The Amazons of Paradise Island
History[]
Amazons are a nation of warrior women living on Paradise Island. Their nation capital is Themyscira.
Hippolyta was a young woman in a tribe made up of hunters and gatherers. After the able-bodied men in her tribe were killed by raiders, Hippolyta established a nation called “Amazonia” somewhere in ancient Greece. There, she ruled as a respected warlady; keeping the company of gods and kings alike.
Early on, Hippolyta swore fealty to the gods of Olympus, among two other Amazons (one unnamed and Nubia) in their bid to overthrown the Titans. For this, Hippolyta was gifted with divine empowerment, including immortality. A few centuries later, Hippolyta fell from grace when Zeus sent his son Heracles to prove that Hera was wrong in her claim the Amazon queen could not be laid flat by a man. Humiliated in the eyes of her people, Hippolyta exiled herself to a mystical paradise originally meant as a haven for immortals alone.
However, without Hippolyta, the Amazon clans soon split apart and began to fall to conflict. When she learned that Amazonia had fallen, Hippolyta came out of exile to broker a deal to save her people, asking Zeus to give her people rights to the island paradise. Zeus agreed for a price. In sealing the deal with Zeus (figuratively and literally), Hippolyta secured a future for her people and for herself, in the form of a daughter: Diana. She then united the Amazon tribes (Nubia's African tribe, the Banna-Maighdeaúil).
In the early days of Themyscira, it was Circe’s work that helped guide the island’s relocating, making her instrumental in drafting of the scattered Amazonian tribes. However, a schism developed between Circe and her queen as Hippolyta continued to push for more isolation from the realm of mortals. This interfered with Circe’s research as she had covertly been abducting test subjects from the mortal realm for her magical experiments. When Hippolyta pressed the matter further, Circe retaliated by transforming the youngest of Hippolyta's daughters into a pig and placing her with the stock of creatures soon to be butchered for a royal feast. Fortunately for young Donna, Circe’s trickery was discovered by Hippolyta's other daughters and Circe was banished (because Hippolyta knew no prison would hold her) to the mortal realm and then used Circe’s own magical devices to place the island outside of Circe’s reach.
Usually, Amazons kept to themselves, rarely venturing to the mortal realm (Princess Diana went there during the Trojan War and the Hundred Years’ War of Europe). Only recently Themyscira established a connection with the world through Diana, when she became the ambassador of Themyscira. In the wake of the events of the September 11th, 2001, the U.S. Government was interested in gaining Themyscira's assistance in the war on terror. Diana knew her mother had no interest in the wars of men, but Diana agreed to help the military on the condition she’ll be given an undercover identity to help her enjoy life. Wonder Woman became an icon for women everywhere, and other Amazons took her role. With Themyscira becoming a member of the United Nations, people seeking to immigrate to Themyscira can relocate to Reform Island (one of the islands in the archipelago).
Trivia and Notes[]
Trivia[]
- While residing among the Amazons are a breed of half-Amazon and half-Olympian hybrids, these beings are considered by ARGUS xenobiologists to fall under the classification of 'deity', specifically the subspecies of 'demigod'.[1]
- Exoristos, or exile, is the title given to any Amazon who leaves Themyscira when not on a mission whether it's self-imposed or mandated by Hippolyta.
- There have been many Amazon colonies in South America, particularly in the Amazon Rainforest where it was easy for the Amazons to hide from the World of Men — however, those were all long ago with no modern expeditions in that region for at least the last fifty years.[2]
- The Amazons have an alchemical ritual to change a man into a woman.[3]
- The Amazons are related to the Titanians which are descended from crossbreeding between Amazons and Martians caused by an ancient alliance between Martians and Amazon. The Amazons discovered a Martian spy among them in ancient times and Hippolyta chose to spare the outsider from punishment. While the Martian delegation came to retrieve their scout, Hippolyta met with the envoys and a deal was made. The Amazons prison had reached capacity as its prisoners did not age. So the Martians agreed to take some of their prisoners to show gratitude. The prisoners were relocated to a penal colony on Titan where the Martians had deposited many of their own who had been quarantined to a labor camp due to having been infected with a disease that caused them to take a static shape, with red skin and usually caused the loss of their psionic abilities. The Martians did not anticipate that the same plague which caused the quarantined prisoners to turn red also altered their DNA to allow breeding with humans, causing a new species to develop on the moon of Titan. Interestingly, the male Titans gained impressive strength and longevity while retaining a Martian appearance, but the females looked human aside from red eyes and had the natural psionic potential of unaffected Martians.[4]
- Notes from Roy on the Rite of Hera: "Okay... so the Rites of Hera was a way for Themyscira to grow their population without male citizens. However, as Themyscira is not a secret or as isolated as it once was, the Rite of Hera is no longer needed (at least not as much - more on that in a bit). Themyscira can now grow their population by bringing battered or abused women to Themyscira and having them undergo ceremonies and rituals to make them an Amazon. In addition to this, Amazons can leave Themyscira and live among men - either temporarily by vacation or by living abroad or working at a Themysciran embassy. If Amazons have a child that is male, they now have the options to live with their son. Men can also live on the Paradise Islands, in Boom Town. They can even visit the Themysciran capital (during the day) with a visiting pass. So as an example say there is an Amazon, we'll call her Thea. Let's say Thea works at an embassy. She has a relationship with a local male fireman. The relationship is mostly casual but the two see each other over two years. Thea ends up pregnant. The child is male. Thea could simply give the child to his father and be done with it. Thea could marry the fireman. Thea could get a residence off-campus of the embassy and co-raise her son or raise her son by herself. She could move to Boom Town and live with her son there."[5]