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  1. #1
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    Default Why not have the entire pantheon give WW powers?

    Based mainly on Perez' version, of course:

    Based on Perez's idea mainly (and upon the instruction of Gaia),

    Why not:

    Demeter give Hippolyta magical clay and she is born from her mother her as normal (without a dad!)
    Aphrodite gives her universal beauty that everyone is to behold
    Athena gives her wisdom and military strategy
    Artemis gives her extended senses in all all five senses and animal communication/control
    Apollo gives her the ability to heal fast and invulnerability to fire
    Poseidon gives her the ability to breathe underwater and ability to survive in extreme temperatures under water (hot or cold)
    Hermes gives her flight and speed
    Hera gives her immortality outside PI; the only amazon who can do this
    Zeus gives her super strength and the ability to function in space/planetary atmospheres with no oxygen/special gear
    Hades gives her the power to bring the dead back to life (within a very limited time frame, and a body needs to exist) and
    Haesphestus forges her armor and weapons
    Hestia grants Diana the power to summon a circle of fire to protect whomever she wants and see the truth (as in her lasso) and is also responsible for her loving, peaceful personality

    Ares on the other hand, give Diana a gift of vulnerability to mortal weaponry (so while she is impervious to blunt trauma, she remains vulnerable to simple weaponry such as hand held weapons and guns), which he justifies in order to keep her powers in check and not to abuse it; that she can be killed by a mere mortal (given the right circumstances). Also, he, devised a scheme, and convince the Primordial Goddess Nyx to create Devastation through her own children, so it's like a play out of the Titan-Olympian war.

  2. #2
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    My story instincts aren't buzzing here, or rather the opposite.

    First, if one looks at Greek mythology, having all the Olympians agree on something was nigh-impossible. They were constantly quarreling and arguing, if not fighting. Having them united here feels like rather missing the point of much of Greek mythology.

    Second, one problem for the Wonder Woman mythos has been that it has become too coupled to Greek mythology. Sure, it is inspired by and tied to Greek mythology and should acknowledge that, but it's not the only inspiration and not the only type of story that can or should be told. This origin would make that tie even stronger.

    Third, expanding on the first (but perhaps somewhat in opposition to the second), it makes it much harder to make Wonder Woman stories where Diana stands in opposition to one or more of the gods. That limits the storytelling possibilities for no good reason.

    Fourth, I think it goes against Marston's intents when he created Wonder Woman in the first place. He saw her as the embodiment of female ideals, and coming from women only. He does not disregard men as followers or allies, but they are not central to the narrative either. And while it keeps the clay origin, it still introduces lots of men into Diana's backstory.

    Fifth, the Amazons are there to help humanity, and several of the Greek gods were hardly friends or helpers of humanity—least of all Zeus. If there is male figure in Greek mythology that I'd look closer at bringing into a relation with the Amazons and Diana, it is not any of the Olympians, but Prometheus.
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  3. #3
    Extraordinary Member AmiMizuno's Avatar
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    I always thought the reason was because she didn’t need all the gods to make her who she is. I mean many of the gods show the same realm so to speak. Beside many of the god gods especially Zeus wouldn’t want to give Diana powers. Some aspects wouldn’t make sense given some gods sexist nature. Zeus especially

    While I don’t mind Perez’s origin I always thought Diana should have earned getting her powers not just being given them when she was born. In Marston’s we clearly see Diana and Mala were close in strong. Which shows Diana could have lost

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by kjn View Post
    My story instincts aren't buzzing here, or rather the opposite.

    First, if one looks at Greek mythology, having all the Olympians agree on something was nigh-impossible. They were constantly quarreling and arguing, if not fighting. Having them united here feels like rather missing the point of much of Greek mythology.
    In fairness, people would say the same of any depiction of the Amazons that doesn’t depict them as baby killing, men hating savages.
    Not that I like that depiction, but if we’re going to use this argument against the gods it kind of has to apply to the Amazons as well.

    Second, one problem for the Wonder Woman mythos has been that it has become too coupled to Greek mythology. Sure, it is inspired by and tied to Greek mythology and should acknowledge that, but it's not the only inspiration and not the only type of story that can or should be told. This origin would make that tie even stronger.
    You know, I’ve just never been able to agree with this. It’s like complaining that Thor is to tied to Greek mythology or that Buffy had too many vampires.
    Rather I would say the issue is the type of stories with Greek myth the WW books tell.

    Third, expanding on the first (but perhaps somewhat in opposition to the second), it makes it much harder to make Wonder Woman stories where Diana stands in opposition to one or more of the gods. That limits the storytelling possibilities for no good reason.
    See my response to point two.

    Fifth, the Amazons are there to help humanity, and several of the Greek gods were hardly friends or helpers of humanity—least of all Zeus. If there is male figure in Greek mythology that I'd look closer at bringing into a relation with the Amazons and Diana, it is not any of the Olympians, but Prometheus.
    See my response to point one.

  5. #5
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Agent Z View Post
    In fairness, people would say the same of any depiction of the Amazons that doesn’t depict them as baby killing, men hating savages.
    Not that I like that depiction, but if we’re going to use this argument against the gods it kind of has to apply to the Amazons as well.
    I'd say that the situations are not the same at all.

    One, if one looks at the "original" tales, we have on one hand a huge amount of stories told about their own gods, on the other hand a small amount of stories and anecdotes about a people far away. The Amazons are the point of divergence, to use a term from alternate history. Note also that there are divergent tales about the Amazons: e.g. Strabo describes them as being on good terms with their neighbouring Gargarean tribe, where the male children are given to the all-male Gargareans to bring up.

    Two, the entire premise of Wonder Woman is to look at Greek mythology through a feminist (for wildly varying values of feminism, but still) lens. That can mean radically changing how the various gods and their relations are viewed, but you still need to keep some core of the character. And quarrels at Olympos lies at the core of so many of the stories that you can't remove it, especially if you want to view it through a feminist lens.
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  6. #6
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    This was the Jason thing recently.

    The whole point of the story was the female deities working together and taking a stand against Ares.
    If ten years of recording The Young and the Restless for my mother have taught me anything, it's that characters in serial dramas are always happily in love...until they're not

    “The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. Instead of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views...which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.” - the 4th Doctor

  7. #7
    Extraordinary Member AmiMizuno's Avatar
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    One why have the whole pantheon give her powers? What can Hades and persephone give her I can see Hades and persephone giving Amazons some type of gift. Not all the females gods even bless Diana.

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