve was eventually pardoned by Varia who settled on the fact that Eve was a new person and Livia was dead. Eve was then forgiven and saved from death in a poisonous mud pit, and left the village to continue to spread the message of Eli in the far East after making a proper goodbye to her mother and the rest of the Amazons. Soon after, on the following day, the queens Yo-hono, Exosspia, and Pilore and their respective tribes refused to merge their tribes with the other remnants of the re-unified Amazon Nation to create a single tribe, and returned to their own territories with their people.
Helicon Battle[]
- "To a strong Amazon Nation!"
- — The remnants of the unified Amazon Nation
Gabrielle takes charge of the re-unified Amazon Nation
On the following day, Varia was ritualistically declared a new official high queen and supreme leader of the re-unified Amazon Nation under the total Solar eclipse, and celebrated her coronation with her fellow Amazons in a ceremony, although Xena, a non-Amazon, was prohibited from atteding the festivities and agreed to sleep and stay away in the nearby forest. During the festivities, however, the Amazons found themselves under the attack by a vengeful demigod Bellerophon, son of a late Artemis, and his group of male warriors who succeeded in killing and wounding many Amazons as a punishment for them having had abandoned Artemis during the Twilight of the Gods.
In the wake of the battle, Varia was kidnapped and taken to the principality of Helicon by Bellerophon and his men where they laid a number of traps for the Amazons that would come to Varia's rescue. However, he released Varia and promised that he would ensure that she and her fellow Amazons would return home safely - if she succeeded in killing Gabrielle who was then leading them. However, Xena saw through his plan and prevented Varia from killing Gabrielle with a bow and arrow, as well as continued the attack on Bellerophon and his men. Later, on the following day, a large battle broke out between the two sides in the woods and Xena and Typhuss fought with Bellerephon, of whom he resented for killing his mother. However, he seemed to believe himself to be invincible due to being a half-god, but Xena and Typhuss still managed to kill his half-mortal self after giving him a chance to walk away. Following the defeat of Bellerophon's army, Gabrielle and Varia shake hands after Gabrielle gives hope to the Amazons that they are still a strong Amazon Nation despite the fact that most of their Amazon sisters died in the battle. Her fate, along with that of the Amazon Nation, is unknown.
Known members[]
Leader[]
Current[]
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Former[]
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Trivia[]
- In the early Greek mythology, Otrera, the consort and sometimes even demigoddess child of the Olympian war god Ares and mother of Queen Hippolyta and Queen Penthesilea, became the founder and first queen of the Amazons. By contrast, Thalestris became the last known Amazon queen, and was said to had encountered the Greek conqueror Alexander the Great in 330 B.C, and even was said to live in the Thermodon region or, variably, Gates of Alexander, south of the Caspian Sea.
- The Telaquire and Tanta Amazons were the only known named tribes in the franchise.
- It was not known what happened to the other remnants of the re-unified Amazon Nation after the defeat and death of Bellerophon and his men during the battle at Helicon, and it was not known who became the last Amazon high queen before the Nation's eventual fate and dissolution as it was already rendered extinct by the mid-20th and early 21st century.