Scans_Daily

The ancient Greeks had a serious fetish for Amazons. Early on, the Greeks invented myths about strong women like Atalanta. Then, as their trade network expanded, they heard of these scary Scythian peoples who lived on the east shore of the Black Sea. Scythians were feared by all their non-nomadic neighbours because of their prowess in battle (cavalry with bows and arrows trumps footsoldiers with swords and spears), and because, unnervingly for the deeply sexist Greeks, their armies consisted of both men and women. The Greeks glommed onto these warrior women, big time. I'll leave the psychoanalysis of why they found stories of warrior women so compelling that they made them the subject of endless poems and scenes on pottery, to those more qualified. ( more blather about the real amazons )

Which brings us to Olive Byrne, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, and William Marston, who, under the pen name Charles Moulton, together created the character Wonder Woman. The three of them were feminists of the old (as in 19th century) school. They deemed women different from men in ways that made them better suited to rule the household and the nation. Therefore women deserved to be given political power so that they could steer the nations of the world onto the correct course. They wanted to write comic book propaganda that would teach girls that they were powerful and worthy to run things, and teach boys that they would all be happier and better off if they allowed their sisters and (later on) girl friends to have power over them.

They needed their heroine to be an outsider, so she could show the reader how wrong and foolish American sex roles were. So, they dusted off those myths about warrior women in ancient Greece and made Wonder Woman an Amazon. Which brings me, finally, to the scans: ( Warning, bad mythology next 500 meters )