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| Aphrodite | ||||
| Real name | Aphrodite | |||
| Debut | All Star Comics #8 (December 1941) | |||
| Created by | William Moulton Marston, Harry G. Peter | |||
| Affiliations | Gods of Olympus | |||
| Abilities | Immortality, Charisma | |||
Aphrodite is the Greek Goddess of love and beauty. She was initially the patron Goddess of the Amazons, though in post-crisis continuity, she shares that role with Athena and several other Gods.
History[]
Pre-Crisis[]
Aphrodite was the sole creator of the original Amazons. After Mars inspired Hercules to enslave the Amazons, Aphrodite required all inhabitants of Paradise Island to wear Bracelets of Submission as a reminder never to submit to the domination of man. She also granted immortality to the Amazons under the condition that they never allow men to set foot on Paradise island or leave themselves. Aphrodite was also the inspirator of Wonder Woman, after Athena taught Hippolyta to mold a child out of clay. After sculpting the child, Hippolyta loved it so much that Aphrodite granted it life. She was a beacon of love, forgiving criminals such as the Baroness Paula von Gunther and accepting her into the Amazon nation. She also resurrected Steve Trevor after he was slain by Doctor Cyber, as well as guided Astarte (who was actually the spirit of Hippolyta's long-dead sister, also named Diana) to the afterlife.
Post-Crisis[]
Aphrodite was one of several Gods who gifted the Amazons upon their creation by Artemis and gifted Diana at birth with "great beauty and a loving heart." She was also the mother of Deimos, Phobos, Eris, and Harmonia, born from the union between Aphrodite and Ares. She participated in the War of the Gods, and has been a constant, yet minor, force in Wonder Woman's life. Recently, Aphrodite restored Wonder Woman after she had become a Black Lantern.
Rebirth[]
As well as creating the Amazons, Aphrodite would trick a young Ares and bind him with chains and her own love, sending him to be imprisoned beneath Themyscira. Aphrodite would also give birth to an intersex child with the god Hermes, known as Atlantiades with which she would have a difficult relationship with due to her somewhat neglectful method of parenting.
Ares would eventually escape his prison by dying and then being reborn elsewhere although this would have side effects causing Aphrodite and numerous other residents of Olympus to also fall to Earth. Coincidentally, she would land in the very country that Ares had travelled to in order to exact a 'just war' against the countries leaders. The goddess would discover Steve Trevor and together they would make their way to Diana who was negotiating a peace treaty between the two waring factions. While the talks were interrupted by Ares, Aphrodite would be able to order him to leave.
Afterwards, Aphrodite would move in with Diana and Steve until she found a way to return to Olympus. After some time she would discover that her child, Atlantiades, had also fell to Earth and landed in the town of Summergrove which had subsequently become a chaotic party of love. With Diana's help Aphrodite was able to restore order to the town and begin to improve her relationship with her child. All this would end however when she was murdered by Diana's enemy, Cheetah, causing a world wide absence of love until Atlantiades took up their mothers mantle as god of love.