Revisiting Olympos

[kjn]

From the beginning, Wonder Woman has drawn on Greek mythology, and that is even more so since Pérez. However, as someone with an interest in especially Norse mythology, the polytheism, gods, and goddesses that have been presented in Wonder Woman feels a little flat, or perhaps rather too modern. Marston re-imagined the Amazons not out of some modern take on them, but rather based on his own crank theories on innate female superiority and examining the Greek myths about the Amazons without the misogyny of the Greeks.

So why not attempt something similar for the gods and goddesses as well?

I should probably preface this with an observation that I read in a book about Norse religion, but probably is applicable to classical Greek religion as well. The religion of the time had two parts: the stories (mythology) told and later written down, and the actual religious practices. Of the former, we know a fair bit. Of the latter, not so much. But the importance of a god (or goddess) to a person or society lie far more in the latter than the former. Thus, our modern-day view of Athena as a central figure in Greek mythology is to some degree a modern construct due to that she was the patron figure of Athena (who turned out to become the most important city-state), the amount of stories about her, and last modern lenses in trying to understand Greek religiousity.

Part of this also comes from my idea that the Amazons could be regarded as nymphs of humanity and civilisation.

Index:

Hestia