From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
Golden Girdle of Gaea
is a
fictional
object depicted in the
DC Comics
book
Wonder Woman
. Originally created by
William Moulton Marston
as the
Magic Girdle of Aphrodite
[1]
from its tradition as originating from the
Girdle of Aphrodite
or Venus as an allegory for the power of women's allure, it is based on the mythological
girdle
obtained by
Heracles
from
Hippolyte
as part of his
Twelve Labors
.
Comic book history
[
edit
]
Originally when the
Themyscirian
Amazons
were created by the
Olympian gods
, they assigned
Hippolyta
and
Antiope
to rule as co-queens to the new nation. When they assigned these titles they gave each of the Amazon queens a Golden Girdle of Gaea, which were made from the original girdle belonging to the Earth goddess
Gaea
. The belts provided the two queens with enhanced strength and heightened their other abilities.
[2]
Eventually the demi-god
Heracles
was successful in stealing Hippolyta's belt at the urging of his half-brother
Ares
. After denouncing the Olympian gods for perceived false judgement, Antiope gave Hippolyta her girdle and left the Amazon nation with a group of faithful Amazons with her. They later became the Amazons of
Bana-Mighdall
. Together they retrieved Hippolyta's stolen belt and kept it as an heirloom.
Thousands of years later when
Wonder Woman
discovered this lost tribe of Amazons, she battled one of their warriors named
Shim'Tar
. Shim'Tar used the power of the Girdle of Gaea to defeat Diana. She would have been successful had the Olympian god
Hermes
not come to Diana's aid. After Shim'Tar was defeated Diana took the belt and returned it to her mother Hippolyta.
Similarly, the belt given to Hippolyta by Antiope was taken from Hippolyta by the goddess
Hestia
and transformed into Wonder Woman's
Lasso of Truth
.
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]