Hemmed in by Their Beards
The only women Greeks respected with
The type of honor they accorded males
Were Amazons. Though whether these were myth
Or fact, or both, the sagas offered tales
To teach young men that they should not forsake
Ideals of manhood. When the archetypes
Of masculinity might tend to quake
If women out-savaged stereotypes
Of machoness, the teaching point would seem
That moustached myrmidons would need to fight
In manlier acceptance of the dream
Of sworded, shielded courage, never flight.
If Amazons could slice their breasts away,
Then men must strictly stand and die and slay.
~ Phillip Whidden
by phillipw | Sep 7, 2023 | AN, BR, CO, GR |