Themyscira, also known as Paradise Island, is the second home of the Amazons, named after their prior home in what is now modern day Turkey. The island has undergone several changes in location and appearance over the years.
History
Heritage
The immortal Amazons were created over 3,000 years ago to teach the merits of virtue, love, and equality to the men of "Patriarch's World", and they founded the city-state of Themyscira in ancient Greece (in a part of modern Turkey).
Ares, the God of War, a chief opponent of the Amazons, manipulated his half-brother Heracles to gather forces and attack Themyscira, where Heracles seduced and ravaged the Amazon Queen Hippolyta. His forces succeeded in ransacking Themyscira and enslaving the Amazons. Through strength and savage cunning, the Amazons freed themselves, slaughtering most of their captors. Soon after, Antiope led a force of Amazons off into Greece, seeking vengeance on Heracles. As decreed by the goddesses, Hippolyta led the remaining Amazons to a remote island, where they were tasked with guarding Doom's Doorway as punishment for their failures as teachers. They named the island itself Themyscira, after their fallen capital, and began new lives, erecting buildings and monuments, and perfecting their skills as artisans and warriors.
For centuries the Amazons lived in what they felt a perfect state of harmony with their surroundings. Occasionally, the Nereides would bring to the shores of Themyscira young infants who would have drowned otherwise in accidents. Called "sending forth", these infants would wash up on the shores of Paradise Island, be tutored spiritually in Amazonian ideals, and then sent back mystically to the place of their disappearance. Julia Kapatelis, the Amazon princess Diana's first friend in Patriarch's World, was one such infant.
Enter Wonder Woman
After her sojourn into man's world, Hippolyta's daughter Diana, known to men as Wonder Woman, became an ambassador to the outside world. With Diana's help, the Amazons opened the shores of Themyscira to dignitaries of "Patriarch's World". The creatures beneath Doom's Doorway had long since been defeated, and for a time the Amazons destroyed their battle armor as a testament to their call for a new period of peace. The Amazons even conducted their own tour of the United States, where they were framed for the murders of several people by Antiope's descendants, the mercenary assassins of Bana-Mighdall, and Circe. Eventually, the lost Amazon tribe of Bana-Mighdall would be transplanted on Themyscira, and formed an uneasy truce with the Amazons, choosing to live at opposite ends of the island.
With Diana and Hippolyta adventuring in Patriarch's World as Wonder Woman for longer and longer periods of time, the Banas and the Themyscirans were manipulated into a bloody civil war at the hands of Magala, who used allies among both Amazon cities to spark the vengeful conflict. The island was left in ruins, and the war was only stopped when Hippolyta abolished the royal family, renounced her throne.
Left at odds, but on an even political ground, the Bana Amazons and the Themyscirans joined forces against the alien forces of Imperiex. Themyscira, mystically moved into outer space, where it was destroyed by the marauder, and hundreds of Amazons from both tribes died.
New Themyscira
Following its destruction, Themyscira was rebuilt and relocated once again, this time to the Bermuda Triangle. Designed by the likes of Julia Kapatelis, the Martian Manhunter, the second Doctor Light, Steve Trevor, Canadian architect Henri Claude Tibet, and Amazon master designer Kaleeza Fashed, the new Themyscira was built with the help of alien technology and was restored by the combined might of the Greek and Egyptian goddesses the Amazons worshiped, with each one bestowing a blessing over the land and the Amazons.[1]
Transformed into a mighty series of floating islands dedicated to the free exchange of information and ideas, the new Themyscira was governed by Philippus, the political leader, and Artemis serving as the military commander and co-leader. This Themyscira was nearly destroyed in a jealous fit of rage by the goddess Hera. Because of her actions, the islands ceased to float, and resumed being a cluster of traditional islands. The islands were positioned just off the East Coast of the United States.[2]
Infinite Crisis
During the events of the Infinite Crisis, Themyscira fell under attack by an army of O.M.A.C. units.[3] Though the Amazons rallied to fight, they were overwhelmed, even after using the Purple Death Ray.[4] Also, Brother Eye broadcast the fight around the world, convincing everyone that the Amazons were not interested in peace.[4] Their home being ravaged and their name tarnished, Wonder Woman encouraged the Amazons to take the only option left. To ensure the survival of the Amazons, Themyscira was removed from the Earthly realm, taken by the Gods of Olympus as they left the Earth.[4] The island sank beneath the waves, leaving Princess Diana, Donna Troy, and Cassandra Sandsmark the only remaining Amazons known to be in the world.[4]
Points of Interest
- Amazon Armorial[7]
- Amazon Senate[8]
- Assembly Hall[9]
- Astronomical Observatory[10]
- Coliseum
- Delian Hill[11]
- Dryadic Forest[12]
- Fountain of Youth[13][14]
- Hall of the Council of Themyscira[15]
- Kanga Races Field
- Labyrinths[16] or Minotaur Labyrinth (a branch)[17]
- Mount Tartarus[18]
- Royal Armory[12]
- Royal Palace
- Queen's Chamber[14]
- Sappho Hall[19]
- Surgery[15]
- Temple of Aphrodite[14]
- Temple of Athena[20]
- Temple of Hades[8]
- Temple of The Patrons[10]
- The Gate[15]
- Trial Arena[14]
A number of smaller islands also surround Paradise Island and are considered part of the Amazons' domain:
- Forbidden Island: Home of various monsters.[21]
- Reform Island: Site of the Amazons' prison and rehabilitation center.
- Science Island
- Paula von Gunther's Laboratory[22]
- Paula von Gunther's Laboratory[22]
Residents
- Amazons of Paradise Island
- Amazons of Bana-Mighdall (briefly)
- Kangas
- Gargareans (briefly)
- Sons of Themyscira (briefly)
Notes
- Paradise Island has shifted locations over the years. It has been in the Bermuda Triangle, the Pacific Ocean (in one case off the California coast, in another near Papua New Guinea[23]) and the Aegean Sea. It was eventually explained that Paradise Island didn't really exist in time and space as mortals saw it allowing it to be anywhere or anywhen the Amazons wish it to be.[24]
- The island is generally referred to as Paradise Island, especially in the Pre-Crisis continuity. Its secondary name, Themyscira, has been used as either the capital, the state on the island, or as an alternative name for the island, primarily Post-Crisis. Technically, the island was New Themyscira, as the old name was a city-state in modern day Turkey (based on the real world Themiscyra). The New was dropped over time, so "New Themyscira" has been used to refer to the island rebuilt after Our Worlds at War and the colonized parts of the United Kingdom during Flashpoint.
- On the Pre-Crisis Earth-One, Paradise Island periodically needed to be transported to the dimension of Mount Olympus to replenish the Amazons' superhuman powers. During one such period, Wonder Woman elected to remain on Earth, and needed to relinquish her powers until Paradise Island returned.[25]
- On Earth 1, Paradise Island, also called Amazonia, has at least two cities: the capital New Athena and its sister city New Sparta.[14]
- In the Wildstorm Universe, Themyscira is not an island, but rather a mountain, with the official name of Mount Themyscira. It is located in the Peloponnese Peninsula in Greece, and is home to the Coda Sisterhood.
See Also
- Appearances of Paradise Island
- Location Gallery: Paradise Island
- Catalogued images related to Paradise Island
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #177
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2 #200
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #223
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #224
- ↑ Wonder Woman: The Blue Amazon
- ↑ Dark Nights: Death Metal #1
- ↑ Wonder Woman #750
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #14
- ↑ Wonder Woman #28
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #2
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #32
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman #12
- ↑ Comic Cavalcade #19
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Wonder Woman: Earth One #1
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #4
- ↑ Ame-Comi Girls: Featuring Wonder Woman #1
- ↑ Wonder Woman/Tasmanian Devil Special #1
- ↑ Justice League (Volume 4) #46
- ↑ Comic Cavalcade #12
- ↑ Wonder Woman #183
- ↑ Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #17
- ↑ New Teen Titans #13
- ↑ Wonder Woman #36
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #130
- ↑ Wonder Woman #179
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