First of all I should confess that I grew up as more of a Marvel fanboy than DC. Having said that the DC characters are seemingly more iconic and most have been around far longer the Stan Lee/Ditko characters of Marvel that primarily came about with the 1960's. The Batman and Superman (for example) date back to the late 1930's.
There is something to be said about the striking parallels between the core DC characters (i.e. the "Justice League") and ancient mythology... as in Athenian/Roman and even Egyptian:
Superman = Zeus/Jupiter & Apollo
Here you have the one that seems to be the leader, the all powerful, one of the oldest, takes to the skies and derives his power from the Sun? 'nuff said
the Batman = Hades/Pluto
Dark, gothic, strikes fear in others as a weapon, been around as long as Superman and dwells in an underground lair. Hmmm...
Wonder Woman = Athena & Hera
Although her namesake (Diana) would seem to imply the Goddess of the moon and the hunt - those attributes are more suitable to someone like the Huntress (basically Bat Woman). Instead you have Hera - the matriarch of the pantheon and (more appropriately) Athena the goddess of both wisdom and combat... the epitome of an Amazonian warrior-princess and ambassador.
the Flash = Hermes/Mercury
As if the speed and personality weren't clues enough... even his costume is a knock off to the god.
Aquaman = Poseidon/Neptune
Come on now - it doesn't get much more obvious than this connection.
the Green Lantern = ?
Now here is a much trickier one to connect to any mythological deity. Some might say Apollo once again or some ancient mystic... Basically you have someone than can do anything, is arguably more powerful than any other character (yes, including Kryptonians like Superman) and has evolved from being purely magical into a far more science-fiction/alien based being. I'm more inclined to make the leap at this point into the Egyptian pantheon (see "Hawkman/Hawkgirl" below) and draw a parallel between the Green Lantern and Amun/Atum-Ra or Ptah-Seker (both virtually omnipotent deities of creation and light via Ré). The jury's still out.
the Martian Manhunter = Ares/Mars
Ok... granted this was just a namesake connection here. Still Mars + Warrior? Plus the only MAJOR male deity from the pantheon missing? No?
the Black Canary = Circe/Sirens
Bit of a stretch I know - but a powerful voice is a powerful voice.
the Green Arrow = Artemis? Apollo? Pan?
God of archers? Ok, obviously he is a bit more of a Robin Hood knock off but one could bring up parallels to Pan, Artemis or Apollo (who was also a god of archery)...
Hawkman/Hawkgirl = Horus
Here is where we slightly go off the rails and venture from Greco-Roman into Egyptian territory. Still, a falcon/hawk headed god of war and vengeance would seem too close to deny.
the Huntress = Diana/Artemis
Although Wonder Woman goes by the namesake of Diana - it is the Huntress that actually hunts by the moonlight.
There are a few other significant members I excluded - mostly teen sidekick/female knock offs of already established characters (and I hate when they resort to that instead of creating all new, interesting female or ethnic characters)... like the various Robins or Supergirl. The biggest exclusions would be the Atom, Dr. Fate/Zatanna, Plastic Man/the Elongated Man and the Red Tornado. Not much to work with there.
There is something to be said about the striking parallels between the core DC characters (i.e. the "Justice League") and ancient mythology... as in Athenian/Roman and even Egyptian:
Superman = Zeus/Jupiter & Apollo
Here you have the one that seems to be the leader, the all powerful, one of the oldest, takes to the skies and derives his power from the Sun? 'nuff said
the Batman = Hades/Pluto
Dark, gothic, strikes fear in others as a weapon, been around as long as Superman and dwells in an underground lair. Hmmm...
Wonder Woman = Athena & Hera
Although her namesake (Diana) would seem to imply the Goddess of the moon and the hunt - those attributes are more suitable to someone like the Huntress (basically Bat Woman). Instead you have Hera - the matriarch of the pantheon and (more appropriately) Athena the goddess of both wisdom and combat... the epitome of an Amazonian warrior-princess and ambassador.
the Flash = Hermes/Mercury
As if the speed and personality weren't clues enough... even his costume is a knock off to the god.
Aquaman = Poseidon/Neptune
Come on now - it doesn't get much more obvious than this connection.
the Green Lantern = ?
Now here is a much trickier one to connect to any mythological deity. Some might say Apollo once again or some ancient mystic... Basically you have someone than can do anything, is arguably more powerful than any other character (yes, including Kryptonians like Superman) and has evolved from being purely magical into a far more science-fiction/alien based being. I'm more inclined to make the leap at this point into the Egyptian pantheon (see "Hawkman/Hawkgirl" below) and draw a parallel between the Green Lantern and Amun/Atum-Ra or Ptah-Seker (both virtually omnipotent deities of creation and light via Ré). The jury's still out.
the Martian Manhunter = Ares/Mars
Ok... granted this was just a namesake connection here. Still Mars + Warrior? Plus the only MAJOR male deity from the pantheon missing? No?
the Black Canary = Circe/Sirens
Bit of a stretch I know - but a powerful voice is a powerful voice.
the Green Arrow = Artemis? Apollo? Pan?
God of archers? Ok, obviously he is a bit more of a Robin Hood knock off but one could bring up parallels to Pan, Artemis or Apollo (who was also a god of archery)...
Hawkman/Hawkgirl = Horus
Here is where we slightly go off the rails and venture from Greco-Roman into Egyptian territory. Still, a falcon/hawk headed god of war and vengeance would seem too close to deny.
the Huntress = Diana/Artemis
Although Wonder Woman goes by the namesake of Diana - it is the Huntress that actually hunts by the moonlight.
There are a few other significant members I excluded - mostly teen sidekick/female knock offs of already established characters (and I hate when they resort to that instead of creating all new, interesting female or ethnic characters)... like the various Robins or Supergirl. The biggest exclusions would be the Atom, Dr. Fate/Zatanna, Plastic Man/the Elongated Man and the Red Tornado. Not much to work with there.
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