The Amazons in Ancient Greece were women who fought like men. They were a nation of all female warriors in Greek mythology. Some historians placed them in a region, boarding modern day Ukraine, while others placed them in Asia Minor. There were some amazons that took part in the Trojan War. They became associated with historical people throughout the Roman Empire.
It has been said that they lived in Pontus which is part of modern day Turkey near the shore of the Black Sea. They had an independent kingdom under the queen Hippolyta. In some myths it has been said that it was not permitted for men visitors to have sexual intercourse inside the Amazon country. To prevent from their race from dying out they visited once a year the Gargareans which was a neighboring tribe. In result from these visits there were offspring that were born. The boys were killed, sent back to their fathers or left in the wilderness to fend for themselves. The girls were brought up by their mothers and trained in agriculture, hunting and the art of war. When the Amazons went to battle they didn’t kill off all the men. Some were captured and brought back to Amazon country as slaves.
Vassiliki, who is an acclaimed Greek artist and likes to be known by a first name basis, she is introducing her new mission, History as Art, the tracking of Amazons’ individual paths. She shows us the individual path of each Amazon, why they left their social roles and became warriors. “By looking into the soul of the Amazons this story makes us witnesses of the journey of the female figure through all the roles that a woman is required to play, from the Amazons’ era till today. Roles such as lover, mother, caring daughter, warrior, winner, dynamic and independent yet caring, emotional and vulnerable, are all embraced in the iconic figure,” says Vassiliki. She continuous and says, “Every heroic art is a result of a deep spiritual background and intense sentiments because these are the only motives powerful enough to lead someone to surpass himself and his limits and write his own history. These elements, however, are not limited to race made gender. The fight for one’s ideals the claim and courage are characteristics of the human soul.”
Along with underwater photographer, Gisele A. Lubsen, who captures the moments of the underwater environment, and with Anna Stereopoulou, who is a musician, they try to bring the souls of the Amazons to life. Lubsen taking pictures of the aquatic environment acts like the mother’s womb and Stereopoulou giving the whole project a voice.
The exhibit will start in Greece and then will go to India. The exhibit will “conquer” New Delhi and Mumbai and then go to Beijing, Seoul and then back to the West hitting cities such as Paris, New York, and Los Angeles. This is because Vassiliki wants to trace the paths of the Amazon Thalestris, who travelled with Alexsander the Great for thirteen days to conceive his child.
Vassiliki believes that “art in all its manifestations can act as a counter balance in the contemporary decadent and self-centered modern reality.” Vassiliki can be described as today’s Amazon warrior.
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