Based on the Hippolyta of Greek mythology, Hippolyta is a fictional Amazon character within the Marvel Comics universe.
Fictional character biography
Hippolyta is the daughter of the Greek god Ares and Otrera. She and her sister Amazons would help create war, stealing the female children in the process in order to make their armies grow. The group protected the cow-goddess Io as a favor to her grandfather Zeus.After many years of ruling the Amazons, Hippolyta eventually met Hercules when he, Jason, and the Argonauts landed near her city stronghold of Themiscyra. There they attempted to steal Hippolyta's enchanted girdle and any slaves they could along the way. Fearful for her sister's life, Hippolyta's sister Antiope willingly disguised herself as Hippolyta. Jason, thinking her to be the Amazon queen, kidnapped Antiope and made her his bride. She eventually bore a son to him, Hippolytus, whom Antiope named after her much loved sister. Initially resenting Hercules for the initial invasion, Hippolyta eventually fell in love with him. Over the centuries, she tried various attempts to win his affection, but ultimately he never gave her his heart. Thus a love/hate relationship was formed between the two.
As shown in a Howard the Duck story, Hippolyta has historically been one of the bearers of the Amulet of Pazuzu. As the Howard the Duck comic involves storylines that are both in and out of continuity, it is unclear if the Amulet of Pazuzu truly exists in the Marvel Universe.
In her first modern-day appearance, Hippolyta helped Pluto, Greek god of the dead, in his plan to avenge himself on Hercules, by posing as a movie actress and tricking the hero into signing a "movie contract" that in reality bound him to Pluto's realm, Hades. But Thor came to his aid, and the heroes caused so much damage to Hades that Pluto himself broke the contract just to be rid of them.
Hippolyta also formed a new generation of Amazons from female runaways in New York City called the Bacchae. The group has clashed with such heroes as the Fantastic Four and the X-Men.
External links
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Last updated on Thursday April 24, 2008 at 19:06:58 PDT (GMT -0700)
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