Asteria (mythology)
A name shared by multiple figures in Greek mythology.
Asteria is a name in Greek mythology that was attributed to several distinct individuals, including a minor goddess who became the island Ortygia or Delos. The name appears across various myths, often associated with transformation or notable lineage.
Quick Facts
- Parents (goddess)
- Phoebe and Coeus
- Sibling (goddess)
- Leto
- Daughter of helios
- Asteria or Astris, by Clymene or Ceto
- Husband (heliades)
- Hydaspes
- Son (heliades)
- Deriades
- Father (alcyonides)
- Alcyoneus
- Transformation (alcyonides)
- Into halcyons by Amphitrite
Facts from the source article.
Individuals
Asteria, a minor goddess and daughter of Phoebe and Coeus, was sister to Leto and became the island Ortygia or Delos. One of the Danaïdes, Asteria was briefly the bride of Chaetus before murdering him. Among the Alcyonides, daughters of the giant Alcyoneus, Asteria and her sisters threw themselves into the sea after their father was slain by Heracles and were transformed into halcyons by Amphitrite. Asteria, daughter of Hydeus, was mother of Hydissos by Bellerophon. Asteria or Asterodia was mother of Crisus and Panopeus by Phocus. Additional figures named Asteria include a daughter of Teucer and Eune of Cyprus, the ninth Amazon killed by Heracles, and an Athenian maiden among the Minotaur's would-be sacrificial victims.
In popular culture
Christoph Willibald Gluck gave the name Asteria to a character in his 1765 opera Telemaco, though the name did not appear in Homer's Odyssey. Multiple characters named Asteria appear in the DC Universe and the DC Extended Universe. Asteria first appeared in the 1998 one-shot Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl; her origin or background is not touched upon, but she does seem to be of Amazon stock. Another version appeared in 2018 issues Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth Special #1 and Justice League #11, where Asteria is a two-headed metallic bird; Wonder Woman later informs Aquaman that the name belonged to an ancient Amazonian who fought against the gods, meaning 'of the sky'. In the 2020 film Wonder Woman 1984, Asteria is portrayed by Lynda Carter as the greatest Amazon warrior who fought for freedom while the Amazons escaped to Themyscira; a post-credits sequence shows her saving a pedestrian. Asteria is also the codename of the Chapter 4 map in Fortnite Battle Royale, continuing the trend of maps named after Greek deities starting with 'A'.
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