“The Scythians, one should remember, were the same bunch that, according to Herodotus, were seen as fit companions by refugee “Amazons†after their loss at the battle of Thermodon.”
Sorry, but I regard that as mythology.
Women are simply not large and strong enough to function as a hoplite.
Did I say they were fighting with Hoplite equipment?
Hoplites were heavy infantry found in Greece. That it was said of the Amazons that they took certain measures (cutting off a breast IIRC) to permit them to be better archers would indicate that they weren’t fighting as heavy infantry but as light.
Light troops can still do lots of damage and in particular they can be good at exactly what the Amazons were attributed with, raiding, because of their greater speed.