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The "Amazons"The Amazons were originally characters of ancient Greek mythology. They were a race of war-like women, who were skilled warriors, and very brave. They were reputed to fight as well (if not better) than the best soldiers of ancient Greece. Whether or not they ever really existed isn't known – some people say that the Amazons were just a legend, but others think that the legends may have been based on fact. The Amazon River got its name because the first European explorers reported encountering fierce women warriors who shot arrows at them and fought very bravely. When asked about these warriors, the local Indians said that they were a very strong tribe of Indian who ruled the territory, forcing all other tribes to pay tribute. These stories reminded the Europeans of the ancient Greek legend, hence they referred to the women warriors as "Amazons". Just as with the Greek Amazon legend, the story about the tribe of women warriors in South America was never verified. Some explorers reported having encountered the women, but no village or tribe was ever discovered. Modern scientists think that the early explorers made a mistake. When an Indian village was attacked, it was common for the women of the village to fight alongside the men. As such, when Europeans saw that there were women firing arrows and attacking them it would have been easy for them to think that they had stumble across the tribe of the Amazons.
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