According to the myth, the Greek island Lemnos was one of the first stops for the Argonauts.The island had been suffering from an unusual problem. Aphrodite was upset with the women of the island for not visiting her shrines, so she cursed them by giving them a foul stench. The husbands began philandering with the slave girls, which led the wives to kill off all of the men, leaving women to fill all the roles hitherto occupied by men.
Wary of attack by their old enemies the Thracians, the women tended cattle and plowed the fields in full battle armor.
When the Argonauts arrived, they were met by the Lemnian women hastily scrambling in battle mode, but the Argonauts reassured them that they were travelers coming in peace.
These thumbnail sketches are in sanguine and charcoal on tracing paper, just trying out lots of compositions, conscious of not getting too attached to any of them. It was just as well, because we had to cut way back on space for illustrations in the story, and this moment ended up on the cutting room floor.
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