I'm pretty sure she is but what about there language? Is it ever once yoused in the comics?or am I wrong and she's not greek?
Wonder Woman
Character » Wonder Woman appears in 8805 issues.
The Amazon princess, blessed with god-like super abilities, Wonder Woman is one of Earth's most powerful defenders of peace, justice, and equality and a member of the Justice League. She is considered an archetype for many heroines outside of comic book. Her initial origin depicted her as a clay baby brought to life by patron goddess Aphrodite, but in recent years she has been depicted as the daughter of Zeus and Amazon queen Hippolyta.
is she greek?
They speak Greek, they worship Greek Gods, their architecture is Grecian. That said, they reside on an isolated island known as Themyscira and refer to themselves as Amazons (though perhaps that's just their species, divorced from humanity).
So I'm going to say... No, they're not Greeks, they just have a lot of similar elements. Like Romans.
@lifeofvibe: Well in mythology Amazons where from Ukraine
They speak Greek, they worship Greek Gods, their architecture is Grecian. That said, they reside on an isolated island known as Themyscira and refer to themselves as Amazons (though perhaps that's just their species, divorced from humanity).
So I'm going to say... No, they're not Greeks, they just have a lot of similar elements. Like Romans.
This, or Macedonian.
@omnibeast: @jonny_anonymous: from ukraine? i dont think so.... amazons are amazons(greek amazons)..... wonder woman isn't greek but writers have takenpieces from theGREEKmythology(gods, names, amazons, legends and many other things) besides all thisreminds me ofRomans. I dont think so they are MACEDONIAS(they are greek too)
Elektra is greek . wonder woman hasn't greek name
@othinus: so your point is?
@othinus: Actually yes Amazons where from Greek myth but they where not from Greece
It's all mythology, so she is really a daughter of the world. It's like saying the abrahamic god is Israeli because texts about him originated (mostly) from that area.
Yeah, it depends on what the question is really asking and what sources we're trusting. According to historiographers, the Amazons described in the Greek Myths are most likely either from what is now Ukraine (in the region close to Scythia), or from a region that is now part of Lybia. As far as I know, DC never specified exactly where their version of the Amazons were from originally, other than that they were in the general region where Greek Myths were popular - which is an area that includes a lot of places that are not a part of contemporary Greece.
However, in the DC version, they left their home, whatever that happened to be, a long, long time ago and have lived as an independent nation on Themyscira for thousands of years. In that sense, they are Themyscirian. They have lived on Themyscira much, much longer than any Europeans, Africans, or Asians lived in America, so it's probably wrong to call the Amazons Greek.
In the Perez run it does mention that they speak a language similar to, but not exactly the same as, Ancient Greek (which is not the same as contemporary Greek). To put that in perspective, Julia Kapatelis, a scholar who was fluent in Ancient Greek was able to understand Wonder Woman, but struggled to do so and mentioned that she had a very unusual accent.
So, to sum up, they have obvious cultural ties to the region that we now call Ancient Greece, though they are probably not from the geographical area that is contemporary Greece. Their culture, though owing a lot to Ancient Greek culture, is now quite independent, with its own language and its own take on the Greek Gods.
Too add on to what @dmessmer mentioned:
When Wonder Woman was created, I assume Moulton was getting his Greek & Roman mythology confused. Hippolyta mention in Diana's Golden Age origin that she is named after her Aunt, the Goddess Diana. When in fact it should have been Artemis instead. This is why, I am sure, we later get a replacement Wonder Woman named Artemis & the Wonder Woman of the current Earth 2 worshiped the Roman Gods. It was during Perez's run it is mentioned that the Amazons speak an ancient dialect based on the Greek language but not necessarily the same. Also, if the Amazons have the same origin as they did during the Perez run, they may speak a Greek language and worship Greek Gods but their ethnic appearance varies from one Amazon to another because their souls came from women who lived lives across the globe.
Most people and writers confuse and intermingle Greek and Roman mythology. With empires falling, some gods with distinctions were combined. For example. Mars was considered a fertility god at one point but when combined with Ares-- that distinction was eliminated from his overall make up.
Perez distinguished post -1985 WW as definitely Greek using nothing both Greek names for mythic beings such as Ares and Herakles. This strict adherence played into War of the Gods where he revealed the Roman pantheon existed separately and somewhat parallel to the Greek pantheon.
New 52 has not made these distinctions or specifics known. The names of some, if not most, of the gods are general and none specific to one particular pantheon.
So, pre 1985 and new 52 have not been clear where historically Perez version which lasted until new 52 was the only version that was definitely Greek.
Too add on to what @dmessmer mentioned:
When Wonder Woman was created, I assume Moulton was getting his Greek & Roman mythology confused. Hippolyta mention in Diana's Golden Age origin that she is named after her Aunt, the Goddess Diana. When in fact it should have been Artemis instead. This is why, I am sure, we later get a replacement Wonder Woman named Artemis & the Wonder Woman of the current Earth 2 worshiped the Roman Gods. It was during Perez's run it is mentioned that the Amazons speak an ancient dialect based on the Greek language but not necessarily the same. Also, if the Amazons have the same origin as they did during the Perez run, they may speak a Greek language and worship Greek Gods but their ethnic appearance varies from one Amazon to another because their souls came from women who lived lives across the globe.
These are all good points. In one early Wonder Woman comic Marston acknowledged that Ares' name was Ares' but that we know him more often by the name Mars, so Marston was at least aware that he was he was mixing Greek and Roman names, though who knows how far his knowledge really went. The implication, though, is that the use of Roman names was just for the readers' sake rather than being indicative of what the Amazons called the various deities. It's a pretty flimsy rationale, but, hey, it was the Golden Age.
It's all mythology, so she is really a daughter of the world. It's like saying the abrahamic god is Israeli because texts about him originated (mostly) from that area.
Actually, you're confusing yourself by referring to God as the Abrahamic God; because of that confusion, there's no logic in whatever point you're trying to establish. Actually, you can just go back to the Book of Genesis to verify this point I'm about to make.
Abraham's father was evidently a Pagan. At this point, the history/story establishes that Abraham appeared to become Agnostic rather than accepting the Pagan customs. After Abraham asked his father a revolutionary question about Pagan gods, Abraham begin to think about what he asked his father very deeply and set out to find out the truth about whether any gods existed, because, clearly, his people were worshiping marble statutes. God appears to have set out on a path of non-interference with the human race at some point after Noah's Ark, contributing to the Pagan customs becoming the established religion of the human race. Thus, God appeared to Abraham in the form of a clear still voice, finding something fascinating about Abraham becoming Agnostic. In an effort to help Abraham discover the truth, he commanded that he take a journey away from his people; Abraham, however, decided to bring people closes to him on this journey, leaving his father behind as well established in his community and elderly. During this journey, after observing Abraham follow his commands based on pure faith, God than established a covenant with the Jewish people. However, throughout the rest of the Old Testament, God continued to observed the descendants of Abraham, finding their faith to more easily waver with successive generations, until He decided to finally rescind the original covenant that he had established with the Jews at the time of Abraham. Finally, Jesus came along and revolutionized the whole thing.
Thus, God never really actually came close enough to be mistaken as Jewish. He clearly maintained His cosmic independence throughout the process; at best, He served as an observer for teaching points which He had in gradually creating the Holy Bible, as His end product.
I would say no, because Paradise Island is not a part of Greece. Even if it is situated within the Greek border, it is still an independent nation, since Greece hasn't either made a claim on the place and the Amazons wouldn't accept being part of anyone other than themselves.
As to geography, the mythological Themyscira is supposed to have been in modern Turkey near the town of Terme.
@or35ti: You could imagine they played a part in the recorded history of Greece. Like if we imagine the story that was told that a woman, in disguise as her son, beat all the male athletes in the foot race, so afterwards they all had to compete in the nude. Perhaps we could imagine the woman had been an Amazon, and the son was just something that was made up afterwards by historians to explain why a woman could beat a bunch of dudes.
Wonder Woman's mother is Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, who also filled that same role in Greek mythology. But one big difference between Greek mythology and DC Comics is that the Hippolyta of Greek myth never had a daughter. In the comics, her daughter is of course Diana, AKA Wonder Woman, whom she molds from clay. And while Diana is the name of the Roman Goddess of the Hunt — whose Greek equivalent is Artemis — Wonder Woman is not actually an interpretation of that character. Wonder Woman's history is undeniably intertwined with the stories of Greek myth, but Wonder Woman herself is not based on a Greek Goddess. She was created to be a champion of feminism in the 20th century, and she's continuing that fight well into the 21st.
Wonder Woman was definitely raised as a Greek person, but its hard to tell in the comics and movie if the Amazons are Greece or even human because they were apparently created separately from humans. In addition to this while they share the same gods and architecture as ancient Greeks their extremely matrilineal societal values and culture is very different from the patrilineal society of ancient Greece. As well as the fact that they don't live in Greece but in an island that is removed from the world. I would say yes though at least in terms of they are closer the Greek than any other nationality.
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