Themyscira is known as the home of Wonder Woman, but there is so much more to the civilization than its most famous member. The nation of Themyscira has appeared before in both TV and films, with several iterations making it to the screen, including those in the animated seriesJustice League, Wonder Woman: Bloodlines, and most recently, DCEU films. But withPatty Jenkins’Wonder Woman 3canceledand a reboot for DC movies, Themyscira seems to be taking a bigger role than before.
James GunnandPeter Safranhave announced theirnew slate for the DCU, including the news of a show calledParadise Lost, which will be about the Amazons before Diana’s birth. By featuring the nation as more than just Diana’s home, the new show will be allowed to explore the culture and history of Themyscira in a way that is often left untouched. But many fans may not be aware of the rich history the DCU has to pull from. Though the show has yet to have so much as a release date attached, there is much to be gleaned from Themyscira’s comic history, which could provide an idea of the show’s plot.
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All the Basic Information About Themyscira
Any knowledge of Themyscira, or Wonder Woman herself, would explain that this is an all-female civilization of Amazons and closely linked with Greek Mythology. What may be less apparent is that the Amazons can be found in Greek myths long before the character of Wonder Woman, though DC certainly added its own spin. The most common origins identify Amazons as the soles of women killed by men, which were reincarnated in bodies molded from clay by the goddess Artemis (sometimes assisted by other goddesses like Athena, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Hestia). Thus, the Amazons received enhanced abilities and fighting prowess. The island kingdom has been referred to as both Themyscira and Paradise Island, but no matter the name, the story remains the same. The location varies, sometimes in the Aegean Sea, off Bermuda, or occasionally not rooted in a single location at all. Where ever it is located, Themyscira is almost always shielded from the world of men. The island is also home to Doom’s Doorway, allowing the Amazons to guard the world against monsters.
While there is much of the culture thatParadise Lostcan create for itself, several elements are borrowed from Ancient Greece, and still, more is long-established in comics. One element of culture likely to appear in the show is the common practice of same-sex relationships. (Of course, what other sort of relationships can occur on an island populated only by women, but somehow that seems to surprise people.) Another notable Amazonian custom is the practice of rescuing and blessing girls from the world of men as Send Forths. This process is accomplished by the goddess Thetis, who brings baby girls who are lost at sea to Themyscira for healing. The Amazons bless the girls, making them honorary Amazons, before sending them back home through Thetis. But, perhaps, most important to the Wonder Woman mythos is the title itself. Though Diana herself will not be alive during the show, there could be a Wonder Woman. The title is given to the Amazons' greatest warrior. Oftentimes, competitions are held to determine who will be Wonder Woman. Whatever the show is about, it will certainly feature enough turmoil to justify a champion to claim the revered title.
The Origins of the Amazons
By the time of Diana’s story, Themyscira is a well-established and isolated society, but it wasn’t always that way. The earliest settlement of the Amazons was in the land that later became Turkey. This was in the time of Ancient Greece. The all-female city-state, also called Themyscira, came into ruin after Hercules attacked them. In one version, he steals Hippolyta’s magic girdle, given to her by Aphrodite, which prevents her from losing. Aphrodite, furious with Hippolyta for falling for Hercules' tricks, abandoned the woman, leaving them to be enslaved by men. Eventually, Hippolyta begged for help, and Aphrodite showed mercy, though she gave the condition that the Amazons leave their home for an island where no man can set foot. In another version, after Hercules attacks, Hippolyta asks Athena for help, who frees the Amazons on the condition that they don’t seek revenge. Both iterations of the story end with Hippolyta taking the Amazons to an island, where they founded the island nation from Diana’s story, naming it after their old home. But in the second version of the story, the Amazons did not leave together. Though Hippolyta left for a new civilization, her sister and sometimes fellow queen, Antiope, stayed behind with several other Amazons to seek revenge on Hercules.
Other Amazon Tribes Outside Themyscira
Eventually, the Amazons who followed Antiope settled a new city in Egypt, hidden from the world. Bana-Mighdall, as they called it, was full of Amazons, but their culture was different. They renounced the Greek gods, worshiping the Egyptian gods instead. Without their connection to the Olympians, the Bana-Mighdall Amazons didn’t receive the gift of immortality like their Themyscirian sisters. The Themyscirian Amazons consider the others barbaric, and when the two sects are eventually reunited (after Diana became Wonder Woman) there is much discord. One Amazon, Malaga, feeds the division and manipulates the two into an Amazonian civil war while Diana and Hippolyta are away.
Though this is eventually resolved, it is a result of the accumulating tension between the different groups of Amazons. Though the civil war itself happened after the timeframe of the upcoming show,Paradise Lostcould explore the fractured relationship between the two factions. A third group of Amazons broke away from the Bana-Mighdall Amazons to live in the Amazonian Rainforest. Founded by Atalanta, this group acknowledges gods from the Greek pantheon, the Egyptian gods of the Bana-Mighdall Amazons, and the Incan gods, who were worshiped in that region.
What to Expect From ‘Paradise Lost’
With the show set before Diana, it will have to center on other Amazons. Hippolyta and Antiope are almost guaranteed, asParadise Lostwas described asGame of Thrones-like, and certainly, political intrigue would involve the rulers of the Amazons. Atalanta and Philippus are likely candidates as well. The setting rules out the Wonder Girl characters, but otherwise, anything is possible. Most of the named Amazons are traditionally peers to Diana, but their immortality means they could appear.
While exactly what the series will be about is not released yet, Safran claimed the story would include “all the darkness and drama and political intrigue behind this society of only women.” Gunn went on to say that the show would answer questions like, “How did this society of women come about? What does it mean? What are their politics like? What are their rules? Who’s in charge? What are all the games that they play with each other to get to the top?” So the origins and divisions in Amazonian society seem likely to factor in. Whatever the case, the show will delve into details of the Amazons that are not often explored on screen, and the vague announcement has already piqued the interest of fans, which is a good sign for the series as a whole.
