The Greek Gods in Wonder Woman

[marhawkman]

Talking about Greek Gods, what are the best story arcs with them on Wonder Woman books?

Wonder Woman Vol 3 #35

Pele decides to get revenge on WW after Zeus kills Kane Milohai. Obviously Pele's not Greek, but the story is relate to the Greek gods.
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Pele_(New_Earth)

[Perseus]

Diana is trapped in warrior woman mode because of a lack of vision and interest from DC part. Not because of the Gods. We have seen interesting stories involving the Gods and Diana. The Gods have always been a part of her mythos. and as such, they shouldn't be treated as punching bags that anybody can beat.


Ares used to be a powerhouse capable of facing darkseid. There is no reason why his best feats should be ignored, just because you seem to think he shouldn't be that powerful. darkseifd himself is not always writen as the top big bad of DC. Superman, Wonder Woman, Powergirl etc have been able to give darkseid a fight one on one. The only thing keeping Ares and other Wondie villains from being bigger threats(like they used to be), is the poor writing in recent years. If DC views WW as the least important, well that shows how much they are lacking in terms of knowing the potential of their brands. Marvel has been pushing captain marvel a lot for example. And it paid off. Years ago nobody would have thought she would get a billion dollar movie, and would become the new face of marvel movies and their top female hero. Yet here she is. Getting the spotlight, able to shine, to be seen as a powerhouse and a face that matters a lot within her verse. Yet DC can't do half of that with the most iconic female hero ever that paid the way? WW has proven her worth many times, the most recent one being her 2017 hit film. Of course that good story telling matter. But i think feats are part of a story. It's not fair to talk about how powerful WW and the Gods are, and then treat them all as lightweight. WW and her mythos should be an important part of DC. In terms of story telling and in terms of power. Since she is supposed to be one of earth's most powerful defenders. It wouldn't take much to treat her character and verse with more respect. DC wouldn't lose anything for putting some more effort into the quality of the writing that they give to Diana's world.

Preach! I couldn't agree with this more.

[Lightning Rider]

I don't really like the idea of them just always getting into fist-fights with Diana or other characters. As with the New Gods, it kind of cheapens them. I'd rather they engineer and manipulate events to challenge her, or offer assistance and guidance to help her. There's a whole pantheon, each one having rich themes and character flaws.

[marhawkman]

I don't really like the idea of them just always getting into fist-fights with Diana or other characters. As with the New Gods, it kind of cheapens them. I'd rather they engineer and manipulate events to challenge her, or offer assistance and guidance to help her. There's a whole pantheon, each one having rich themes and character flaws.

This is why the Pele story is so good. Yes WW fights Pele, but it's not a fight to the finish. they talk things out instead of continuing battle until one of them can't fight any more.

[Restingvoice]

How many pantheons exist in DC? There's Old Gods, New Gods, Rao, X'hal, Greek Gods, Celtic Gods, God God... do they have Norse? if so when and where? Who else have duked it out beside Old Gods, New Gods and Greek Gods?
Wait, Pele? They have Hawaiian Gods too?

[Agent Z]

How many pantheons exist in DC? There's Old Gods, New Gods, Rao, X'hal, Greek Gods, Celtic Gods, God God... do they have Norse? if so when and where? Who else have duked it out beside Old Gods, New Gods and Greek Gods?
Wait, Pele? They have Hawaiian Gods too?

Just assume every myth exists in the DCU unless stated otherwise.

[Restingvoice]

Just assume every myth exists in the DCU unless stated otherwise.

Right... I forgot about Egypt... Dr. Fate, and Hindu... Deadman

[Katana500]

I've always been a fan of mythology! so I love seeing the Greek Gods, infact id like to see alot of other pantheons too! I always thought it would be cool. If they did more with the Amazon Equivalents in the other mythologies.

Already have:
The Amazons of Bana-Mighdall (Egyptian)
The Amazons of Themyscira (Greek)
The Valkyries (Norse)

Would be awesome to see the Amazon equivalents from other mythologies like Celtic, Slavic or Japanese etc, and then have them all team up!

[Restingvoice]

What I'm saying by bringing all the myth is... if they all have to share one Earth, then their influence will be diminished, especially the ones that are regional. So instead of Greek Gods ruling over all mankind, they're limited to Greece or anyone outside of Greece that still believes in them.

Oh, and I forget... on top of that... and I should've brought this up first... if we follow the Post Crisis lore that the Greek Gods' power is based on how many people worship them, then they're really, really weak. Barely more powerful than Superman or Wonder Woman.

Compare to the New Gods, who, as far as I know, not only are they not bound by that rule, the current lore also says there's only one version of them throughout the Multiverse, instead of different Darkseid per Earth, meaning the New Gods will be among the most powerful gods.

[WonderLight789]

What I'm saying by bringing all the myth is... if they all have to share one Earth, then their influence will be diminished, especially the ones that are regional. So instead of Greek Gods ruling over all mankind, they're limited to Greece or anyone outside of Greece that still believes in them.

Oh, and I forget... on top of that... and I should've brought this up first... if we follow the Post Crisis lore that the Greek Gods' power is based on how many people worship them, then they're really, really weak. Barely more powerful than Superman or Wonder Woman.

Compare to the New Gods, who, as far as I know, not only are they not bound by that rule, the current lore also says there's only one version of them throughout the Multiverse, instead of different Darkseid per Earth, meaning the New Gods will be among the most powerful gods.

Being above SM and WW would still make them pretty powerful. But in Post Crisis. Gods like Zeus and Ares did not have a problem getting big feats to make themselves worthy of being compared to the likes of darkseid. And also based on feats, i don't think all new gods are so powerful.

[marhawkman]

Being above SM and WW would still make them pretty powerful. But in Post Crisis. Gods like Zeus and Ares did not have a problem getting big feats to make themselves worthy of being compared to the likes of darkseid. And also based on feats, i don't think all new gods are so powerful.

Yeah, Barda, the Furies... all New Gods.

[kjn]

My thoughts on using the Greek—and other—gods in Wonder Woman. This really divides into several different aspects, like how they are to be used in-story, which theological and other theoretical frameworks to use, how the gods as presented in-universe relates to the "real life" mythologies, and what relation the Amazons and Diana would have to them.

The first is that I'd drop the word "gods" entirely, at least from the vocabulary of the Amazons. "Patrons", that Rucka used, is fine, but some other term could be used instead. I believe this is mainly for helping to get rid of many of the preconceptions that might arise among readers about what a god is or isn't.

Second, while Wonder Woman most assuredly is inspired by Greek mythology, I'd try to establish that the Amazon patrons are different from the Greek gods, in much the same way that Marvel's Norse pantheon isn't the same as the old Norse pantheon of the Eddas. In my view, I'd do the same thing with the Olympic gods as with the Amazons in DC: the Greek ones are the "copies" of the ones worshipped by the Amazons, and the name similarities are partly Diana choosing familiar names in our world.

Third, to me the Amazons are nymphs of civilisation. They are minor divinities that live on this earth and that intermingle (relatively) freely with humanity—or at least they used to do so.

Fourth, to use feminism as a lens to interpret any use of the Greek myths.

Based on this, I'd set up a pantheon of six Patrons for the Amazons. They know of and are aware of other gods, but these are the ones who created them. The ones would be (by their Greek names) Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hestia, and Prometheus. Their realms of influence would be something like this:

Aphrodite: love, compassion, empathy, the sea
Artemis: nature, wildlife, childbirth, diseases & healing
Athena: crafts, fortitude, wisdom
Demeter: the earth, nature, harvest, domestic animals, seasons
Hestia: home, hearth, fire, law, justice, the sky
Promethus: crafts, fire, wise councel, craftiness

Then tie the Amazons into both the Prometheus myth, the Pandora myth, and preferably also the Persephone myth.

[Gaius]

Some cool concepts, what's the idea behind making Prometheus one of the patrons?

[kjn]

If the Amazons are here to help humanity and spread civilisation, then Prometheus really stands to the fore as the god that wanted to help and teach humanity. The Greeks didn't worship him because he was imprisoned and powerless, but the Amazons aren't Greeks.

[WonderLight789]

Yeah, Barda, the Furies... all New Gods.

Barda is powerful. But not as powerful as SM and WW. The furies well, they are a good example that not all new gods are super powerful.