Aphrodite (DC Comics)

Aphrodite
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance All-Star Comics #8 (December 1941)
Created by William Moulton Marston
Harry G. Peter
In-story information
Place of origin Mount Olympus
Team affiliations Olympian Gods
Notable aliases Venus
Abilities Deity, vast supernatural abilities including size-changing, shapeshifting, immortality

Aphrodite is a character in DC Comics. She is based on the Greek deity of the same name.

Publication history

Aphrodite first appeared in All-Star Comics #8 and was adapted by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter.

Fictional character biography

Aphrodite is the Greek Olympian Goddess of Love, Beauty, Pleasure, and Sex. While fair, loving and at times mischievous, the goddess' interest in the desires of the heart, the spirit and the flesh lead her to be promiscuous, tumultuous, fickle and impulsive.

In the Pre-Crisis, Aphrodite is one of the patron goddesses who gave life to the Amazons of Themyscira. She had a hand in helping her fellow Gods into bringing Queen Hippolyta's sculpture of a little girl to life which played into the origin of Wonder Woman.[1]

In the Post-Crisis, Aphrodite was present at a meeting with her fellow Gods in to talk about the dwindling worshipping from the mortals. After Zeus deemed this issue beneath him and left, Aphrodite accompanied Ares, Athena, Demeter, Hestia, and Hermes to the Underworld where the Cavern of Souls is. The Cavern of Souls is where Gaia has housed the souls of women who have been unjustly killed by men. They harvest the souls where they reincarnate them into Amazons and given a home on Themyscira except for one that Athena had saved for the day when Hippolyta sculpted a baby out of shoreline clay and Athena infused the baby sculpture with that spirit enabling Princess Diana to be born.[2]

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Aphrodite first appears to Hermes and Zola. When Hermes states to Zola that Aphrodite is married to the ugly god Hephaestus, Aphrodite states that Hephaestus has other "charms." She tells them that she will not be attending the wedding as there is little love in Hell.[3]

Powers and abilities

As a deity, Aphrodite possesses vast supernatural abilities like size-changing, shapeshifting, and immortality.

In other media

Television

  • Aphrodite appears in Challenge of the Super Friends, voiced by Shannon Farnon in "Secret Origins of the Super Friends" and by Louise Williams in "Battle of the Gods." In "Secret Origin of the Super Friends," Aphrodite responds to Queen Hippolyta's prayers to bring a sculpture of a young girl which becomes Princess Diana. When it comes to some wars happening outside of Themyscira, Aphrodite tells Queen Hippolyta that one of her warriors will have to be a secret representative in the wars causing Queen Hippolyta to hold a contest. Despite the Legion of Doom trying to rig the fight so that a disguised Cheetah could win, Flash's visit to that time period enables a disguised Princess Diana to win. Upon learning that the winner is her own daughter, Queen Hippolyta allows Princess Diana to become Wonder Woman as a way to keep her word to Aphrodite. In the episode "Battle of the Gods," Hera gets tired of Aphrodite's praise of the Super Friends causing her to convince Zeus to put them through different challenges.

Miscellaneous

Aphrodite appears in All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #4 (April, 2011). Her son Eros, the god of Desire, unhappy to believe that Wonder Woman was not spreading love among humans as Aphrodite had given her, decided to make her and Batman fall in love with each other. The wedding ceremony, whose guests were superheroes, Amazons and others, eventually attracted the attention of many supervillains. They then went into combat and Eros's plans to spread love ended up going the wrong way. Thanks to Aphrodite's intervention, Eros understood that Princess Diana spreads love not by force, but by inspiration, and the gods then return to their home on Mount Olympus.

Video games

References

  1. ↑ Action Comics #8
  2. ↑ Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #1
  3. ↑ Wonder Woman Vol. 4 #9
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