INTERPRETATION OF THE AMAZON MYTH IN CHRISTINE’S DE PIZAN THE BOOK OF THE CITY OF LADIES (1405)

The chapters dedicated to Amazonian queens and warriors in Christine’s de Pizan The Book of the City of Ladies (1405) are one of the most original and remarkable fragments of the whole book. In the XIV–XV centuries these figures appeared in prose and poetry, as well as in the visual art. Christine de Pizan constructs the new image of the Amazons, reevaluating the medieval tradition of their interpretation and adding a new meaning to their story. Basing her story on Petrarch and Boccaccio works, she uses ancient motifs and famous female heroines in order to oppose them to the misogynistic view of Christine’s contemporaries on female nature. This new interpretation of Amazons will find reflection in French culture of XV–XVI centuries due to the biography of Joan of Arc and will root the image of Amazon queens in art and literature of the following centuries.

Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, Amazons, Les Neuf Preuses, Joan of Arc, French Literature of XV Century, Reception of Classical Mythology, Cultural Image of Womanhood