1. Aeschylus, Persians, 806-822, 805 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 805. μίμνουσι δʼ ἔνθα πεδίον Ἀσωπὸς ῥοαῖς | 805. They are now lingering where the plain is watered by the stream of Asopus which nourishes placeName key= |
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2. Pindar, Nemean Odes, 9.23-9.25 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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3. Pindar, Olympian Odes, 6.12-6.17 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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4. Euripides, Archelaus (Fragmenta Papyracea), 360 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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5. Euripides, Suppliant Women, 523-530, 522 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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6. Herodotus, Histories, 9.27, 9.27.2-9.27.4 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 9.27. To these words the Athenians replied: “It is our belief that we are gathered for battle with the barbarian, and not for speeches; but since the man of Tegea has made it his business to speak of all the valorous deeds, old and new, which either of our nations has at any time achieved, we must prove to you how we, rather than Arcadians, have by virtue of our valor a hereditary right to the place of honor. These Tegeans say that they killed the leader of the Heraclidae at the Isthmus. ,Now when those same Heraclidae had been rejected by every Greek people to whom they resorted to escape the tyranny of the Mycenaeans, we alone received them. With them we vanquished those who then inhabited the Peloponnese, and we broke the pride of Eurystheus. ,Furthermore, when the Argives who had marched with Polynices against Thebes had there made an end of their lives and lay unburied, know that we sent our army against the Cadmeans and recovered the dead and buried them in Eleusis. ,We also have on record our great victory against the Amazons, who once came from the river Thermodon and broke into Attica, and in the hard days of Troy we were second to none. But since it is useless to recall these matters—for those who were previously valiant may now be of lesser mettle, and those who lacked mettle then may be better men now— ,enough of the past. Supposing that we were known for no achievement (although the fact is that we have done more than any other of the Greeks), we nevertheless deserve to have this honor and more beside because of the role we played at Marathon, seeing that alone of all Greeks we met the Persian singlehandedly and did not fail in that enterprise, but overcame forty-six nations. ,Is it not then our right to hold this post, for that one feat alone? Yet seeing that this is no time for wrangling about our place in the battle, we are ready to obey you, men of Lacedaemon and take whatever place and face whatever enemy you think fitting. Wherever you set us, we will strive to be valiant men. Command us then, knowing that we will obey.” 9.27.2. Now when those same Heraclidae had been rejected by every Greek people to whom they resorted to escape the tyranny of the Mycenaeans, we alone received them. With them we vanquished those who then inhabited the Peloponnese, and we broke the pride of Eurystheus. 9.27.3. Furthermore, when the Argives who had marched with Polynices against Thebes had there made an end of their lives and lay unburied, know that we sent our army against the Cadmeans and recovered the dead and buried them in Eleusis. 9.27.4. We also have on record our great victory against the Amazons, who once came from the river Thermodon and broke into Attica, and in the hard days of Troy we were second to none. But since it is useless to recall these matters—for those who were previously valiant may now be of lesser mettle, and those who lacked mettle then may be better men now— |
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7. Isocrates, Orations, 4.54-4.70, 5.33 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
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8. Plato, Menexenus, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 239b. deeming it their duty to fight in the cause of freedom alike with Greeks on behalf of Greeks and with barbarians on behalf of the whole of Greece . The story of how they repulsed Eumolpus and the Amazons, and still earlier invaders, when they marched upon our country, and how they defended the Argives against the Cadmeians and the Heracleidae against the Argives, is a story which our time is too short to relate as it deserves, and already their valor has been adequately celebrated in song by poets who have made it known throughout the world; |
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9. Sophocles, Antigone, 22-25, 21 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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10. Thucydides, The History of The Peloponnesian War, 2.45.2 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 2.45.2. On the other hand if I must say anything on the subject of female excellence to those of you who will now be in widowhood, it will be all comprised in this brief exhortation. Great will be your glory in not falling short of your natural character; and greatest will be hers who is least talked of among the men whether for good or for bad. |
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11. Xenophon, Hellenica, 6.5.47 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 6.5.47. And while that other deed was also noble, when you checked the insolence of Eurystheus and preserved the sons of Heracles, The sons of Heracles, driven from Peloponnesus by Eurystheus, found protection and aid at Athens. would it not surely be an even nobler one if you saved from perishing, not merely the founders, but the whole state as well? And noblest of all deeds if, after the Lacedaemonians saved you then by a 370 B.C. vote, void of danger, you shall aid them now with arms and at the risk of your lives. |
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12. Plutarch, Theseus, 29.4-29.5 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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13. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.15.2, 1.17.2 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 1.15.2. On the middle wall are the Athenians and Theseus fighting with the Amazons. So, it seems, only the women did not lose through their defeats their reckless courage in the face of danger; Themiscyra was taken by Heracles, and afterwards the army which they dispatched to Athens was destroyed, but nevertheless they came to Troy to fight all the Greeks as well as the Athenians them selves. After the Amazons come the Greeks when they have taken Troy, and the kings assembled on account of the outrage committed by Ajax against Cassandra. The picture includes Ajax himself, Cassandra and other captive women. 1.17.2. In the gymnasium not far from the market-place, called Ptolemy's from the founder, are stone Hermae well worth seeing and a likeness in bronze of Ptolemy. Here also is Juba the Libyan and Chrysippus The Stoic philosopher, 280-207 B.C. of Soli . Hard by the gymnasium is a sanctuary of Theseus, where are pictures of Athenians fighting Amazons. This war they have also represented on the shield of their Athena and upon the pedestal of the Olympian Zeus. In the sanctuary of Theseus is also a painting of the battle between the Centaurs and the Lapithae. Theseus has already killed a Centaur, but elsewhere the fighting is still undecided. |
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14. Demosthenes, Orations, 60.9-60.10, 60.26, 60.36
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15. Lysias, Orations, 2.4-2.22, 2.24, 2.27, 2.33, 2.42-2.44, 2.47, 2.80
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