The mythological narratives, tales and legends that tell of connections between Greece and Africa reveal a somewhat alternate view from the accepted historical consensus. These tales and legends indeed do reveal the commonly held, popular view among the ancient Greeks that Africa was distant and 'on the fringe' of the world. Yet many of the tales and stories that were recited actually counter the popular and accepted notion that Africa was actually so very distant, or that Africans were somehow inadequate or without any sense of honor or bravery. It was a Greek notion that all varvaros; the Greek word for foreigners, from which English speakers get the word barbarian, were somehow inferior. There certainly was a racist and xenophobic element in ancient Greek society, just as they also held women in low esteem. However, this society which fostered and produced a tradition of free, intellectual and critical thinking and debate along with encouraging individualistic artistic expression also inspired those thinkers and artists to reveal and question the inner feelings and mental ponderings of society, which honored and glorified those nations and heroes for whom popular opinion held as foreign and dangerous, though that opinion may have been forged out of a necessity to defend and justify their own xenophobia. Just as the depictions of brave and beautiful Amazon warriors in statuary and on vase paintings countered the commonly held belief that women are beneath men and should be limited to the chores of the home, child rearing and tasks of the kitchen, in the art and in the oral and written literature that survived even only if in part we see another vision of Africa and her matriarchal warrior culture as vibrant, powerful and real, authentically pertinent to the history of the ancient world, an active and important entity.
The variety of personal and independent artistic expression and style that was the notable feature of Greek art manifested as depictions of foreigners that showed them as noble, brave and honorable as well as tragically prejudiced caricatures that set the tone for a racial bigotry in art which lasted well unto our own era. Africans could be painted or sculpted as handsome and beautiful or could be depicted as grotesque, with exaggerated physical features portraying them as more beast than human. One might compare such exaggerated caricacture to prints and drawings featured in newspapers in the post Civil War era known as the 'reconstruction' in the American South, where recently liberated African slaves were portrayed as inhuman by the racial bigotry of those who now felt disenfranchised, people who supported such institutions as segregation, enforced by the use of terror in groups like the Ku Klux Klan and other White power platforms intent on maintaining the old ways. The Greek aesthetic and spirit of their art influenced how artists would portray subjects, in this case foreigners who were different. Greek art was unique and individualistic, as every artist could portray whom he wished as he wished, and for the crowd he wanted to cater to and please with his work. Art was similar to politics or philosophy in ancient Greece; some artists expressed the opinions of certain schools of thinkers while others expressed in an opposing manner. The same can be said for literature or the theater. In the arts we see the diverse genius of Hellenic civilization, embracing universal brotherhood or expressing sheer bigotry. Egypt was a contact point for Greek civilization and Africa, and we do know that the great Pythagoras, Thales of Miletus, Herodotus and Plato among many other Greek scholars all studied or spent time there. The Ancient Egyptians were master builders and engineers and the secrets of planning and creating those near perfect pyramids fascinated the Greeks. Even the somewhat opinionated and prejudiced Aristotle wrote "something new always comes out of Africa", a saying that was echoed by the Roman historian Pliny the Elder centuries later. There was the ever present Nile river, which connected goods and ideas from the heart of Africa, a means to the interior of what has been since mistakenly designated as the dark continent. When we consider the myths and tales of the ancient Mediterranean world we find that Africa may not have been as dark and distant as we in succeeding generations have been taught to believe. Yes, geographical distances played a role in this negative and distant view, no question. The vast Sahara desert certainly separated the Mediterranean from the interior, but transport along the Nile and the ancient caravan routes that existed for millennia across this great desert were well known and in use at the time by merchants who must have at least heard of such routes from others such as the Persians, or the earlier accounts of the already mentioned Egyptians, Babylonians, the Assyrians or the Hittites, as well as the ongoing trade tradition with such kingdoms in the Arabian peninsula as Yemen or Saba, the latter known in the Old Testament as Sheba. We know from the ancient Hebrews and the stories they wrote down and collected, such as that which would become parts of the Bible, of the connection King Solomon had to Africa- the Ethiopians of today claim a connection to King Solomon. There were other fabled nations along the Indian ocean such as the kingdom of Punt, for which trade with India and lands to the east required vessels that plied the waters of that great ocean. Very often we find that the accepted historical accounts in their finalized, somewhat one sided view actually do not do justice to the brilliance of the ancient mind or the will and endeavor of humanity to explore and colonize other lands, seeking to know and understand their world. Human beings coming out of eastern Africa migrated all the way to Australia in prehistoric days, the Aborigines of the 'down under' continent being their direct descendants.
Yet for some reason historians bowing to popular opinion and an accepted negative narrative preferred to ignore ancient trade routes along the sea lanes that were well established in ancient times, connecting Africa with India and beyond. The writings of Plato and the poet Pindar, even if these writing be based on legends and myths for the purpose of entertainment reveal evidence of some other world view that was different from what the accepted, negative and mysterious opinion of Africa was in the time of classical Greece. It is in such narratives that pieces of the lost puzzle can be found to put together a picture of that which was purposely hidden or forgotten for the sake of defining a civilization and it’s views and beliefs, revealing more to the story than what we have been told and taught. In the Bronze Age the old pre classical Minoan civilization did have contact with Africa and African civilizations. This came to abrupt halt at the end of this Bronze Age when a period of invasions destroyed this ancient civilization and the Aegean entered into a state of decline, indeed it’s very own dark age. With the rise of classical Greece contact was established once again with Egypt and the region of northern Africa known as Cyrene or Libya. For the ancient Greeks, the name Aethiopia seemingly defined Africa but there is certainly mention of various other regions, kingdoms and peoples in historical accounts, in poetry and in tales and legends such as Nubia, Kush, Meroe and the legendary land of Punt of whom the Egyptians knew well, with whom they traded with and documented their contact. The poet Pindar in one of his Odes writes of a young woman named Cyrene who grows up in the Pindus mountains in the interior of Greece, who fights with sword and javelin and defends her father’s flocks from wild animals. The agile, athletic woman is courted by Apollo who takes her to Africa where she competes in the games there among the ‘white clad horse people’. A number of stories seem to connect her and her offspring to the country named after her, Cyrenica, which is the ancient name for a portion of coastal Libya. Plato and Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian from Sicily, mentions the ‘Amazons of Libya’, a nation that once threatened legendary Atlantis, lead by a powerful warrior queen named Myrina, who conquered a vast territory that supposedly stretched from northern Africa, up through Arabia and Syria and into Anatolia in what is today modern Turkey. With some 30,000 foot soldiers and 3,000 horse warriors; we must hesitate to call these horse-men, for Myrina’s force included many women warriors like herself in the ranks. She campaigned against the troublesome Gorgons, who some Greek bards claimed were a race of half humans while others described them as an actual African nation of fierce warrior women themselves who repeatedly attacked the kingdom of Atlantis on their own, demanding tribute from the Atlanteans while willingly ignoring and staunchly refusing to submit to Myrina's rule or share the spoils of their raids. She subdued the troublesome nomadic tribes of Arabia, it is said slaying many thousands in a single battle. Marching north into Syria and Anatolia, she conquered the Aegean islands of Samothrace and Mytilini, the latter named for her sister. Finally, she came into conflict with Mopsus, chief of the Thracians and his Scythian allies, in which she was finally defeated in battle. Again, while these are legends and myths one is forced to ask the question as to why this prejudiced and opinionated society would boast the tale of a powerfully successful all conquering Napoleon-like warrior queen from Africa who came so close, perhaps too dangerously close, to their own homelands? This may have been a warning, as usually such warnings indicate underlying fear and dread. This story may have been told to reinforce those accepted Greek social values of keeping foreigners and those powerful women who were contrary to the accepted notion of Hellenic womanhood in their place or at a distance, a distance so far that they should stay in the land where they originated, in a far off, dark and exotically strange continent. Or perhaps this tale grew out of an actual historical event and was eventually negated as reality, instead used as a teaching tool to support the popular supremacist narrative. Whatever the reason, and the reasons do seem a bit confusing and shrouded in mystery, the tale was recited to audiences and taught to children and warriors alike, and even the great Plato gives it due mention.
Achilles duels with Memnon over the body of Antilochus
Beja from eastern Sudan, 19th century
From history we know that the mighty Persian empire employed African warriors in their army as spearmen and archers. Alexander the Great faced a number of them on the field of battle when he achieved a brilliant victory against his Persian foes at the famous battle of Gaugamela. One tradition speaks of his decision to refrain from invading Nubia after conquering Egypt, after hearing reports of the huge army and military prowess of the mighty warrior queen Kandake. It was noted by Greek historians that ancient Egyptian armies had whole divisions of warriors from Libya and Nubia. As ancient Greek thought and mythology transformed to become Roman, popular notions and prejudices about Africa and the rest of the world went with this transferring of knowledge and culture. The Romans would come to know African warrior prowess in the Punic wars, when Hannibal would lead his legions up into Iberia, today known as Spain, and over the Alps to invade the Italian peninsula, taking the Romans by surprise. The brilliant Carthaginian strategist defeated the Romans in several battles, utterly crushing them at Cannae in 216 BC using tactics that are studied to this day at military academies all over the world. Lacking supplies and fresh troops the victorious Hannibal was eventually forced to retreat from the Italian campaign. After licking their wounds and raising another force the aggressive Romans would have their revenge, finally defeating Hannibal in North Africa at the battle of Zama in 202 BC. In the aftermath of the battle they assaulted the city of Carthage massacring thousands of men, women and children who fought with incomparable bravery and ferocity to defend their city, many mothers first killing their own children then committing suicide rather than becoming slaves of the victors. The Roman general Scipio was posthumously awarded the noble title 'Africanus' for his victory, hailed ever after as the great conqueror and subduer of Africa. These Roman inheritors of the Greek contempt for all things foreign and African saw to it, at least according to legend, that no vegetation would grow around the city of Carthage by sowing salt into the Earth, such was the magnitude of their desire for revenge for the many defeats suffered by the Roman legions at the hands of a supposedly inferior nation. The Romans were however interested in farm land so as to to grow wheat for their armies, therefore the sowing of salt, while actually but a tale which grew over the centuries, nonetheless exemplifies the fear and hatred the Romans held for the defeated Carthaginians. Hannibal would not be forgotten, but instead would be remembered as one of history's greatest and capable generals and strategists. Though mighty Rome would certainly in her history again face defeat in battle it was the shame of defeat in their own country on their own land, in a war against an African army that reminded them they had to remain ever vigilant lest they again be invaded and defeated by an entity their prejudiced and bigoted consciences were obsessed with.
The ancient Greek and Roman civilizations thought of the people to their south as inferior and distant, but on the field of battle these same southern people proved to be their military equals and at times their superiors. Perhaps this is one reason why Africa was deemed a 'dark continent' for centuries after. This ingrained prejudice, fortified by such little quips by even the brilliant Aristotle; that the darker skinned races are the natural servants of lighter skinned peoples...would remain and encourage such racism within European civilization to the most modern times. Centuries later, in the medieval epic Poem of the Cid, a telling of the exploits of the famed Spanish knight, there is mention of the Archer Queen, an African Amazon adept at the bow who joins the Moorish King Bucar in his campaign against the Christian forces. She comes with two hundred of her fellow African Amazon negresses as they are referred to in the epic and fights with the Cid, who slays them to the last along with many of the greatest Moorish generals. It is known that in the armies of the Arabs and Moors who invaded Spain at various times in the middle ages there were many conscripts in their armies from the Saharan tribes and from south of the Sahara, just as there were in Hannibal's army centuries before.
Another such medieval epic, The Adventures Of Esplandian is a strange novel that exemplifies the struggle between Europe and the 'other' world, notably Africa, written by the Spanish author Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo. This work also is a reflection and a comment on the reconquista, when Christian forces finally expelled Muslim rule in Spain. In this tale written in the 1500's the African warrior Queen Calafia lives on an island called California. She joins a Muslim expedition headed by a king named Radiaro who convinces her to commit troops to assist in the conquest of the great Christian city of Constantinople. Queen Calafa is neither Christian nor Muslim and in fact is described as a pagan. This seems to reflect the actual historical fact that there were many non monotheist African warriors and mercenaries in the armies of the Muslim Arab caliphs and Moorish emirs who did invade Spain, Portugal and Sicily at various times in medieval history. In this tale the self induced sense of superiority of the European, his advanced technology and his chivalry is maintained as a theme, even though Califa and her warriors are given their due as fierce, brave and intrepid fighters. As gold is the only metal they knew of on the island of California, the Amazons of California are portrayed magnificently armored with helmets, breastplates and shin guards of glistening gold, which however prove to be too light to protect against the bolts of their adversary's powerful crossbows, a weapon that took a longer time to load than a bow but delivered the most terrifyingly powerful missile shot of the middle ages. The long swords of the knights easily penetrate the breastplates of the Amazon warriors of Califa, while their own curved sabres seemingly glance off the steel plate armor of the Christians when striking at them. After maintaining heavy losses among her warriors Califa falls in love with the splendidly armored knight Esplandian for whom the story is named, then engages in a one to one duel with the Christian king Amadis, who eventually defeats her. She reluctantly admits defeat and then accepts Christianity, acknowledging it as a superior religion over all others, then goes back to the island of California for further exploits and adventures.
What is interesting about this story is how it is told from a European perspective which in the end must win and accomplish the complete defeat and conversion of a formidable enemy, indeed for the eventual 'benefit' of that enemy. The heroine and her brave warriors are well respected in the novel, no question, just as the ancient Greeks highly regarded the Amazons or Memnon's Aethiopians, portraying them in art and story as fearless, strong and beautiful while fearing their independence and will. Alexander the Great held quite strongly in his youth to the theory which he learned from Aristotle, that Hellenic civilization was superior to all others. He felt he had a predestined duty to share Hellenic genius with the rest of human kind, even if it must be forced upon the rest of humanity which the Hellenes considered as varvaros, or barbarians. He did, however, realize his own and his teacher's mistaken teaching of maintaining that sense of racial superiority. Perhaps due to the experience of fighting on the battle field, and inspiration from the memory of the tolerant and inclusive Persian king Cyrus whom Alexander admired, he one day spoke of mixing the races, as he saw all human beings sharing similar values, fears and joys, performing acts of bravery or displaying cowardice, prompting Alexander to command each of his officers to marry foreign women so as to forge one nation of all humanity ruled by one king, for which his officers thought him mad. But Alexander's opinions and his redeeming later turn around and change of heart has been a hallmark of Western civilization ever since, ie: that every struggle the West undertakes is for the betterment of our world while that same civilization satisfies it's own greed for power and ego through conquest in the guise of making the world a better place. Some of the benefits of Western expansion have certainly been positive contributions to human kind, but many of the results of this endeavor to make the world better in name of freedom have been as disastrous as the Pelleponesian Wars were for ancient Hellas or the effects of Alexander's conquests on many of the cities he allowed his soldiers to burn and pillage. The road to Hell as it were, is paid with the best of intentions, though those nations who are seen as ill or in need of something better are seldom consulted as to whether they see these same intentions as good or not. The destructive 21st century US invasion of Iraq which led to the dismantling of that country's infrastructure, the execution of it's leader Saddam Hussein and the subsequent chaotic power vacuum that came about afterwards reminds us of how the West sees the world and the methods it uses to make it a better place for all according to its own criterion, exactly as Alexander tried to unite the world under his rule in his time. In this manner, the Greek and Roman legacy continues. Califa is honored as a chivalrous woman indeed, her warriors are portrayed as daring and brave in facing death in battle.
The vivid accounts of ancient and medieval warfare between the West and the 'other' are recounted in detail, as they were in the ancient Greek accounts of the wars against the Persians and other foreign enemies. In Esplandian the devastating effects of crossbows by the Christian army and the superiority of their magnificent steel plate armor in repelling the blows and dulling the blades of curved sabres - a technology which reached the apogee of western European armor manufacture in the 15th/16th centuries...over the visually stunning but lighter and less formidable gold armor of the Africans and their Moorish allies reflect the historical eyewitness accounts of medieval chroniclers of military battles in this era, noting the differences in the armaments and the tactics used of both east and west. These rather opinionated accounts are similar to how Herodotus noted and documented, and not without a sense of superiority, the differences between the formidably armored Greek hoplite warriors and their lighter armored adversaries such as the Persian Immortals, which gave the former a clear advantage in such battles as Thermopylae and Marathon. There is surely a sense of respect for the African warriors in the text of Esplandian, as if these brave warriors would be assured of victory if only they possessed formidable, well designed state of the art steel Christian armor and armed with weapons befitting virtuous Christian soldiers. But, there is also a sigh of relief that they were defeated, noting the ferocity and determination of these pagan warriors in battle which nearly gave them complete victory. It is believed that many of the conquistadors who sought gold and land in the new world such as Hernan Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico, read or heard verses of this novel and embraced it's premise. There is no question that The Adventures of Esplandian inspired such daring, greedy men to achieve success in the conquest of the Americas, replacing the Africans and Moors with the native Americans whom they slaughtered with gusto by the tens of thousands in pitched battles who, though brave were unable to resist the power of steel and gunpowder, not to mention their lack of immunity to unknown germs. It must have seemed, to both the Conquistadors and the natives that God, the Lord of the Sun or the Great Spirit was certainly with these fair skinned conquerors at every turn, converting the heathen to the true religion while stealing their gold and raping their women. After years of exploration in the course of a conquest which was mostly for acquiring gold and silver the Spaniards moved north and west from Mexico and discovered the coast of the Pacific. They named that beautiful land with a mild climate California, built cities they named after Catholic saints, built missions and planted vineyards that produce some of the world's finest wines unto our own day. To work their sugar plantations in the Caribbean and to manage their luxuriously built villas they imported vast shiploads of African slaves, no doubt some of the earliest unfortunates being prisoners of wars fought against their Moorish enemies during the reconquista. The ancient Greek opinion regarding the 'other' set the tone for the future of western civilization, for better or for worse. Their sense of superiority over other nations was passed on to the heirs of European civilization just as their system of governing and their approach to the arts and sciences was. Africa and the African people have suffered at the hands of Europeans and indeed from the conquests by empires of the Middle East through the centuries.
Natalia Perlaza as a Nubian warrioress Echoes Of Antiquity Photo, Felipe Beltran
There can be no question about the bravery, fighting abilities and organizational skills of the African peoples. Resistance to Islamic Arab invaders, another civilization heavily influenced by Aristotle, Plato and ancient Greek thought, among the tribes of the Sahara were documented by Muslim chroniclers who wrote about the fierce defiance of the largely matriarchal Saharan tribes in their refusal to convert to the new patriarchal faith. The Muslim invaders justified the taking of slaves as a reward for their religious duty according to the tradition of jihad, importing many captured Africans to serve in the palaces and households of wealthy Arab lords in the great metropolises of their empire as well as in their armies. A slave uprising of the Zanji (lit. chained ones) in Baghdad in the mid 9th century shook the very foundations of the Abbasid caliphate at the height of it's power and glory. This revolt was well documented by the scholar Al Tabari but was seldom mentioned by later Muslim apologists, as the caliphs wanted to forget that for nearly 15 years African slaves in what is now Iraq, then the very epicenter of world civilization, refused to live as items of property and took their destiny into their own hands and fought for their freedom. The bloody rebellion spread and was cause for much concern among the ruling elite, as probably not since the famous gladiator slave rebellion in 73 BC of Spartacus in ancient Rome was an organized slave uprising so dangerous and threatening to the very existence of a powerful empire. Eventually the uprising was put down savagely by the caliph Al Muwafaq and his son Abu al Abbas, later to become known as the noted caliph Al Mu'tadid. The city of Basra was burned to the ground and at the end of the revolt hundreds of thousands lay dead, some sources even claiming that millions perished.
Well organized African slave revolts in the New World, most notably in Brazil and Haiti, proved to be serious problems for the Portuguese and the French. In the colonial era of the 19th century the most severe defeats inflicted on the then modern European armies were to be experienced in Africa. French invaders faced fierce resistance in what is now Dahomey, the west African nation adhering to an ancient military tradition similar to that of ancient Sparta, where boys were conscripted at an early age and taught martial arts. Unlike their Spartan predecessors however, this culture included the conscription and training of Amazon warriors known as Mino or 'Our Mothers'. The Zulu destroyed an entire British army at Isandwalana in 1879. The army of the Mahdi in Sudan in the 1880's did something no one, not even Napoleon could do, that is to break the unbreakable British square. Though exposed to deadly volley fire by ranks of men armed with rifles formed in tightly packed squares glistening with bayonets, the Beja tribesmen; known by the derogatory and rather racist name Fuzzy Wuzzies by the British invaders, due to their hair styles...managed to break the square armed only with swords or spears and inflict serious casualties. An entire Italian army intending to conquer Ethiopia was nearly wiped out at the battle of Adowa in 1896. Superior rifles, machine guns, artillery and over confidence did not yield victory in any of these encounters. All of these African victories prompted the European imperialists to double their efforts and destroy the resistance completely and mercilessly, enabling these powers to steal land and resources. When the Europeans finally left in the 20th century the subject nations were broken and troubled for years after, their corrupt governments and politicians now imitating the power and greed of their colonial rulers. The effects of that European colonialism are still being felt today, as are the effects of a fiery and renewed Islamist imperialism. Militants have been wreaking havoc in many African nations in both the east and the western part of the continent seeking to impose a strict Arabized Islam on what was at one time a unique, culturally African Islam highly inspired by the synthesis of native practice and Sufi mysticism, an ideology which itself stems in part from liberal ancient Greek and Persian thought synthesized with native traditions. There was a time when African Islam encouraged education and scholarship that was the hallmark of great empires such as Songhay and Bornu, their own complex and intricate bardic traditions producing a genre of jali and griot musician/bards that Homer himself would have appreciated, recounting tales of conquest and war, love and magic. Timbuktu in modern Mali, the name of this city for the past 150 years a synonym for a distant, remote place, was a center of book making and binding in the middle ages, one of many cities of high learning and culture in western Africa. Further south in what is now Benin a powerful kingdom encouraged a style of sculpture that recalled the creative genius of ancient Greece or India.
There is much in ancient African history and mythology that needs to be studied and researched, especially those points of contact with empires and civilizations outside of Africa. We all know and agree that the victor writes the pages of what becomes history, but in the myths, legends and tales of the distant past we see that there are unexplained mysteries, elements of possible truths and events that may have been forgotten, perhaps purposely. If we are honest we must endeavor to at least consider these forgotten elements and narratives and in so doing seek that which we all need to understand about ourselves, so as to understand more about each other. Lastly, let us not forget to mention the sheer joy of listening to those epic deeds and tales which have been missing for so many centuries in our libraries, our story books and in the repertoire of our own storytelling subjects and themes, legends that may teach us something about our fragile human condition, and possibly how to mend centuries old misunderstandings once and for all.
Sculpture of a warrior, royal court of Benin 16th century
Royal bodyguard of king of Dahomey, 19th century
To The Glory of AethiopisThere far off, beyond the sand, In a most unfamiliar land mighty nations did rise and waneAmid trial and effort, blood and painArmies of heroes and warriors rideTheir steeds to glory, never to hideFrom any who would dare invadeBe warned...in your own blood will ye wade!For men and women of Aethiopis wearTheir swords and daggers 'pon muscled torsos, fit and fairPerfect are they in feature and heightAs gods they strut, in all their mightAnd when a babe is born the child is blessedWith the cold feel of a blade, pressedUpon the skin so as to knowIn the warrior's path they must growTo make a name through deeds, to recallTo be remembered by one and allSo long ago were such legends madeBy warriors known, though memory fadeThe bards pluck their harps at nightAnd flautists play until first lightAnd as workers start their day anewThey labor with energy kindled throughThose legends told and epics recitedOf brave men and women in whom they delightedTo hear again and again the glorious storyOf those brave heroes of Aethiopis, in all it's ancient glory Ismail Butera
Sculpture of a warrior, royal court of Benin 16th century
Royal bodyguard of king of Dahomey, 19th century
To The Glory of Aethiopis
Copyright Ismail Butera, 2018
Copyright Ismail Butera, 2018
