Wonder Woman - The Fictional Superheroine

If you are an avid reader of DC comics, you must be familiar with the character of Wonder Woman. She is the warrior princess of the immortal Amazons. The story borrows heavily from the Amazonians in Greek Mythology.

Back in her homeland, Wonder Woman is known as Princess Diana of Themyscira. She is the daughter of Queen Hippolyta, the ruler of the immortal Amazons. The legend has it that Diana was the first child to be born in three thousand years on Paradise Island. Her birth was extraordinary because the other inhabitants of warrior island were not born in the literal sense of the term. They were created by the Greek Goddesses by drawing forth the souls of all the women who had been executed by men. Queen Hippolyta was the first soul to be reincarnated. Of all the souls of the women that were revived, one soul was left behind. It was the soul of the unborn daughter of the woman who was murdered first. It was prophesized that this soul would be born as Diana to Queen Hippolyta.

Around the latter half of the 20th Century, the Goddesses fulfilled Hippolyta's wish for a child. She was asked to mold some clay from the shores of the Paradise Island in the form of a female child. Six goddesses of the Greek Pantheon - Demeter, Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hestia and Hermis - blew life into the clay structure and each gifted her with a unique gift which together account for her superior combat and battle skills.

• Demeter: Super Strength
• Athena: Courage and Wisdom
• Artemis: Communion with animals and a hunter's heart
• Aphrodite: Beauty
• Hestia: Sisterhood with Fire
• Hermis: The Power of flight and Speed

Diana grew up amidst women and sisters in the woods. Although trained to be a warrior, she was not a super heroine from the start. She used her powers to tackle issues of war, death, inequality and conflicts between the Olympian Gods. Themyscirian was her main language, a combination of classical Greek and Turkish. English was learned only after she arrived in America.

When Diana was a young, pretty lass, the Gods ordered that the Amazonians must send an ambassador to Earth. A contest was held to select a suitable emissary. Diana was disallowed to participate. However, she went against her mother, participated in disguise and won the championship. Thus, she was sent as the emissary into Man's world.

Her Weaponry

The Lasso of Truth was her main weaponry when she embarked on her earthy mission. It was fashioned by Hephaestus himself. She was also given the Sandals of Hermes, which was the gift of flight and speed. It allowed her to travel great distances in minutes. She wears a pair of indestructible silver bracelets and a razor sharp golden tiara that functions like a projectile. Wonder Woman is also known for her ability to create invisible vehicles at will.

Christened Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is a true icon of beauty, brains and brute force. She enters the human world at Boston where she meets Harvard professor Dr. Julia and her daughter Vanessa and stays with them for a month or two. It is from them that she learns English. She comes to Earth to return army pilot Steve Trevor to the human world after he crash-lands on the Paradise Island. Her actual mission is to promote peace, but she gets caught battling the God of Ares and his minions. When the battle becomes public, she is given the name Wonder Woman. She is the member of the Justice League of America.

Wonder Woman was created and designed by American writer and psychologist William Moulton Marston. In the human world, she is looked upon as the harbinger of love, peace, justice and sexual equality.