Wonder Woman - The Hiketeia

[cyberghostface]

 

1/3 of a graphic novel.





We learn a bit about the Hiketeia which is an ancient Greek ritual in one which is honor-bound to take care of another.





In Gotham City...





The young woman eludes Batman by jumping into the river.







The Furies (or Erinyes) wait outside and Wonder Woman confronts them, thinking that they're for Danielle.





Batman later appears to Diana, looking for Danny.





Diana kicks Bats out and tells him he's not welcome. Later, Danny begs her to make her tell her what happened and why she killed the men. It turns out her sister had arrived in New York to become famous and fell in with a group of very bad men.







Diana wakes up to find the girl gone and the Erinyes in her room. They tell her she fled to the bridge.



Wonder Woman arrives to stop him.







She says even if she had accepted his offer she wouldn't let him take Danny. He responds that she wouldn't be able to stop him either. During this time, Danny has fled to the edge of the bridge.

Comments

More than just that

[blue_bolt]

And Wonder Woman just agreeing to a sacrosanct ritual with someone she knows nothing about.

The Wonder Woman I know would have asked, "who are you? Who are you running from? And why are they after you?"

Re: More than just that

[ozaline]

Couple of points for and against after a smattering of research...

http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/dlevine/Oxford7.html


A. A person in trouble could seek protection in a sanctuary, but anonymous stay was not tolerated.

B. In order to receive the protection of a sanctuary, a person had to appear openly and explanation his reason for coming.

...

C. "Rejecting a person begging for protection counted as a sacrilege."


So according to this Wonder Woman in her role as an ambassador capable of giving asylum could not refuse, but the supplicant would have to explain their reasons.

I can see dropping the former condition for the sake of the drama of the story, as when I read this I assumed Diana HAD to comply, and was only able to reject Batman cause he was doing it wrong.

I actually rather like this story.

Re: More than just that

[blue_bolt]

You actually took the time to gather information and analyze it to create a sound conclusion....

I love this community

Re: More than just that

[jlbarnett]

but she didn't explain her reasons for going there. They even point it out. And I imagine you could reject Hiketeia but still offer sanctuary

Re: More than just that

[ozaline]

Right, that's why I'm saying that rule was ignored for the sake of drama. But yeah the basic run down there if I understand correctly is if you were in position to accept Hiketeia you had to (though often the priests would later break it by saying an Oracle told them to, of course Diana wouldn't do that).

Re: More than just that

[mastermahan]

I really like the concept of the story. Bruce and Diana are both serving the cause of Law and Justice in this story, except they have different interpretations of what's just. Which makes complete sense, when Wonder Woman is from a very different society than Batman. The execution loses a bit getting everyone into position, but it's still a good read.

Also, serious kudos for the research, Ozaline!