In Greek mythology, the Gargareans, or Gargarenses, (Greek: Γαργαρείς Gargareis) were an all-male tribe. They copulated with the Amazons annually in order to keep both tribes reproductive. The Amazons kept the female children, raising them as warriors, and gave the males to the Gargareans.[1]

Gargareans (Gargari) in the North Caucasus on a fragment of Henry Teesdale's map of the Ancient Roman Empire.

The ancient Greek geographer Strabo placed the Gargareans on the northern foothills of the Caucasus. Several scholars identify them with the Galgaï.[2][3][4] According to E. Krupnov, the accuracy of the localization of Strabo's Gargareans in Galga-chuv (Ingushetia) is confirmed by archaeological, anthropological and ethnographic data.[5] Gaius Plinius Secundus likewise localizes the Gargareans north of the Caucasus Mountains, but calls them Gegar.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Strabo, Geography, Bk. 11, Ch. 5, Sec. 1
  2. ^ Von Klaproth, Julius (1812). Reise in Den Kaukasus Und Nach Georgien Unternommen in Den Jahren 1807 Und 1808 [Journey to the Caucasus and Georgia undertaken in the years 1807 and 1808] (in German). Halle and Berlin: Hallisches Waisenhaus. pp. 650–651.
  3. ^ Robakidze, A. I. (1968). Kavkazskiĭ ėtnograficheskiĭ sbornik, II. Ocherki ėtnografii Gornoĭ Ingushetii Кавказский этнографический сборник, II. Очерки этнографии Горной Ингушетии [Caucasian ethnographical collection, II: notes on the ethnography of Mountainous Ingushetia] (in Russian). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. pp. 15, 27, 204.
  4. ^ Mayor, Adrienne (2016). The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World. Princeton University Press. p. 361. ISBN 9780691170275.
  5. ^ Krupnov, E. I. (1971). Srednevekovaia Ingushetiia Средневековая Ингушетия [Medieval Ingushetia] (in Russian). Moscow: Nauka. p. 26.
  6. ^ Latyshev, V. V. (1890–1906). Izvestiia drevnikh pisateleĭ grecheskikh i latinskikh o Skifii i Kavkaz Известия древних писателей греческих и латинских о Скифии и Кавказе [Reports of ancient Latin and Greek authors about Scythians in the Caucasus]. Vol. 1 (1890), vol. 2 parts 1 (1904) and 2 (1906). Saint Petersburg.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Krupnov 1971, p. 25.