Where It Begins

It all began during the cavemen period. A caveman was angry that he was banished from his tribe. He encountered a woman who offered him some compassion. Later, she was murdered which was the first woman murdered by man's hatred. During 1300 BCE, the goddesses of Greece organised a meeting and discussed the creation of beings that would fit under their ideals. Zeus and Ares did not approve of this, and Hera, not wanting to go against her husband opted not to involve herself. So it was left to the other five goddesses to decide. They travelled to the Well of Souls, which is the place where the souls of all women murdered by man's hatred were placed. They gathered these souls and dropped them into Greece's lake. The souls were then mixed with clay and stone from the lake bed and thus the Amazons of Themyscira were born. Hippolyta was first to emerge and then her sister Antiope. The five goddesses decided that the Amazons should spread the message of peace, tolerance and equality. Hippolyta and Antiope were each given a Golden Girdle.

From evidence derived of Antiope's daughter, Pythia, it seems as if at least 20 years has gone by. Hippolyta and Antiope lead for some time and built the city Themyscira. Their job to spread the message of Gaea (peace, tolerance and equality) was difficult however, because few men ever trusted the Amazons and Ares kept creating trouble for them. As time goes on, they become more isolated and their population grows due to the freeing of women from slavery.

Zeus had a son called Hercules and he travelled to Themyscira with his friend Theseus. Arriving in Themyscira, Hercules demanded that Hippolyta give him the Girdle of Hippolyta. She refused, and offered to do battle for ownership of the Girdle. Hippolyta won the battle and Hercules offered an alliance with them. The Amazons allowed them to stay as Antiope fell in love with Theseus and Hippolyta with Hercules. However, in his madness, Hercules drugged Hippolyta who found herself in chains the next day. Hercules' army pillaged Themyscira and stole their treasures, including the Girdle of Hippolyta. Hercules left leaving some of his men behind to keep an eye on the city. One of the goddesses granted Hippolyta strength which allowed her to break free of the chains and free the Amazons around the city. All of the Amazons fought until every single man was dead. Antiope on the other hand was still angry. She swore to kill Hercules and take back the Girdle of Hippolyta. Hippolyta on the other hand saw things on a different level, explaining that that was not the way of the Amazons. Doing so would only bring them to Hercules' level. Antiope threw her Girdle at Hippolyta's feet, she then left, half of the Amazons choosing to leave with her and the rest staying with Hippolyta. It was the last time these two sisters would ever see each other again.

The goddesses appeared again, displeased that the amazons had failed in their mission to spread peace. The goddesses decided that the word Amazon would, from now on, be associated with death and not peace. As a pennance, each of the amazons were give a pair of steel bracelets to wear forever, to remind them of their humiliation. They then began a new journey, and Poseidon parted the sea so they could travel. They found an island called Paradise Island and on that island they built a new city, called Themyscira once again. As long as they were on the island, they were immortal. There, Hippolyta ruled for 3000 years.

From time to time, people would be able to get through the mists that shielded Paradise Island from the rest of the world. One of these people was Diana Trevor, a World War II pilot who had crash landed on the island. During that time, she battled with the Amazons against the evils of the island. During one of these battles she fired an important shot from her gun, and gave her life in doing so. Some time after the battle, Hippolyta had a strange feeling about that woman. The Oracle explained to Hippolyta that she was the reincarnation of the first woman murdered, though she was pregnant. The strange feeling that Hippolyta was having was that she wanted a daughter, and so the Oracle and goddesses granted her wish. Hippolyta moulded a baby from clay and the last soul from the Well of Souls. A true baby, a baby of flesh, was born. Hippolyta named her Diana, after Diana Trevor in her honour.

Diana grew up with many sisters, though none of them were her age. Magdala, a sorceress, created an identical playmate for Diana. One of Hippolyta's enemies, Dark Raven, planned to kidnap Diana, but ended up kidnapping the playmate instead. When Diana turned twenty two, the gods demanded that a champion be sent to Man's World. Hippolyta forbade Diana from competing, but since the competitors were required to wear masks and hence could hide her identity, she did so anyway. Diana won and after completing one more test, she was made the champion and given a costume, based on Diana Trevor.

Wonder Woman a.k.a. Hippolyta

The New Wonder Woman

Wally West and Wonder Woman go on a journey to restore the Donna Troy that they knew. Hippolyta reveals that it was Donna Troy who was kidnapped by Dark Raven, thinking that it was Diana. She was cursed to live multiple lives, all which in ended in tragedy. Hippolyta and Jay Garrick go back in time to fix the problems with Wonder Girl (Donna Troy) and some problems caused by Dark Raven. During this time, Hippolyta became the 1940s Wonder Woman and joins the Justice Society Of America. With their help, Hippolyta defeats Dark Angel. Hippolyta remains there, in the past, for some time until she returns to the present.

Hippolyta No More

When Hippolyta returned to the present, she discovered that the Amazons had broken up. While the general public believe that they all live in one group, the truth is that they live in different tribes. One tribe, the Bana Mighdall, felt that Hippolyta had given up on her role as queen because she fought in Man's World, even though it was because of the gods that she was forced to fight. Even her Themyscira Amazons felt she wasn't doing her job as queen. With the amazons losing their respect for her and wanting to battle, she abdicated and went to fight alongeside her daughter. Diana and Donna Troy both were offered rule, but both of them turned it down. The amazons then abolished their old way of rule and opted for individual self-rule.

Hippolyta continued fighting in Man's World alongside the Justice Society. During the "World at War" story arc, an enemy called Imperiex attempted to destroy Earth, the Amazons were also involved. While Hippolyta was fighting Imperiex, Diana came to fight as well. Diana ordered her mother to leave, but Hippolyta still wanted to fight. She saved her daughter's life by pushing Diana out of the way when the Imperiex probe was about to kill her. The explosion killed only Hippolyta herself.