The story of Wonder Woman has its origin in mythology. Princess Diana is one of the immortal warrior Amazon women of Themycira. Her mother, Hippoyta longed for a child, and the Oracle told her to model one from clay. The gods of Olympus then granted this baby life, and some even bestowed some of their assets to her as gifts.
Aphrodite gave her a loving heart paired with amazing beauty, Hermes provided lightning speed and flight, Artemis granted a hunter's spirit and communion with animals. Diana's great wisdom and courage came from Athena, Hestia provided her with immunity to fire, and her amazing strength was granted by Demeter. She would often utter, "Great Hera!" and some of her comic and cartoon story lines included foes from mythology, like the Furies and Circe.
Diana was the only child ever born to the Amazon tribe. There were no men on their island, and their immortality nullified the need to procreate. Her name was chosen to honor an aviator who crashed on the island years before and gave her life defending it. She was raised well by her mother and her 3,000 Amazon sisters.
Diana's life changed when it was decided that one Amazon warrior needed to be sent to the world of men. Ares (the god of war) was creating problems and they had to send their finest to thwart him. Queen Hippoyta held competitions designed to decide who was the strongest. Although Diana was forbidden by her mother to participate, she disobeyed. Competing in disguise she was easily declared the winner.
Diana was outfitted well, and the design was to honor her namesake, who was an American. Armed with her natural abilities, she also has a Lasso of Truth forged by Hephaestus, the shoes of Hermes which could transport her over great distances in mere seconds, a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and, in some stories, an invisible airplane.
Diana came to America and was known as Diana Prince. She learned our language and our culture, and then took up her duties of protecting the earth from crime, injustice, inequality, and even squabbles among the Olympian gods.
As a young girl in the 1970's I would pretend to be the Lynda Carter version of Wonder Woman that I watched on television.
Thank you to Jenny who blogs at . . .off on my tangent. . . for hosting this fun weekly link up.
