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As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
Aphrodite is the Goddess of love and beauty in the Greek pantheon of gods. She is a half-sister to Wonder Woman.
History
After Ares killed himself while inside Themyscira's prison, the Sphere of the Gods collapsed due to a paradox and Aphrodite was exiled from Olympus, reappearing in Durovnia with no memory about how she was kicked out of her home dimension. There, a group of mythological creatures, spitted out of Aphrodite's dimension as well, elected her as leader, as she sought a way to come back home. In those days, a civil war exploded in Durovnia and the United States sent their armies there to help the local government. One of the solider was Steve Trevor, captured by the creatures and brought to Aphrodite as prisoner.[3] When the goddess learned of Steve's love for a girl named Diana, she recognized in him qualities she appreciated, and decided to free him. He then helped him tracking his lover, who turned out to be Wonder Woman, a pleasing surprise for Aphrodite who finally made a direct encounter with the princess of the Amazons.[4]
Aphrodite then helped Diana in stopping Ares, the cause of the civil war, then came back to the United States with her as she didn't have a home anymore and she needed to find out what happened to Olympus and if Ares decision of killing himself was involved with it.[5]
A Quest with Wonder Woman
As Diana faced the goddess Nemesis, Aphrodite was informed by Wonder Woman herself that after all Themyscira, and Olympus with her, might really have collapsed into nothingness. The goddess is not convinced this is the truth, and she also told Diana that if herself, Ares and other mythological beings now lived on Earth, maybe the Amazons did as well: this gave Diana some hope. The goddess in fact believed that Ares' decision might have created a paradox, being that Themyscira was created only to contain him and, with him dying there, the structure of the island probably collapsed, maybe bringing the rest of the dimension with it. Aphrodite then decided to go with Diana in search of the other Olympians, especially her first born, Atlantiades.[2] She started the quest in the Rocky Mountains park in Colorado, where Cadmus spotted a being who resembled a Titan.[6]
After recruiting Giganta on their team, the creatures who resembled Titans are found out to be magical constructs protecting the sword of Antiope, which was found by Maggie, a waitress that started an adventure together with Cadmus, Damon and Eirene, three creatures Aphrodite brought with her in the United States. While Giganta leaves, having finished her mission, Aphrodite went together with Diana and Maggie, searching for the legendary Amazon who once possessed the sword.[7]
Finding Atlantiades
The sword of Antiope led Aphrodite to Summergrove, a city in Connecticut where people lived always following their deepest desire. Aphrodite soon realized it was the work of her first born, Atlantiades[8], who wanted to show her he could have a following even bigger then hers, all because in the past Aphrodite used him for her own personal popularity, a think the goddess admitted to have done. With Maggie, Aphrodite explored the temple dedicated to his son inside the city, trying to find out something that could lead them to stop his influence there.[9]
She discovered a portal which is highlighted by Antiope's sword, leading Maggie to go through it. Aphrodite tried to follow her, but she was invested by a kind of irresistible terror, which also led to Diana thinking the portal had to be involved in the collapse of the Olympians home dimension.[10] As her son Atlantiades came to the temple, she tried to talk him out of following Diana into the portal, fearing for his life, but failed in her attempt.[11]
Death
As she traveled with Steve Trevor, helping and fighting creatures exiled from Olympus, Aphrodite reassured the soldier many times about the fact that Wonder Woman will return to him, being that their love is true. She was right, as in fact while they were fighting werewolves both Diana and Aphrodite's son, Atlandiades, come back from their adventure. After all, Atlantiades was ready to reconcile with their mother and so they all came back to Diana's residence in Virginia for some rest, while Wonder Woman went to Washington to meet Veronica Cale.
As she was inside Diana's residence, Aphrodite was attacked by the Cheetah, who was hunting Wonder Woman. After she threatened the goddess of love to obtain the location of the passageway to Themyscira, Aphrodite was struck by the God Killer, a sword able to kill Olympians, given to Cheetah as a gift from Lex Luthor.[12]
Infinite Frontier
Aphrodite was later resurrected alongside all of the other gods due to the actions of Wonder Woman.[13] Aphrodite later assisted Nubia alongside her fellow female Olympians.[14]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Godly Physiology: Aphrodite belongs to a race of ancient and inconceivably powerful beings known as the Old Gods. Because of this heritage Aphrodite possesses almost unlimited power.[15]
- Cosmic Awareness: Aphrodite, like all Old Gods, is aware of the multiverse and the realms that lie beyond. This knowledge gives her an understanding of the universe and all life that transcends the capabilities of normal mortals.[15]
- Energy Construct Creation: Aphrodite can summon a huge swan made of stars as her conveyance.[2]
- Healing: Aphrodite can heal damaged tissue. She once completely healed a bullet wound in a few seconds just by holding her hand over the wound.[4]
- Immortality: As an Old God Aphrodite has been worshipped by the ancient Greeks and Romans, this makes her at least a few millennia old.[16]
- Metamorphosis: Aphrodite is capable of changing her form at will. A lot of the time she comes to mortals in the form of a dove.[17] She also occasionally changes her hair color to red or brown.[18][3]
- Molecular Reconstruction: Aphrodite can change the molecular structure of a non-organic item at will. During her battle with Ares, she was able to turn missiles into flowers with a hand gesture.[4]
- Flight[19]
Abilities
- Seduction: As the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite is a master at bending the will of others using her physical beauty. She was able to use her seductive skills alone to bind the madness of Ares.[16]
Notes
- This character or object is an adaptation of Aphrodite, a character or object in traditional stories. These include, but may not be limited to religious texts, myth, and/or folk lore. More information on the original can be found at Wikipedia.org.
- Aphrodite was first adapted by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter, first appearing in All-Star Comics #8. However, in the Prime Earth continuity Aphrodite first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Wonder Woman (Volume 4) #9 by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang.
Trivia
- In Greek mythology, Aphrodite's mother is Dione, daughter of the titan Oceanus, but in Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #65 Aphrodite's mother (unnamed) was mistaken for another Dione, daughter of the titan Atlas. This happened when Aphrodite mentioned that her older child, Hermaphroditus, is called Atlantiades by the gods after her grandfather Atlas,[2] although in Greek mythology Hermaphroditus is called Atlantiades because their father Hermes is grandson of Atlas by his mother Maia.
Related
- 38 Appearances of Aphrodite (Prime Earth)
- 8 Images featuring Aphrodite (Prime Earth)
- Quotations by or about Aphrodite (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Aphrodite (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #82
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #65
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #60
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #61
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #62
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #66
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #68
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #69
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #70
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #71
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #72
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #76
- ↑ Wonder Woman #775
- ↑ Nubia and the Amazons #2
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 DC's explanation of the New 52 Multiverse
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #23
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #6
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 4) #9
- ↑ Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #3