Machlyes
{{short description|Ancient tribe described by Herodotus}}
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File:Nuremberg chronicles - Strange People - Androgyn II (XIIv).jpg (1493)]]
The Machlyes or Machlyans ({{langx|grc|Μάχλυες}}) were a legendary ancient Libyan tribe.
Ancient Sources
According to Herodotus, their young women held a ritual battle with sticks and stones annually with neighboring Auseans ({{langx|grc|Αὐσέες}}). Those who died of their wounds were said to have lied about their virginity.{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hdt.+4.180.1|title=Herodotus's account of the Libyan female warriors in Corinthian helmets|accessdate=2008-12-28|work=Perseus Project}}
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.Pliny the Elder, Natural History, VII, ii, 15{{cite web|url=http://www.theoi.com/Phylos/Makhlyes.html|title=Machlyes|accessdate=2008-12-28|work=Theoi Greek Mythology}}
Later Sources
French anthropologist Lucien Bertholon hypothesized that the Maghrawa tribal confederation in Tunisia were descendants of the Machlyes.{{cite journal |last1=Bertholon |first1=Lucien |title=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 |journal=Imprimerie rapide |date=1898 |page=156}}
In fiction
In the book Sweet Shadows by Tera Lynn Childs, the machlyes Achilla saves Gretchen from the merdaemon in the abysses.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}
References
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Category:Tribes described primarily by Herodotus
Category:Androgynous and hermaphroditic deities
Category:Legendary tribes in classical historiography
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