Hyppolyta

Hyppolyta in 971

"Hyppolyta" was a female gargoyle of the Wyvern Clan. She had no name, but Hyppolyta is used to identify her.

History

"Hyppolyta" hatched in 938. Her rookery siblings included Goliath, Demona, Othello, Desdemona, Iago, and Brooksbro. When the Wyvern Clan formed an alliance with Prince Malcolm's people in 971, Hyppolyta was angered at Mentor for commanding that she and her generation stay out of the battle. When the fighting began, she disobeyed orders and headed into battle (followed by her sister Demona). ("The Reach") [1][2]

Hyppolyta may have felt that Goliath's promotion to leader of the Wyvern Clan in 984 was unwise or unfair, and she argued with Demona on a regular basis over the matter. She died in the Wyvern Massacre of 994, smashed by the Vikings. [3]

Characteristics

"Hyppolyta" is a biological daughter of Hudson and his mate and biological sister to Broadway and True. She was a "fine strong warrior. Fierce in battle. She was not unintelligent." Physically, she is tall, hairless, having light brown skin and burnt-red wings, and possessing two brow ridges running from above her eyes to behind her pointed ears. [4] The coloring and brow ridges seem to have come from her biological father, Hudson, while the hairlessness seems to have been a trait from her biological mother.

Real World Background

Hyppolyta — whose name obviously would not have been an official one in the 10th century — is evidently named after Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons in Greek mythology. One of the twelve labors of Heracles was to seize her girdle from her, which he did, although at the cost of Hippolyta's life. However, the most likely "immediate inspiration" for Hyppolyta's name, from Greg Weisman's standpoint, was that of a second Hippolyta, more accurately known as Antiope, who was Theseus' wife (and who appears alongside him in A Midsummer Night's Dream). Weisman has speculated that "Hippolyta" was a title for the Amazon Queen, rather than an actual name. [5]

Production Background

Greg Weisman first revealed Broadway's oldest biological sister online in September 2000. [6][7][8] Much like "Othello", "Desdomona", and "Iago", "Hyppolyta" is a placeholder name for Goliath's rookery sister. [9] In 2006, during the early days of the SLG Gargoyles run, Greg wrote a short piece on the character, one that might later be incorporated in a future issue. [10] She appears in the spin-off, Gargoyles: Dark Ages.