DIONE
Real Name:
Dione
Occupation:
Goddess of fertility
Legal Status:
Citizen of Olympus
Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of the existence of Dione except as a mythological character.
Other Aliases:
Dionae (Latin spelling)
Place of Birth:
Marital Status: Married
Known Relatives:
Ouranus (father, deceased), Gaea
(mother), Hyperion,
Japetus,
Oceanus,
Ophion,
Coeus,
Crius,
Cronus (brothers),
Phoebe,
Theia, Themis,
Tethys,
Rhea, Mnemosyne
(sisters), Zeus
(second husband/nephew), Poseidon,
Hades, Helios
(nephews), Hera,
Demeter, Aurora,
Selene (nieces),
Aphrodite
(daughter), Hephaestus
(son-in-law), Harmonia
(granddaughter), Cupid,
Deimos, Phobos (grandsons),
Group Affiliations: The Gods of Olympus
Base of Operations: Olympus, formerly Dodonna near Corfu (modern Kerkeira)
First Appearance: (unnamed) Thor I #301
History: Dione is a member of an other-dimensional race of beings called the Titans who were once worshipped as gods by the races of Ancient Greece. The Titans were the off-spring of the primeval sky-god Ouranus and the earth-goddess Gaea. For centuries after the end of the Hyborian Age, the Titans controlled much of the Mediterranean area around what would be modern Greece, Italy and Turkey, rivaled only by the Anunnaki of Mesopotamia to the east and the Ennead of Egypt south of the Mediterranean. Gaea, however, asked from among the Titans an heir who would overthrow Ouranus as king of the gods in order to release her other children imprisoned in the other-dimensional realm of Tartarus, the most dismal section of the underworld known as Hades. Ouranus' youngest son, Cronus, took up a scythe under Gaea's instructions to overthrow Ouranus, and overthrew him by fatally injuring him. The dying Ouranus prophesied that Cronus would likewise be overthrown by one of his children. As a result, upon the birth of his own children, Cronus had the infant imprisoned in Tartarus along with his brethren there who he reneged on releasing.
Appalled at the mistreatment of her children, Cronus's wife Rhea concealed her sixth pregnancy from him. The male infant named Zeus was born and raised on Earth safeguarded by Gaea, Dione and several of the female Titans. As an adult, Zeus took Dione as his eighth wife. Zeus freed from Tartarus his siblings now all grown to adulthood along with Gaea's other children, three one-eyed giants called the Cyclopes and three hundred handed giants called the Hecatocheiroi, who sided with Zeus against the Titans. Zeus and his allies fought a ten-year war with the Titans, which ended with Zeus's victory. He imprisoned most of the male Titans in Tartarus and established himself from Mount Olympus in Thessaly as supreme ruler of the Olympian race. In later years, he relocated the realm of the Olympian Gods to a separate plane of existence away from earth, but a portal to this dimension remained anchored near Mount Olympus on Earth.
Zeus's wife, Hera, in her role as Queen of Olympus, however, did not want to be reminded of her husband's extra-marital affairs and banished several of his other wives from Olympus. Dione departed Olympus and took refuge on the island of Cythera where her daughter Aphrodite by Zeus was born. Aphrodite was spirited off to the island of Cyprus to hide her from Hera where she was discovered by Hermes and accepted into the Olympian gods. Both Cythera and Cyprus became subsequently centers of worship for Aphrodite.
Dione later received custody of Zeus's oracle at Dodonna, the most important of his temples on Earth. the temple was visited by both Greeks and non-Greeks because of the precision of the prophecies told there. Both Homer and Hesiod of the Greek poets visited there, but the invading Aetolians devastated the temple in the Third Century BC, driving Dione to retreat for the confines of Mount Olympus. The temple was partially restored in the Nineteenth Century.
In recent years, Dione has survived several attacks on Olympus
by both her brother, Cronus,
trying to restore the Titans to power and by the Dark Gods in an effort to
cement their dominion over the Asgardian
gods, known allies of the Olympians. Olympus was subsequently devastated by Mikaboshi,
the Japanese god of evil, rendering it uninhabitable. Many of the Olympians
retreated to Earth into mortal guises behind the facade of the Olympus
Corporation in New York City. Whether this is what has befallen Dione is
unrevealed. 
Height: 6' 0"
Weight: 330 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Strength Level: Dione possesses superhuman strength enabling her to
lift (press) 50 tons under optimal conditions.
Known Superhuman Powers: Dione possesses the conventional physical attributes
of the Olympian gods. Like all Olympians, she is immortal: she has not aged since
reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. She is immune to all
Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If she were somehow
wounded, her godly life force would enable her to recover with superhuman speed. It
would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of her
bodily molecules to cause her a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for
a god of significant power, such as Zeus, Odin or for a number of
Olympian of equal power working together to revive her. Dione also possesses
superhuman strength and her Olympian metabolism provides her with far greater than
human endurance in all physical activities. (Olympian flesh and bone is about three
times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the Olympians' superhuman
strength and weight.)
Dione also has some abilities to tap into and manipulate
inherent mystical energies in the universe. While her exact level of power is
unknown, it is known that she can move through dimensions, such as through the
dimensional barriers between Earth and Olympus. She can send her voice and
image over time and space, appear in a gigantic state, control the weather and
cast spells upon objects and living things. She has extraordinary precognitive
abilities, allowing her to see future events and possible alternate futures,
discerning which events are most likely to occur. The full range of her power is
unknown, but she may at least be equal to such female gods as Hera and
Aphrodite.
Comments: Dione has yet to appear in the Marvel or DC Universes.
Dione is identified by Homer as a Titan in the Iliad; Hesiod however describes her as an Oceanide and the wife of Tantalus while declaring Aphrodite to be "foam-born."
In Graeco-Roman Mythology, Aphrodite is equated with Ishtar,
the Sumerian goddess of fertility. Neither of their mothers, Dione or Asherah, have much of a role in their native
mythologies. In Greek myth, Dione is considered not much more than the female
counterpart of Zeus and the mother of Aphrodite. Like Dione, Asherah is also considered the female counterpart of
Anu, Zeus's
Sumerian counterpart. Neither character has much of a role in either pantheon
inasmuch as a definitive place in their respective family trees or a strong
identity.
Clarifications: Dione is not to be
confused with:
Last updated: 05/08/11