Machlyes
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The Machlyes or Machlyans (Ancient Greek: Μάχλυες) were a legendary ancient Libyan tribe.
Ancient Sources
[edit]According to Herodotus, their young women held a ritual battle with sticks and stones annually with neighboring Auseans (Ancient Greek: Αὐσέες). Those who died of their wounds were said to have lied about their virginity.[1]
Pliny the Elder claimed they were hermaphrodites that had a male half and a female half, possibly inspired by the martial practices of the females.[2][3]
Later Sources
[edit]French anthropologist Lucien Bertholon hypothesized that the Maghrawa tribal confederation in Tunisia were descendants of the Machlyes.[4]
In fiction
[edit]In the book Sweet Shadows by Tera Lynn Childs, the machlyes Achilla saves Gretchen from the merdaemon in the abysses.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ "Herodotus's account of the Libyan female warriors in Corinthian helmets". Perseus Project. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ Pliny the Elder, Natural History, VII, ii, 15
- ^ "Machlyes". Theoi Greek Mythology. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ Bertholon, Lucien (1898). "Les premiers colons de souche européenne dans l'Afrique du Nord : essai historique sur les origines de certaines populations berbères d'après les documents égyptiens et les écrivains de l'Antiquité". Imprimerie rapide: 156.
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