In Greek tradition, Artemis is the daughter ofZeus andLeto, and twin sister ofApollo. In most accounts, the twins are the products of an extramarital liaison. For this, Zeus's wifeHera forbade Leto from giving birth anywhere on solid land. Only the island ofDelos gave refuge to Leto, allowing her to give birth to her children. In one account, Artemis is born first and then proceeds to assist Leto in the birth of the second twin, Apollo.[4]
Artemis was akourotrophic (child-nurturing) deity, being the patron and protector of young children, especially young girls. Artemis was worshipped as one of the primary goddesses of childbirth and midwifery along withEileithyia and Hera. She was also a patron of healing and disease, particularly among women and children, and was believed to send both good health and illness upon women and children. Artemis was one of the three majorvirgin goddesses, alongsideAthena andHestia. Artemis preferred to remain an unmarriedmaiden and was one of the three Greek goddesses over whomAphrodite had no power.[5]
In myth and literature, Artemis is presented as a hunting goddess of the woods, surrounded by her chaste band of nymphs. In the myth ofActaeon, when the young hunter sees her bathing naked, he is transformed into a deer by the angered goddess and is then devoured by his own hunting dogs, who do not recognize their master. In the story ofCallisto, the girl is driven away from Artemis's company after breaking her vow of virginity, having lain with and been impregnated by Zeus. In theEpic tradition, Artemis halted the winds blowing the Greek ships during theTrojan War, stranding the Greek fleet inAulis, after KingAgamemnon, the leader of the expedition, shot and killed her sacred deer. Artemis demanded the sacrifice ofIphigenia, Agamemnon's young daughter, as compensation for her slain deer. In most versions, when Iphigenia is led to the altar to be offered as a sacrifice, Artemis pities her and takes her away, leaving a deer in her place. In the war that followed, Artemis supported the Trojans against the Greeks, and she challenged Hera in battle.
Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities; her worship spread throughout ancient Greece, with her multiple temples, altars, shrines, and local veneration found everywhere in the ancient world. Her greattemple atEphesus was one of theSeven Wonders of the Ancient World, before it was burnt to the ground. Artemis's symbols included a bow and arrow, a quiver, and hunting knives, and thedeer and thecypress were sacred to her. Diana, her Romanequivalent, was especially worshipped on theAventine Hill inRome, nearLake Nemi in theAlban Hills, and inCampania.[6]
Artémis (Diane), the huntress. Roman copy of a Greek statue, 2nd century. Galleria dei Candelabri -Vatican Museums
The name "Artemis" (n.,f.) is of unknown or uncertain etymology,[7][8] although various sources have been proposed.R.S.P. Beekes suggested that thee/i interchange points to aPre-Greek origin.[9] Artemis was venerated inLydia asArtimus.[10][11]: 213–214 Georgios Babiniotis, while accepting that the etymology is unknown, also states that the name is already attested in Mycenean Greek and is possibly of pre-Greek origin.[8]
The name may be related toGreekárktos "bear" (fromPIE *h₂ŕ̥tḱos), supported by the bear cult the goddess had inAttica (Brauronia) and theNeolithic remains at theArkoudiotissa Cave, as well as the story of Callisto, which was originally about Artemis (Arcadian epithetkallisto);[12] this cult was a survival of very old totemic and shamanistic rituals and formed part of a largerbear cult found further afield in otherIndo-European cultures (e.g., GaulishArtio). It is believed that a precursor of Artemis was worshipped inMinoan Crete as the goddess of mountains and hunting,Britomartis. While connection withAnatolian names has been suggested,[13][14][15] the earliest attested forms of the name Artemis are theMycenaean Greek𐀀𐀳𐀖𐀵,a-te-mi-to /Artemitos/ (gen.) and𐀀𐀴𐀖𐀳,a-ti-mi-te /Artimitei/ (dat.), written inLinear B atPylos.[16][17][9]
According toJ. T. Jablonski, the name is alsoPhrygian and could be "compared with the royal appellationArtemas ofXenophon".[18]Charles Anthon argued that the primitive root of the name is probably of Persian origin from *arta, *art, *arte, all meaning "great, excellent, holy", thus Artemis "becomes identical with the great mother of Nature, even as she was worshiped at Ephesus".[18] Anton Goebel "suggests the rootστρατ orῥατ, 'to shake', and makes Artemis mean the thrower of the dart or the shooter".[19]
Ancient Greek writers, by way offolk etymology, and some modern scholars, have linked Artemis (DoricArtamis) toἄρταμος,artamos, i.e. "butcher"[20][21] or, likePlato did inCratylus, toἀρτεμής,artemḗs, i.e. "safe", "unharmed", "uninjured", "pure", "the stainless maiden".[19][18][22] A. J. van Windekens tried to explain bothἀρτεμής and Artemis fromἀτρεμής,atremḗs, meaning "unmoved, calm; stable, firm" viametathesis.[23][24]
Artemis as Mistress of Animals,Parian pottery, 675–600 BCE. Hypothetical restoration (only some parts have been preserved).Archaeological Museum of Mykonos.
Artemis is presented as a goddess who delights in hunting and punishes harshly those who cross her. Artemis's wrath is proverbial and represents the hostility of wild nature to humans.[2]Homer calls herπότνια θηρῶν, "the mistress of animals", a title associated with representations in art going back as far as theBronze Age, showing a woman between a pair of animals.[25] Artemis carries with her certain functions and characteristics of aMinoan form whose history was lost in the myths.[26]
In some cults she retains the theriomorphic form of a Pre-Greek goddess who was conceived with the shape of a bear (άρκτοςárktos: bear).Kallisto inArcadia is a hypostasis of Artemis with the shape of a bear, and her cults atBrauron and atPiraeus (Munichia) are remarkable for thearkteia where virgin girls before marriage were disguised as she-bears.[29][30]
The ancient Greeks calledpotnia theron the representation of the goddess between animals; on a Greek vase fromcirca 570 BCE, a winged Artemis stands between a spotted panther and a deer.[31] "Potnia theron" is very close to thedaimons and this differentiates her from the other Greek divinities. This is the reason that Artemis was later identified withHecate, since the daimons were tutelary deities. Hecate was the goddess of crossroads and she was the queen of the witches.[32]
Minoan seal fromKnossos. A goddess flanked by two lionesses, probably the "Mother of the Mountains", in the presence of her consort or the dedicant.
Laphria is the Pre-Greek "mistress of the animals" atDelphi andPatras. There was a custom to throw live animals into the annual fire of the fest.[33] The festival atPatras was introduced fromCalydon and this relates Artemis to the GreekheroineAtalanta who symbolizes freedom and independence.[34] Other epithets that relate Artemis to the animals areAmarynthia andKolainis.[30]
In theHomeric poems Artemis is mainly the goddess of hunting, because it was the most important sport inMycenean Greece. An almost formulaic epithet used in theIliad andOdyssey to describe her isἰοχέαιραiocheaira, "she who shoots arrows", often translated as "she who delights in arrows" or "she who showers arrows".[35] She is called ArtemisChrysilakatos, of the golden shafts, orChrysinios, of the golden reins, as a goddess of hunting in her chariot.[36][30] TheHomeric Hymn 27 to Artemis paints this picture of the goddess:
I sing of Artemis, whose shafts are of gold, who cheers on the hounds, the pure maiden, shooter of stags, who delights in archery, own sister to Apollo with the golden sword. Over the shadowy hills and windy peaks she draws her golden bow, rejoicing in the chase, and sends out grievous shafts. The tops of the high mountains tremble and the tangled wood echoes awesomely with the outcry of beasts: earthquakes and the sea also where fishes shoal.
According to the beliefs of the firstGreeks inArcadia Artemis is the firstnymph, a goddess of free nature. She is an independent free woman, and she does not need any partner. She is hunting surrounded by hernymphs.[38] This idea of freedom and women's skill is expressed in many Greek myths.[34]
Artemis pouring a libation. Attic white-ground lekythos, c. 460–450 BCE. From Eretria. c. 460-450 BCE. Attributed toBowdoin Painter.Louvre, Paris
InPeloponnese the temples of Artemis were built near springs, rivers and marshes. Artemis was closely related to the waters and especially toPoseidon, the god of the waters. Her common epithets areLimnnaia,Limnatis (relation to waters) andPotamia andAlphaea (relation to rivers). In some cults she is the healer goddess of women with the surnamesLousia andThermia.[39]
Artemis is the leader of the nymphs (Hegemone) and she is hunting surrounded by them.[40] The nymphs appear during the festival of the marriage, and they are appealed by the pregnant women.[41] Artemis became goddess of marriage and childbirth. She was worshipped with the surnameEucleia in several cities.[39] Women consecrated clothes to Artemis for a happy childbirth and she had the epithetsLochia andLecho.[42]
TheDorians interpreted Artemis mainly as goddess of vegetation who was worshipped in an orgiastic cult with lascivious dances, with the common epithetsOrthia,Korythalia andDereatis.[43] The female dancers wore masks and were famous in antiquity. The goddess of vegetation was also related to the tree-cult with temples near the holy trees and the surnamesApanchomene,Caryatis andCedreatis.[44]
According to Greek beliefs the image of a god or a goddess gave signs or tokens and had divine and magic powers. With these conceptions she was worshipped asTauria (theTauric, goddess),[45]Aricina (Italy) andAnaitis (Lydia). In the bucolic (pastoral) songs the image of the goddess was discovered in bundles of leaves or dry sticks and she had the surnamesLygodesma andPhakelitis.[46]
Scene from sacrifice in honour of Artemis-Diana who is accompanied by a deer. Fresco from the triclinium of the house of Vettii inPompeii, Italy, between 62 CE and 79 CE (Destruction of Pompeii).
In theEuropean folklore, a wild hunter is chasing anelfish woman who falls in the water. In the Greek myths the hunter is chasing a female deer (doe) and both disappear into the waters. In relation to these myths Artemis was worshipped asSaronia andStymphalia. The myth of a goddess who is chased and then falls in the sea is related to the cults ofAphaea andDiktynna.[30]
Artemis carrying torches was identified withHecate and she had the surnamesPhosphoros andSelasphoros.[47] InAthens andTegea, she was worshipped as ArtemisKalliste, "the most beautiful".[48] Sometimes the goddess had the name of anAmazon likeLyceia (with a helmet of a wolf-skin) andMolpadia. The female warriors Amazons embody the idea of freedom and women's independence.[49]
In spite of her status as a virgin who avoided potential lovers, there are multiple references to Artemis's beauty and erotic aspect;[50] in theOdyssey,Odysseus comparesNausicaa to Artemis in terms of appearance when trying to win her favor,Libanius, when praising the city of Antioch, wrote that Ptolemy was smitten by the beauty of (the statue of) Artemis;[51] whereas her mother Leto often took pride in her daughter's beauty.[52][53] She has several stories surrounding her where men such as Actaeon, Orion, and Alpheus tried to couple with her forcibly, only to be thwarted or killed. Ancient poets note Artemis's height and imposing stature, as she stands taller and more impressive than all the nymphs accompanying her.[53][54]
Artemis is rooted to the less developed personality of theMycenean goddess of nature. The goddess of nature was concerned with birth and vegetation and had certainchthonic aspects. The Mycenean goddess was related to theMinoan mistress of the animals, who can be traced later in local cults,[55] however we do not know to what extent we can differentiate the Minoan from the Mycenean religion.[56] Artemis carries with her certain functions and characteristics of a Minoan form whose history was lost in the myths.[55] According to the beliefs of the firstGreeks inArcadia, Artemis is the firstnymph, a divinity of free nature. She was a great goddess and her temples were built near springs marshes and rivers where the nymphs live, and they are appealed by the pregnant women.[57] In Greek religion we must see less tractable elements which have nothing to do with theOlympians, but come from an old, less organized world–exorcisms, rituals to raise crops, gods and goddesses conceived not quite in human shape. Some cults of Artemis retained the pre-Greek features which were consecrated by immemorial practices and connected with daily tasks. Artemis shows sometimes the wild and darker side of her character and can bring immediate death with her arrows, however she embodies the idea of "the free nature" which was introduced by the first Greeks.[58] TheDorians came later in the area, probably fromEpirus and the goddess of nature was mostly interpreted as a vegetation goddess who was related to the ecstatic Minoan tree-cult. She was worshipped in orgiastic cults with lascivious and sometimes obscene dances, which have pureGreek elements introduced by the Dorians.[59] The feminine (sometimes male) dancers wore usually masks, and they were famous in the antiquity. The great popularity of Artemis corresponds to the Greek belief in freedom[60] and she is mainly the goddess of women and children. The goddess of free nature is independent and celibate.[61]: 227–229 Artemis is frequently depicted carrying a torch and she was occasionally identified withHecate. Like other Greek deities, she hada number of other names applied to her, reflecting the variety of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to the goddess.[62][42]
Leto bore Apollo and Artemis, delighting in arrows, Both of lovely shape like none of the heavenly gods, As she joined in love to theAegis-bearing ruler.
— Hesiod,Theogony, lines 918–920 (written in the 7th century BCE)
Leto on the run with Artemis and Apollo, Roman statue circa 350–400 CE
Various conflicting accounts are given in Greek mythology regarding the birth of Artemis and Apollo, her twin brother. In terms of parentage, though, all accounts agree that she was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and that she was the twin sister of Apollo. In some sources, she is born at the same time as Apollo; but in others, earlier or later.[6]
Although traditionally stated to be twins, the author ofTheHomeric Hymn 3 to Apollo (the oldest extant account of Leto's wandering and birth of her children) is only concerned with the birth of Apollo, and sidelines Artemis;[63] in fact in the Homeric Hymn they are not stated to be twins at all.
It is a slightly later poet,Pindar, who speaks of a single pregnancy.[64] The two earliest poets,Homer andHesiod, confirm Artemis and Apollo's status as full siblings born to the same mother and father, but neither explicitly makes them twins.[65]
According toCallimachus, Hera, who was angry with her husband Zeus for impregnating Leto, forbade her from giving birth on eitherterra firma (the mainland) or on an island, but the island ofDelos disobeyed and allowed Leto to give birth there; this rooted the once freely floating island to one place.
Latona with her children Apollo and Diana, oil painting,Anton Raphael Mengs, 1769
Ascholium ofServius onAeneid iii. 72 accounts for the island's archaic name Ortygia[69] by asserting that Zeus transformed Leto into aquail (ortux) to prevent Hera from finding out about his infidelity, andKenneth McLeish suggested further that in quail form, Leto would have given birth with as few birth-pains as a mother quail suffers when she lays an egg.[70]
The myths also differ as to whether Artemis was born first, or Apollo. Most stories depict Artemis as firstborn, becoming her mother'smidwife upon the birth of her brother Apollo.Servius, a late fourth/early fifth-century grammarian, wrote that Artemis was born first because at first it was night, whose instrument is the Moon, which Artemis represents, and then day, whose instrument is the Sun, which Apollo represents.[71]Pindar however writes that both twins shone like the Sun when they came into the bright light.[72]
After their troubling childbirth, Leto took the twin infants and crossed over toLycia, in the southwest corner ofAsia Minor, where she tried to drink from and bathe the babies in a spring she found there. However, the localLycian peasants tried to prevent the twins and their mother from making use of the water by stirring up the muddy bottom of the spring, so the three of them could not drink it. Leto, in her anger that the impious Lycians had refused to offer hospitality to a fatigued mother and her thirsty infants, transformed them all into frogs, forever doomed to swim and hop around the spring.[73]
The rape of Leto by Tityos: Apollo (left), tries to grasp Tityos, Leto (middle) pushes him and Artemis (right), ready to stop him. Attic red-figure amphora from Vulci. c. 510–520 BCE, byPhintias Painter.Louvre, Paris.
The invention of archery itself is credited to Artemis and Apollo. When the giantTityos tried to rape Leto, she called out to her children, who were still young, for help. The twins were quick to respond by raining down their arrows on Tityos, killing him.[74] For his actions against Leto, Tityos was banished to Tartarus, where he was pegged to the rock floor and stretched on an area of 9 acres (36,000 m2), while a pair of vultures feasted daily on his liver[75] or his heart.[76]
The twin sons ofPoseidon andIphimedeia,Otos andEphialtes, grew enormously at a young age. They were aggressive and skilled hunters who could not be killed except by each other. The growth of theAloadae never stopped, and they boasted that as soon as they could reach heaven, they would kidnap Artemis and Hera and take them as wives. The gods were afraid of them, except for Artemis who captured a fine deer that jumped out between them. In another version of the story, she changed herself into a doe and jumped between them.[6] The Aloadae threw theirspears and so mistakenly killed one another. In another version, Apollo sent the deer into the Aloadae's midst, causing their accidental killing of each other.[6] In another version, the Aloadae start pilling up mountains to reach Mount Olympus in order to catchHera and Artemis, but the gods spot them and attack. When the twins had retreated the gods learnt thatAres had been captured. The Aloadae, not sure about what to do with Ares, lock him up in a pot. Artemis then turns into a deer and causes them to kill each other.
According toDiodorus,Britomartis was a nymph and a huntress known for her use of nets, for which she became a beloved companion of Artemis.Minos, king ofCrete and a half-brother of Artemis, took interest in Britomartis and pursued her for nine months. Britomartis continually fled his advances, and to escape, she at last leapt into the sea (possibly from Mount Dikte) and landed in fishermen's nets. She became entangled but was rescued by Artemis, who then made her a goddess.[77]
Artemis (left) and Apollo try to get theCeryneian Hind from Heracles. Detail of an Attic black-figure amphora c. 530–520 BCE.Louvre, Paris
Eurystheus commandedHeracles to catch theCeryneian hind in the hope that it would enrage Artemis and lead her to punish the hero for his desecration of her sacred animal. The Cerynian hind used to be thePleiadTaygete, known as the "Mistress of Animals" and a dear companion of Artemis. One day, Zeus pursued Taygete, who invoked her protectress, who in turn saved her from her father by turning her into the hind.[78] As Heracles was returning with the hind to present it to Eurystheus, he encountered Artemis and her brother Apollo. He begged the goddess for forgiveness, explaining that he had snared the hind as part of his penance, but promised to return it to the wild soon thereafter. Convinced by Heracles's earnestness, she forgave him, foiling Eurystheus's plan.
The river godAlpheus was in love with Artemis, but as he realized he could do nothing to win her heart, he decided to capture her. When Artemis and her companions atLetrenoi go to Alpheus, she becomes suspicious of his motives and covers her face with mud so he does not recognize her. In another story, Alphaeus tries to rape Artemis's attendantArethusa. Artemis pities the girl and saves her, transforming her into a spring in the templeArtemis Alphaea in Letrini, where the goddess and her attendants drink.
According toAntoninus Liberalis,Siproites was aCretan who was metamorphized into a woman by Artemis for having seen the goddess bathing while he was hunting.[79] Artemis similarly changed a Calydonian man namedCalydon, the son of Ares andAstynome, into stone when he saw the goddess bathing naked.[80]
Daphnis was a young boy, a son ofHermes, who was accepted by and became a follower of the goddess Artemis; Daphnis would often accompany her in hunting and entertain her with his singing of pastoral songs and playing of thepanpipes.[81]
Artemis taught a man,Scamandrius, how to be a great archer, and he excelled in the use of a bow and arrow with her guidance.[82]
Bouphagos, son of theTitanIapetus, sees Artemis and thinks about raping her. Reading his sinful thoughts, Artemis strikes him down atMount Pholoe.
Broteas was a famous hunter who refused to honour Artemis, and boasted that nothing could harm him, not even fire. Artemis then drove him mad, causing him towalk into fire, ending his life.[83]
Artemis drives a chariot drawn by a team of deer next to the dying Actaeon. Attic red-figure volute crater, c. 450–440 BCE by the Painter of the Wooly Satyrs.Louvre, Paris.
Multiple versions of theActaeon myth survive, though many are fragmentary. The details vary but at the core, they involve the great hunter Actaeon whom Artemis turns into astag for a transgression, and who is then killed by hunting dogs.[84][85] Usually, the dogs are his own, but no longer recognize their master. Occasionally they are said to be the hounds of Artemis.
Various tellings diverge in terms of the hunter's transgression: sometimes merely seeing the virgin goddess naked, sometimes boasting he is a better hunter than she,[86] or even merely being a rival of Zeus for the affections ofSemele. Apollodorus, who records the Semele version, notes that the ones with Artemis are more common.[87]
According to Lamar Ronald Lacey'sThe Myth of Aktaion: Literary and Iconographic Studies, the standard modern text on the work, the most likely original version of the myth portrays Actaeon as the hunting companion of the goddess who, seeing her naked in her sacred spring, attempts to force himself on her. For thishubris, he is turned into a stag and devoured by his own hounds. However, in some surviving versions, Actaeon is a stranger who happens upon Artemis.
Mosaic depictingDiana and hernymph surprised byActaeon.Mosaic, 2nd century CE Ruins ofVolubilis, Morocco
A single line fromAeschylus's now lost playToxotides ("female archers") is among the earlier attestations of Actaeon's myth, stating that "the dogs destroyed their master utterly", with no confirmation of Actaeon's metamorphosis or the god he offended (but it is heavily implied to be Artemis, due to the title).[88] Ancient artwork depicting the myth of Actaeon predate Aeschylus.[89]: 264 Euripides, coming in a bit later, wrote in theBacchae that Actaeon was torn to shreds and perhaps devoured by his "flesh-eating" hunting dogs when he claimed to be a better hunter than Artemis.[90] Like Aeschylus, he does not mention Actaeon being deer-shaped when that happens.Callimachus writes that Actaeon chanced upon Artemis bathing in the woods, and she caused him to be devoured by his own hounds for the sacrilege, and he makes no mention of transformation into a deer either.[91]
Diodorus Siculus wrote that Actaeon dedicated his prizes in hunting to Artemis, proposed marriage to her, and even tried to forcefully consummate said "marriage" inside the very sacred temple of the goddess; for this he was given the form "of one of the animals which he was wont to hunt", and then torn to shreds by his hunting dogs. Diodorus also mentioned the alternative of Actaeon claiming to be a better hunter than the goddess of the hunt.[92]Hyginus also mentions Actaeon attempting to rape Artemis when he finds her bathing naked, and her transforming him into the doomed deer.[93]
Apollodorus wrote that when Actaeon saw Artemis bathing, she turned him into a deer on the spot, and intentionally drove his dogs into a frenzy so that they would kill and devour him. Afterward,Chiron built a sculpture of Actaeon to comfort his dogs in their grief, as they could not find their master no matter how much they looked for him.[87]
According to the Latin version of the story told by the RomanOvid, Actaeon was a hunter who after returning home from a long day's hunting in the woods, he stumbled upon Artemis and her retinue of nymphs bathing in her sacred grotto. The nymphs, panicking, rushed to cover Artemis's naked body with their own, as Artemis splashed some water on Actaeon, saying he was welcome to share with everyone the tale of seeing her without any clothes as long as he could share it at all. Immediately, he was transformed into a deer, and in panic ran away. But he did not go far, as he was hunted down and eventually caught and devoured by his own fifty hunting dogs, who could not recognize their own master.[94][95]
Pausanias says that Actaeon saw Artemis naked and that she threw a deerskin on him so that his hounds would kill him, in order to prevent him from marrying Semele.[96]
Niobe, queen ofThebes and wife ofAmphion, blasphemously boasted of being superior to Leto. This myth is very old; Homer knew of it and wrote that Niobe had given birth to twelve children, equally divided in six sons and six daughters (theNiobids). Other sources speak of fourteen children, seven sons, and seven daughters. Niobe claimed of being a better mother than Leto, for having more children than Leto's own two, "but the two, though they were only two, destroyed all those others."[97] She also mocked Apollo's effeminate appearance and Artemis's manly appearance. Leto was not slow to catch up on that and grew angry at the queen's hubris. She summoned her children and commanded them to avenge the slight.
Swiftly Apollo and Artemis descended on Thebes. While the sons were hunting in the woods, Apollo crept up on them and slew all seven with his silver bow. The dead bodies were brought to the palace. Niobe wept for them, but did not relent, saying that even now she was better than Leto, for she still had seven children, her daughters.[98]
On cue, Artemis then started shooting the daughters one by one. Right as Niobe begged for her youngest one to be spared, Artemis killed that last one.[98] Niobe cried bitter tears, and was turned into a rock. Amphion, at the sight of his dead sons, killed himself. The gods themselves entombed them. In some versions, Apollo and Artemis spared a single son and daughter each, for they prayed to Leto for help; thus Niobe had as many children as Leto did, but no more.[99]
Daniel Seiter's 1685 painting ofDiana over Orion's dead body, before he is placed in the heavens.Louvre, Paris.
Orion was Artemis's hunting companion; after giving up on trying to findOenopion, Orion met Artemis and her motherLeto, and joined the goddesses in hunting. A great hunter himself, he bragged that he would kill every beast on earth.Gaia, the earth, was not too pleased to hear that, and sent a giant scorpion to sting him. Artemis then transferred him into the stars as the constellationOrion.[100] In one version Orion died after pushing Leto out of the scorpion's way.[101]
In another version, Orion tries to violateOpis,[102] one of Artemis's followers fromHyperborea, and Artemis kills him.[103] In a version byAratus, Orion grabs Artemis's robe and she kills him inself-defense.[104] Other writers have Artemis kill him for trying to rape her or one of her attendants.[105]
Istrus wrote a version in which Artemis fell in love with Orion, apparently the only time Artemis ever fell in love. She meant to marry him, and no talk from her brotherApollo would change her mind. Apollo then decided to trick Artemis, and while Orion was off swimming in the sea, he pointed at him (barely a spot in the horizon) and wagered that Artemis could not hit that small "dot". Artemis, ever eager to prove she was the better archer, shot Orion, killing him. She then placed him among the stars.[106]
InHomer'sIliad, thegoddess of the dawnEos seduces Orion, angering the gods who did not approve of immortal goddesses taking mortal men for lovers, causing Artemis to shoot and kill him on the island ofOrtygia.[107]
Artemis (seated and wearing a radiate crown), the beautiful nymph Callisto (left),Eros and other nymphs. Antique fresco from Pompeii.National Archaeological Museum, Naples.
Callisto, the daughter ofLycaon, King ofArcadia,[108]was one of Artemis's hunting attendants, and, as a companion of Artemis, took a vow of chastity.[109]
According toHesiod in his lost poemAstronomia,Zeus appeared to Callisto, and seduced her, resulting in her becoming pregnant. Though she was able to hide her pregnancy for a time, she was soon found out while bathing. Enraged, Artemis transformed Callisto into a bear, and in this form she gave birth to her sonArcas. Both of them were then captured by shepherds and given to Lycaon, and Callisto thus lost her child. Sometime later, Callisto "thought fit to go into" a forbidden sanctuary of Zeus, and was hunted by the Arcadians, her son among them.[110] When she was about to be killed, Zeus saved her by placing her in the heavens as a constellation of a bear.[111]
In hisDe astronomia,Hyginus, after recounting the version from Hesiod,[112] presents several other alternative versions. The first, which he attributes toAmphis, says that Zeus seduced Callisto by disguising himself as Artemis during a hunting session, and that when Artemis found out that Callisto was pregnant, she replied saying that it was the goddess's fault, causing Artemis to transform her into a bear. This version also has both Callisto and Arcas placed in the heavens, as the constellationsUrsa Major andUrsa Minor.[113] Hyginus then presents another version in which, after Zeus lay with Callisto, it wasHera who transformed her into a bear. Artemis later, while hunting, kills the bear, and "later, on being recognized, Callisto was placed among the stars".[114] Hyginus also gives another version, in which Hera tries to catch Zeus and Callisto in the act, causing Zeus to transform her into a bear. Hera, finding the bear, points it out to Artemis, who is hunting; Zeus, in panic, places Callisto in the heavens as a constellation.[115]
Ovid gives a somewhat different version: Zeus seduced Callisto once again disguised as Artemis, but she seems to realise that it is not the real Artemis,[116] and she thus does not blame Artemis when, during bathing, she is found out. Callisto is, rather than being transformed, simply ousted from the company of the huntresses, and she thus gives birth to Arcas as a human. Only later is she transformed into a bear, this time by Hera. When Arcas, fully grown, is out hunting, he nearly kills his mother, who is saved only by Zeus placing her in the heavens.[117]
In theBibliotheca, a version is presented in which Zeus raped Callisto, "having assumed the likeness, as some say, of Artemis, or, as others say, of Apollo". He then turned her into a bear himself so as to hide the event from Hera. Artemis then shot the bear, either upon the persuasion of Hera, or out of anger at Callisto for breaking her virginity.[118] Once Callisto was dead, Zeus made her into a constellation, took the child, named him Arcas, and gave him toMaia, who raised him.[119]
Pausanias, in hisDescription of Greece, presents another version, in which, after Zeus seduced Callisto, Hera turned her into a bear, which Artemis killed to please Hera.[120]Hermes was then sent by Zeus to take Arcas, and Zeus himself placed Callisto in the heavens.[121]
Artemis (Diana) from the "Rospigliosi type", Roman copy of the 1st–2nd centuries CE after a Hellenistic original,Louvre Museum.
According to Apollodorus, Artemis joined to Gigantomachy and killed Gration (Γρατίων) with the help of Heracles.[122][123][124]
When the monstrousTyphon attacked Olympus, all the terrified gods except for Zeus transformed into various animals and fled to Egypt. Artemis became a cat,[125] as she was identified by the Greeks with the Egyptian feline goddessBastet.[126]
Artemis saved the infantAtalanta from dying ofexposure after her father abandoned her. She sent a female bear to nurse the baby, who was then raised by hunters and grew to model herself after the goddess. In some stories, Artemis later sent a bear to attack Atalanta because others claimed Atalanta was a superior hunter. Among other adventures, Atalanta participated in theCalydonian boar hunt, which Artemis had sent to destroyCalydon because KingOeneus had forgotten her at theharvest sacrifices. In the hunt, Atalanta drew the first blood and was awarded the prize of the boar'shide. She hung it in a sacred grove atTegea as a dedication to Artemis. After the death ofMeleager, Oeneus's son who awarded Atalanta with the hide, Artemis turned his grieving sisters, theMeleagrids, intoguineafowl she favours.
Cyrene was a fierceThessalian huntress and companion of Artemis, who had given her two hunting dogs. With the help of these dogs, Cyrene had been able to win the prize in the funeral games ofPelias.[127] When KingEurypylus was still rulingLibya, a monstrous lion had terrorized the citizens greatly, so Apollo brought Cyrene to get rid of it. After she killed the lion, he made her the new ruler of the lands, renamedCyrene in her honor.[128][129] In some versions, she was transformed into a nymph so that she could have a long life and keep hunting with Artemis as much as she desired.[130]
In one version, Artemis, along with her mother Leto, stood before Zeus with tearful eyes while Apollo pleaded with him to releasePrometheus (the god who had stolen fire from the gods, give them to humans, and was subsequently chained in theCaucasus with an eagle feasting on his liver each day for punishment) from his eternal torment. Moved, Zeus agreed instantly and commandedHeracles to free Prometheus.[131]
In some versions of the story ofAdonis, Artemis sent awild boar to kill him as punishment for boasting that he was a better hunter than her.[132] In other versions, Artemis killed Adonis for revenge. In later myths, Adonis is a favorite ofAphrodite, who was responsible for the death ofHippolytus, who had been a hunter of Artemis. Therefore, Artemis killed Adonis to avenge Hippolytus's death. In yet another version, Adonis was not killed by Artemis, but byAres as punishment for being with Aphrodite.[133]
When two of her hunting companions who had sworn to remain chaste and be devoted to her,Rhodopis and Euthynicus, fell in love with each other and broke their vows in a cavern, Artemis turned Rhodopis into a fountain inside that very cavern as punishment. The two had fallen in love not on their own but only after Eros had struck them with his love arrows, commanded by his mother Aphrodite, who had taken offence in that Rhodopis and Euthynicus rejected love and marriage in favour of a chaste life.[134][135]
InNonnus'sDionysiaca,Aura, the daughter ofLelantos andPeriboia, was a companion of Artemis.[136] When out hunting one day with Artemis, she asserts that the goddess's voluptuous body and breasts are too womanly and sensual, and doubts her virginity, arguing that her own lithe body and man-like breasts are better than Artemis's and a true symbol of her own chastity. In anger, Artemis asksNemesis for help to avenge her dignity. Nemesis agrees, telling Artemis that Aura's punishment will be to lose her virginity, since she dared question that of Artemis. Nemesis then arranges forEros to makeDionysus fall in love with Aura. Dionysus intoxicates Aura and rapes her as she lies unconscious, after which she becomes a deranged killer. While pregnant, she tries to kill herself or cut open her belly, as Artemis mocks her over it. When she bore twin sons, she ate one, while the other,Iacchus, was saved by Artemis.
Chione was a beautiful princess of Phocis. She was beloved by two gods,Hermes andApollo, and boasted that she was more beautiful than Artemis because she had made two gods fall in love with her at once. Artemis was furious and pierced Chione's blasphemous tongue with an arrow, leaving the girl to choke in her own blood.[137]
Polyphonte was a young woman who fled home in pursuit of a free, virginal life with Artemis, as opposed to the conventional life of marriage and children favoured by Aphrodite. As a punishment, Aphrodite cursed her, causing her to mate and have children with a bear. Artemis, seeing that, was disgusted and sent a horde of wild animals against her, causing Polyphonte to flee to her father's house. Her resulting offspring,Agrius and Oreius, were wild cannibals who incurred the hatred of Zeus. Ultimately the entire family was transformed into birds who became illportents for mankind.[138]
Coronis was a princess fromThessaly who became the lover of Apollo and fell pregnant. While Apollo was away, Coronis began an affair with a mortal man namedIschys. When Apollo learnt of this, he sent Artemis to kill the pregnant Coronis, or Artemis had the initiative to kill Coronis on her own accord for the insult done against her brother. The unborn child,Asclepius, was later removed from his dead mother's womb.[139]
When QueenEchemeia ofKos ceased to worship Artemis, she shot her with an arrow;Persephone then snatched the still-living Euthemia and brought her to the Underworld.[140]
Artemis may have been represented as a supporter of Troy because her brotherApollo was thepatron god of the city, and she herself was widely worshipped in westernAnatolia in historical times. Artemis plays a significant role in the war; like Leto and Apollo, Artemis took the side of the Trojans. In theIliad, Artemis on her chariot with the golden reins, kills the daughter ofBellerophon.[36] Bellorophone was a divine Greekhero who killed the monsterChimera. At the beginning of the Greek's journey to Troy, Artemis punishedAgamemnon after he killed a sacred stag in asacred grove and boasted that he was a better hunter than the goddess.[141]
When theGreek fleet was preparing atAulis to depart forTroy to commence theTrojan War, Artemis becalmed the winds. The seerCalchas erroneously advised Agamemnon that the only way to appease Artemis was to sacrifice his daughterIphigenia. In some version of the myth, Artemis then snatched Iphigenia from the altar and substituted a deer; in others, Artemis allowed Iphigenia to be sacrificed. In versions where Iphigenia survived, a number of different myths have been told about what happened after Artemis took her; either she was brought toTauris and led the priests there, or she became Artemis's immortal companion.[141]Aeneas was also helped by Artemis, Leto, and Apollo. Apollo found him wounded byDiomedes and lifted him to heaven. There, the three deities secretly healed him in a great chamber.
During thetheomachy, Artemis found herself standing opposite of Hera, on which a scholium to theIliad wrote that they represent the Moon versus the air around the Earth.[142] Artemis chided her brother Apollo for not fighting Poseidon and told him never to brag again; Apollo did not answer her. An angry Hera berated Artemis for daring to fight her:
How now art thou fain, thou bold and shameless thing, to stand forth against me? No easy foe I tell thee, am I, that thou shouldst vie with me in might, albeit thou bearest the bow, since it was against women that Zeus made thee a lion, and granted thee to slay whomsoever of them thou wilt. In good sooth it is better on the mountains to be slaying beasts and wild deer than to fight amain with those mightier than thou. Howbeit if thou wilt, learn thou of war, that thou mayest know full well how much mightier am I, seeing thou matchest thy strength with mine.
Hera then grabbed Artemis's hands by the wrists, and holding her in place, beat her with her own bow.[143] Crying, Artemis left her bow and arrows where they lay and ran to Olympus to cry at her father Zeus's knees, while her mother Leto picked up her bow and arrows and followed her weeping daughter.[144]
Temple of Artemis atBrauron. The stoa and the sacred spring from the SW.
Artemis, the goddess of forests and hills, was worshipped throughoutancient Greece.[145] Her best knowncults were on the island ofDelos(her birthplace), in Attica atBrauron and Mounikhia (nearPiraeus), and inSparta. She was often depicted in paintings and statues in a forest setting, carrying a bow and arrows and accompanied by a deer.
The ancient Spartans used to sacrifice to her as one of their patron goddesses before starting a newmilitary campaign.
Pre-pubescent and adolescent Athenian girls were sent to thesanctuary of Artemis at Brauron to serve the Goddess for one year. During this time, the girls were known asarktoi, or little she-bears.
A myth explaining this servitude states that a bear had formed the habit of regularly visiting the town of Brauron, and the people there fed it, so that, over time, the bear became tame. A girl teased the bear, and, in some versions of the myth, it killed her, while, in other versions, it clawed out her eyes. Either way, the girl's brothers killed the bear, and Artemis was enraged. She demanded that young girls "act the bear" at her sanctuary in atonement for the bear's death.[146]
Artemis was worshipped as one of the primary goddesses of childbirth and midwifery along withEileithyia. Dedications of clothing to her sanctuaries after a successful birth was common in theClassical era.[147] Artemis could be a deity to be feared by pregnant women, as deaths during this time were attributed to her. As childbirth and pregnancy was a very common and important event, there were numerous other deities associated with it, many localized to a particular geographic area, including but not limited toAphrodite,Hera andHekate.[147]
It was considered a good sign when Artemis appeared in the dreams of hunters and pregnant women, but a naked Artemis was seen as an ill omen.[148] According toPseudo-Apollodorus, she assisted her mother in the delivery of her twin.[149] Older sources, such asHomeric Hymn to Delian Apollo (in Line 115), have the arrival of Eileithyia on Delos as the event that allows Leto to give birth to her children. Contradictory isHesiod's presentation of the myth inTheogony, where he states that Leto bore her children before Zeus's marriage to Hera with no commentary on any drama related to their birth.
Despite being primarily known as a goddess of hunting and the wilderness, she was also connected to dancing,music, and song like her brother Apollo; she is often seen singing and dancing with her nymphs, or leading the chorus of theMuses and theGraces atDelphi. InSparta, girls of marriageable age performed thepartheneia (choral maiden songs) in her honor.[42] An ancient Greek proverb, written down byAesop, went "For where did Artemisnot dance?", signifying the goddess's connection to dancing and festivity.[150][151]
Artemis was born on the sixth day of the monthThargelion (aroundMay), which made it sacred for her, as her birthday.[153] On the seventh day of the same month was Apollo's birthday.[154] Artemis was worshipped in many festivals throughout Greece mainland and the islands,Asia Minor and south Italy. Most of these festivals were celebrated during spring.
Bronze statue of Artemis (Piraeus Artemis), with a quiver at the back and the pose of the fingers which held a bow. A classicistic work, 4th century BCE attributed toEuphranor.Archaeological Museum of Piraeus.
Athens. The festivalElaphebolia was celebrated on the sixth day of the monthElaphebolion (ninth month). The name is related toelaphos (deer) and Artemis is the Deer Huntress. Cakes made from flour, honey, and sesame and in the shape of stags were offered to the goddess during the festival.[155][154][156]
Brauron. The festival was remarkable for thearkteia, where girls, aged between five and ten, were dressed insaffron robes and played at being bears, or "act the bear" to appease the goddess after she sent the plague when her bear was killed. Another commentator says that girls had to placate the goddess for their virginity (parthenia), so that they would not be the object of revenge from her.[157]
Piraeus. The festival of ArtemisMunichia was celebrated on the 6th or 16th day of the monthMunichion (tenth month). Young girls were dressed up as bears, as for theBrauronia. In the temple have been found sherds from the geometric period. The festival commemorated the victory of the Greek fleet over thePersians at Salamis.[158][156]
Agrae, a district of Athens, with a temple of Artemis-Agrotera. (huntress)[159] On the 6th day of the monthBoedromion, an armed procession would take a large number of goats to the temple. They would all be sacrificed in honor of the victory at theBattle of Marathon.[160] The festival was called "Charisteria," also known as the Athenian "Thanksgiving."[154]
Myrrhinus, ademe near Merenda (Markopoulo). There was a cult ofKolainis.[161] Kolainis is usually identified with ArtemisAmarysia inEuboia. Some rites and animal sacrifices were probably similar with the rites ofLaphria.[156]
Halae Araphenides, a deme nearBrauron. The fest Tauropolia was celebrated in honour of Artemis Tauropolos. During the festival a human sacrifice was represented in a ritual.[156]
Erchia a district of Athens. The modern Athenian airport was built over the ruins of thedeme. A festival was celebrated on the 16th day of the monthMetageitnion. Sacrifices were offered to Artemis andHekate.[154]
Artemis on her chariot drawn by two hinds. Detail from an Attic red figure crater 460–440 BCE. Attributed to the Painter of the Wooly Satyrs.Louvre, Paris.
Hyampolis inPhocis. During an attack of the Thessalians, the Phocians terrified gathered together in one spot their women, children, movable property, and also their clothes, gold and made a vast pyre. The order was that if they would be defeated, all should be killed and would be thrown into the flames together with their property.[163][164] The Phocians achieved a great victory and each year they celebrated their victory in the festivalElaphebolia-Laphria in honour of Artemis. All kinds of offerings were burned in an annual fire, reminding the great pyre of the battle.[165]
Delphi inPhocis. The festivalLaphria was celebrated in the monthLaphrios. The cult of ArtemisLaphria was introduced by the priests of DelphiLab(r)yaden who had probablyCretan origin.[166] Laphria is certainly the Pre-Greek "Mistress of the animals".[156]
Delphi inPhocis. The festivalEucleia was celebrated in honour of Artemis. According to the Labyaden inscriptions the offeringsdarata are determined by the specifiedgamela andpedēia.Eucleia was a goddess of marriage.[167]
Mixing Vessel with Hermes, Apollo and Artemis. Lucanian, 415–400 BCE, attributed to the Palermo Painter.J. Paul Getty Museum, California.
Thebes inBoeotia. Before marriage a premilinary sacrifice should be made by the bride and the groom to Artemis-Eucleia.[167]
Amarynthos inEuboia. Festival of ArtemisAmarysia. Animals were sacrificed with rites probably similar with the festLaphria.[156]
Aulis inBoeotia. In a festival all kinds of sacrificial animals were offered to the goddess. It seems that the festival was a reverberation of the rites ofLaphria.[170][156]
Patras inAchaea. The great festivalLaphria was celebrated in honour of Artemis. The characteristic rite was the annual fire. Birds, deers, sacrificial animals, young wolves and young bears were thrown alive in a great pyre.Laphria (Pre-Greek name) is the "Mistress of Animals".[156] Traditionally her cult was introduced fromCalydon ofAetolia.[172][173]
Patras. TheIonians who lived in Ancient Achaea celebrated the annual festival of ArtemisTriclaria. Pausanias mentions the legend of human sacrifices to the outraged goddess. The new deityDionysus, put an end to the sacrifices.[174][167]
Corinth. The festivalEucleia was celebrated in honor of Artemis.[175]
Aigeira inAchaea. Festival of ArtemisAgrotera (huntress). When the Sicyonians attacked the city, the Aigeirians tied torches on all goats of the area and during night they set the torches alight. The Sicyonians believed that Aigeira had a great army and they retreated.[176]
Sparta. Festival of Artemis-Orthia. The goddess was associated with the female initiatory ritePartheneion.[177] Women performed round dances. In a legendTheseus stole Helene from the dancing floor of Orthia, during the round-dancing. The significant prize of the competitions was an iron sickle (drepanē) indicating thatOrthia was a goddess of vegetation.[178]
Sparta on the road toAmyklai. Artemis-Korythalia was a goddess of vegetation. Women performed lascivious dances. The fest was celebrated in round huts covered with leaves. The nurses brought the infants in the temple of Korythalia during the festTithenedia.[179]
Messene near the borders withLaconia. Festival of ArtemisLimnatis (of the lake). The festival was celebrated with cymbals and dances.[180] The goddess was worshipped by young women during the festivals of transition from childhood to adulthood.[181]
Dereion onTaygetos inLaconia. Cult of Artemis -Dereatis. The festival was celebrated with the hymnscalavoutoi and with the obscene dancecallabis.[182][183]
Caryae on the borders betweenLaconia andArcadia. Festival of Artemis-Caryatis, a goddess of vegetation related to the tree-cult. Each year women performed an ecstatic dance called thecaryatis.[185][156]
Boiai inLaconia. Cult of Artemis-Soteira (savior), which was related to the myrtle tree. When the inhabitants of the cities near the gulf were expelled, Artemis with the shape of a hare guided them to a myrtle tree where they built the new city.[186][156]
Elis.Pelops (Peloponnese: Pelop's island) had won the sovereignty ofPisa and his followers celebrated their victory near the temple of Artemis-Kordaka. They danced the peculiar dancekordax.[187][178]
Artemis hunting a stag, surrounded by Zeus (left), Nikê (top) and Apollo (right). The goddess is wielding a torch. Attic red-figured pelike 370–350 BCE. From Campania, South Italy.British Museum, London
Elis. Festival of Artemis-Elaphia in the monthElaphios (elaphos:deer). Elaphia was a goddess of hunting.[188][156]
Hypsus. Annual fest of ArtemisDaphnaia.(Of the laurel-branch).[191][178]
Stymphalus inArcadia. Festival of Artemis-Stymphalia. The festival begun near the Katavothres where the water overflowed and created a big marsh.[192][156]
Orchomenus, inArcadia. A sanctuary was built for ArtemisHymnia where her festival was celebrated every year.[193]
Phigalia inArcadia. In a battle the Phigalians expelled the conquerorsSpartans and recovered their city. On the summit of the Acropolis they built the sanctuary of Artemis-Soteira (Savior) and a statue of the goddess. At the beginning of festivals, all their processions started from the sanctuary.[195]
Troizen inArgolis. Festival of Artemis-Saronia. Near the temple was the grave of the king Saron who was drowned into the sea.[156]
Aegae, inMacedonia.Eucleia had a shrine with dedications in theagora of the city. The goddess is associated with Artemis-Eucleia, the goddess of marriage who was widely worshipped inBoeotia.[196]
From left to right: Artemis holding an oinochoe, Apollo holding a laurel branch and a phiale, about to pour a libation on the altar. Attic red-figure column-krater 450 BCE.National Archaeological Museum (Madrid)
Icaria. TheTauropolion,[197] the temple of Artemis Tauropolos was built atOinoe. There was another smaller temenos that was sacred to Artemis-Tauropoloson the coast of the island.[198]
Ephesus inIonia. The great festivalArtemisia was celebrated in honor of Artemis. The wealth and splendor of temple and city were taken as evidence of Artemis Ephesia's power. Under Hellenic rule, and later, under Roman rule, the EphesianArtemisia festival was increasingly promoted as a key element in the pan-Hellenic festival circuit.[200]
Perga inIonia. Famous festival of Artemis-Pergaia. Under Roman rule Diana-Pergaia is identified withSelene.[201]
distinguished by a peculiar dance and by a music on the flute. Chitonia (wearing a loose tunic) was a goddess of hunting.[202]
Syracuse inSicily. Festival of Artemis-Lyaia. Men from the countryside came to the city in a rustic dress. They carried a deer-antler on their head and held a shepherd's stab. They sang satirical songs drinking wine. The festival was the link between the comic performance and the countryside.[203][167]
An important aspect of Artemis's persona and worship was her virginity, which may seem contradictory, given her role as a goddess associated with childbirth. The idea of Artemis as a virgin goddess likely is related to her primary role as a huntress. Hunters traditionally abstained from sex prior to the hunt as a form of ritual purity and out of a belief that the scent would scare off potential prey. The ancient cultural context in which Artemis's worship emerged also held that virginity was a prerequisite to marriage, and that a married woman became subservient to her husband.[204]
In this light, Artemis's virginity is also related to her power and independence. Rather than a form of asexuality, it is an attribute that signals Artemis as her own master, with power equal to that of male gods. Her virginity also possibly represents a concentration of fertility that can be spread among her followers, in the manner of earlier mother-goddess figures. However, some later Greek writers did come to treat Artemis as inherently asexual and as an opposite to Aphrodite.[204] Furthermore, some have described Artemis along with the goddessesHestia andAthena as being asexual; this is mainly supported by the fact that in the Homeric Hymns, 5,To Aphrodite, Aphrodite is described as having "no power" over the three goddesses.[205]
Despite her virginity, both modern scholars and ancient commentaries have linked Artemis to the archetype of themother goddess. Artemis was traditionally linked to fertility and was petitioned to assist women with childbirth. According toHerodotus, Greek playwrightAeschylus identified Artemis withPersephone as a daughter ofDemeter. Her worshipers inArcadia also traditionally associated her with Demeter and Persephone. In Asia Minor, she was often conflated with local mother-goddess figures, such asCybele, andAnahita inIran.[204]
The archetype of the mother goddess, though, was not highly compatible with the Greek pantheon, and though the Greeks had adopted the worship of Cybele and other Anatolian mother goddesses as early as the seventh century BCE, she was not directly conflated with any Greek goddesses. Instead, bits and pieces of her worship and aspects were absorbed variously by Artemis, Aphrodite, and others as Eastern influence spread.[204]
AtEphesus inIonia,Turkey, her temple became one of theSeven Wonders of the World. It was probably the best-known center of her worship except for Delos. There, the Lady whom the Ionians associated with Artemis throughinterpretatio graeca was worshipped primarily as a mother goddess, akin to the Phrygian goddess Cybele, in an ancient sanctuary where hercult image depicted the "Lady of Ephesus" adorned with multiple large beads. Excavation at the site of theArtemision in 1987–88 identified a multitude of tear-shapedamber beads that had been hung on the original wooden statue (xoanon), and these were probably carried over into later sculpted copies.[206]
InActs of the Apostles, Ephesian metalsmiths who felt threatened by Saint Paul's preaching of Christianity, jealously rioted in her defense, shouting "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"[207] Of the 121 columns of her temple, only one composite, made up of fragments, still stands as a marker of the temple's location.
Praxitelean bronze head of a goddess (probably Artemis), wearing alunate crown, 4th century BCE. Found at Issa,Vis, Croatia).
No records have been found of the Greeks referring to Artemis as a lunar deity, as their lunar deity wasSelene,[208][209][210] but the Romans identified Artemis with Selene leading them to perceive her as a lunar deity, though the Greeks did not refer to her or worship her as such.[211][212][213] As the Romans began to associateApollo more withHelios, thepersonification of the Sun, it was only natural that the Romans would then begin to identify Apollo's twin sister, Artemis, with Helios's own sister, Selene, the personification of the Moon.[3]
Evidence of thesyncretism of Artemis and Selene is found early on; ascholium on theIliad, claiming to be reporting sixth century BCE authorTheagenes's interpretation of thetheomachy in Book 21, says that in the fight between Artemis and Hera, Artemis represents the Moon, while Hera represents the earthly air.[142][214]
Active references to Artemis as an illuminating goddess start much later.[215] Notably, Roman-era authorPlutarch writes how during theBattle of Salamis, Artemis led the Athenians to victory by shining with thefull moon, but all lunar-related narratives of this event come from Roman times, and none of the contemporary writers (such asHerodotus) makes any mention of the night or the Moon.[215]
Artemis's connection to childbed and women's labour naturally led to her becoming associated with the menstrual cycle in course of time, thus the Moon.[216] Selene, just like Artemis, was linked to childbirth, as it was believed that women had the easiest labours during the full moon, paving thus the way for the two goddesses to be seen as the same.[217][214] On that,Cicero writes:
Apollo, a Greek name, is calledSol, the sun; andDiana,Luna, the moon. [...] Luna, the moon, is so called a lucendo (from shining); she bears the name also ofLucina: and as in Greece the women in labor invokeDiana Lucifera,[218]
Association to health was another reason Artemis and Selene were syncretized;Strabo wrote that Apollo and Artemis were connected to the Sun and the Moon, respectively, which was due to the changes the two celestial bodies caused in the temperature of the air, as the twins were gods of pestilential diseases and sudden deaths.[219]
Roman authors applied Artemis/Diana's byname, "Phoebe", to Luna/Selene, the same way as "Phoebus" was given toHelios due to his identification with Apollo.[220] Another epithet of Artemis that Selene appropriated is "Cynthia", meaning "born in MountCynthus."[221] The goddesses Artemis, Selene, andHecate formed a triad, identified as the same goddess with three avatars: Selene in the sky (moon), Artemis on earth (hunting), and Hecate beneath the earth (Underworld).[222]
In Italy, those three goddesses became a ubiquitous feature in depictions of sacred groves, where Hecate/Trivia marked intersections and crossroads along with other liminal deities.[223] The Romans enthusiastically celebrated the multiple identities of Diana as Hecate, Luna, and Trivia.[223]
Roman poetHorace in his odes enjoins Apollo to listen to the prayers of the boys, as he asks Luna, the "two-horned queen of the stars", to listen to those of the girls in place of Diana, due to their role as protectors of the young.[224] InVirgil'sAeneid, whenNisus addresses Luna/the Moon, he calls her "daughter ofLatona."[225]
In works of art, the two goddesses were mostly distinguished; Selene is usually depicted as being shorter than Artemis, with a rounder face, and wearing a long robe instead of a short hunting chiton, with a billowing cloak forming an arc above her head.[226] Artemis was sometimes depicted with a lunate crown.[227]
Artemis holding torches. Marble, Roman copy of the 2nd century CE after a Greek original of the 4th century BCE.Museo Chiaramonti,Vatican Museums
Hecate was the goddess of crossroads, boundaries, ghosts and witchcraft. She is the queen of the witches.[228] Artemis absorbed the Pre-Greek goddessPotnia Theron who was closely associated with thedaimons.[32] In theMycenean age daimons were lesser deities of ghosts, divine spirits and tutelary deities.[229]
Some scholars believe that Hecate was an aspect of Artemis prior to the latter's adoption into the Olympian pantheon.Artemis would have, at that point, become more strongly associated with purity and maidenhood on the one hand, while her originally darker attributes like her association with magic, the souls of the dead, and the night would have continued to be worshipped separately under her title Hecate.[230]
Both goddesses carried torches, and were accompanied by a dog. It seems that the character of Artemis inArcadia was original.[231] AtAcacesium ArtemisHegemone is depicted holding two torches, and atLycosura Artemis is depicted holding a snake and a torch. A bitch suitable for hunting was lying down by her side.[232]
Sophocles calles ArtemisAmphipyros, carrying a torch in each hand, however the adjective refers also to the twin fire on the two peaks of the mountainParnassus behindDelphi. In the fest ofLaphria at Delphi Artemis is related to the Pre-Greek mistress of the animals, with barbaric sacrifices and possible connections with magic and ghosts since Potnia Theron was close to the daimons. The annual fire was the characteristique custom of the fest.[33][233]
AtKerameikos in Athens Artemis is clearly identified with Hecate.Pausanias believes thatKalliste (the most beautiful ) is a surname of Artemis carrying a torch. InThessaly the distinctly local goddessEnodia with the surnamePheraia is identified with Hecate.[234] ArtemisPheraia was worshipped inArgos,Athens andSicyon.[235]
Homer uses the epithetChrisinios, of the golden reigns, to illustrate the chariot of the goddess of hunting.[236] At the fest ofLaphria atDelphi the priestess followed the parade on a chariot which was covered with the skin of a deer.[236]
Artemis is rarely portrayed with a hunting spear. In her cult inAetolia, the ArtemisAetole was depicted with a hunting spear or javelin.[237]
Artemis is also sometimes depicted with a fishing spear connected with her cult as a patron goddess of fishing. This conception relates her withDiktynna (Britomartis).[238] As a goddess of maiden dances and songs, Artemis is often portrayed with a lyre in ancient art.[239]
Deer were the only animals held sacred to Artemis herself. On seeing a deer larger than a bull with horns shining, she fell in love with these creatures and held them sacred. Deer were also the first animals she captured. She caught five golden-horned deer and harnessed them to her chariot.[240] AtLycosura in isolatedArcadia Artemis is depicted holding a snake and a torch and dressed with a deer skin, besidesDemeter andPersephone.[232] It seems that the depictions of Artemis andDemeter-Melaina (black) in Arcadia correspond to the earliest conceptions of the firstGreeks in Greece.[241] At the fest ofLaphria atDelphi the priestess followed the parade on a chariot which was covered with the skin of a deer.[236]Thethird labour of Heracles, commanded byEurystheus, consisted of chasing and catching the terribleCeryneian Hind. The hind was a female deer with golden andlers and hooves of bronze and was sacred to Artemis. Heracles begged Artemis for forgiveness and promised to return it alive. Artemis forgave him, but targeted Eurystheus for her wrath.[242]
Artemis with a hunting dog pouring a libation, c. 460–450 BCE.
In a legend Artemis got her hunting dogs fromPan in the forest ofArcadia. Pan gave Artemis two black-and-white dogs, threereddish ones, and one spotted one – these dogs were able to hunt even lions. Pan also gave Artemis seven bitches of the finest Arcadian race, but Artemis only ever brought seven dogs hunting with her at any one time.[243] In the earliest conceptions of Artemis atLycosura, a bitch suitable for hunting was lying down by her side.[232]
In a Pre-Greek cult Artemis was conceived as a bear.Kallisto was transformed into a bear, and she is a hypostasis of Artemis with a theriomorph form. In the cults of Artemis atBrauron and atPiraeusMunichia (arkteia) young virgin girls were disguished to she-bears (arktoi) in a ritual and they served the goddess before marriage.[244]
Anetiological myth tries to explain the origin of theArkteia. Every year, a girl between five and ten years of age was sent to Artemis's temple at Brauron. A bear was tamed by Artemis and introduced to the people of Athens. They touched it and played with it until one day a group of girls poked the bear until it attacked them. A brother of one of the girls killed the bear, so Artemis sent a plague in revenge. The Athenians consulted an oracle to understand how to end the plague. The oracle suggested that, in payment for the bear's blood, no Athenian virgin should be allowed to marry until she had served Artemis in her temple (played the bear for the goddess).[245]
In a legend of the cult ofMunichia if someone killed a bear, then they were to be punished by sacrificing their daughter in the sanctuary. Embaros disguised his daughter dressing her like a bear (arktos), and hid her in theadyton. He placed a goat on the altar and he sacrificed the goat instead of his daughter.[246]
The boar is one of the favorite animals of the hunters, and also hard to tame. In honor of Artemis's skill, they sacrificed it to her.Oeneus[247] andAdonis[248] were both killed by Artemis's boar. InThe Odyssey, she descends from a peak and she travels along the ridges ofMount Erymanthos, that was sacred to the "Mistress of the animals".[236][249] When the goddess became wrathful she would send the terribleErymanthian boar to laid waste the farmer's fields.Heracles managed to kill the terrible creature during hisTwelve Labors.[250]
In one legend, theCalydonian boar had terrorized the territory ofCalydon because Artemis (the mistress of the animals) was offended. TheCalydonian boar hunt is one of the great heroic adventures in Greek legend. The most famous Greekheroes includingMeleager andAtalanta took part in the expedition. The fierce-hunter virgin Atalanta allied to the goddess Artemis was the first who wounded the Calydonian boar.[251]
Artemis felt pity for theCalydonian princessesMeleagrids as they mourned for their lost brother, Meleager, so she transformed them into Guinea fowl to be her favorite animals.[253]
Thebee as a symbol of abundance was associated withArtemis Ephesia. Bees appear on the statue of the goddess, while the priestesses of the goddess received the name of 'Melissa' ('Bee' 'Μέλισσα'), possibly as a lateHellenistic worship element addition. The bee was also related to theCretan tradition of worship, whereby Artemis was designated as 'Britomartis' (Βριτομάρτις), a word possibly deriving from the root vrito- (βρίτο-) a variant of 'melissa' ('μέλισσα' or 'bee').[254]
Artemis is sometimes identified with the mythical bull-goddess in a cult foreign in Greece. The cult can be identified inHalae Araphenides inAttica. At the end of the peculiar fest the sacrifice of a man was represented in a ritual.[256]
Apollo (left) and Artemis (right) carrying a torch and flanking an altar. Terracotta amphora (jar) 490 BCE.Metropolitan Museum of Art. Manhattan, New York
Artemis is often depicted holding one or two torches. There is not any sufficient explanation for this depiction. The character of the goddess inArcadia seems to be original.[231] AtAcacesium ArtemisHegemone (the leader) is depicted holding two torches. AtLycosura the goddess is depicted holding a snake and a torch, and a bitch suitable for hunting was lying down by her side[259]Sophocles calls Artemis "Elaphebolos, (deer slayer) Amphipyros (with a fire in each end)" reminding the annual fire of the festLaphria atDelphi.[260] The adjective refers also to the twin fires of the two peaks of theMount Parnassus aboveDelphi (Phaedriades).[261] Heshychius believes thatKalliste is the name of Hecate established atKerameikos ofAthens, who some call Artemis (torch bearing). On a relief fromSicily the goddess is depicted holding a torch in one hand and an offering on the other. The torch was used for the ignition of the fire on the altar.[262]
During theBronze Age, the "mistress of the animals" is usually depicted between two lions with a peculiar crown on her head.The oldest representations of Artemis in Greek Archaic art,circa 550 BCE, portray her asPotnia Theron ("Queen of the Beasts"): a winged goddess holding a stag and lioness in her hands, or sometimes a lioness and a lion. Potnia theron is the only Greek goddess close to thedaimons and sometimes is depicted with aGorgon head, and the Gorgon is her distant ancestor. This winged Artemis lingered in ex-votos asArtemis Orthia, with a sanctuary close bySparta.
In Greek classical art she is usually portrayed as a maiden huntress, young, tall, and slim, clothed in a girl's short skirt,[263] with hunting boots, a quiver, a golden or silver bow[264] and arrows.
Often, she is shown in the shooting pose, and is accompanied by ahunting dog or stag. When portrayed as a lunar deity, Artemis wore a long robe and sometimes a veil covered her head. Her darker side is revealed in some vase paintings, where she is shown as the death-bringing goddess whose arrows fell young maidens and women, such as the daughters ofNiobe.
Artemis was sometimes represented in Classical art with the crown of thecrescentmoon, such as also found onLuna and others.
Artemis Chasma (a nearly circular fracture on the surface of the planetVenus, described in 1980)
Artemis Corona (an oval feature largely enclosed by the Artemis Chasma, also described in 1980)
Acronym (ArTeMiS) for "Architectures de bolometres pour des Telescopes a grand champ de vue dans le domaine sub-Millimetrique au Sol", a largebolometer camera in thesubmillimeter range that was installed in 2010 at theAtacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), located in theAtacama Desert in northern Chile.[265]
Thetaxonomic genusArtemia, which entirely comprises the family Artemiidae, derives from Artemis.Artemia species are aquatic crustaceans known as brine shrimp, the best-known species of which,Artemia salina, orsea monkeys, was first described byCarl Linnaeus in hisSystema Naturae in 1758.Artemia species live in salt lakes, and although they are almost never found in an open sea, they do appear along theAegean coast nearEphesus, where the Temple of Artemis once stood.
^abR.S.P. Beekes, 2009,Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, p. 142
^Houwink ten Cate, 1961,The Luwian Population Groups of Lycia and Cilicia Aspera during the Hellenistic Period (Leiden) p 166, noted in this context byBrown (2004), p. 252
^Indogermanica et Caucasica: Festschrift fur Karl Horst Schmidt zum 65. Geburtstag (Studies in Indo-European language and culture), W. de Gruyter, 1994,Etyma Graeca,pp. 213–214.
^Michaël Ripinsky-Naxon (1993)The Nature of Shamanism: Substance and function of a religious metaphor, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, p 32
^Brown, Edwin L. (2004). "In search of Anatolian Apollo".Hesperia Supplements. Charis: Essays in Honor of Sara A. Immerwahr.33:243–257. — Artemis, as Apollo's inseparable twin, is discussed atp 251 ff
^Chadwick, John;Baumbach, Lydia (1963). "The Mycenaean Greek vocabulary".Glotta.41 (3–4):157–271,esp. p 176 ff. —s.v.Ἂρτεμις,a-te-mi-to- (genitive)
^Souvinous, C. (1970). "A-TE-MI-TO and A-TI-MI-TE".Kadmos.9:42–47.
Christidis, T. (c. 1970). "Further remarks on A-TE-MI-TO and A-TI-MI-TE".Kadmos.11:125–128.
^abLane Fox, Robin.Pagan and Christians. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1989. p.90-91
^abHowell 1989",Howell, Reet A.; Howell, Maxwell L. (1989). "The Atalanta Legend in Art and Literature".Journal of Sport History.16 (2):127–139.JSTOR43609443.
^A not localizedphallic dance of women is connected with the boisterous and nudge dances of the cult of Artemis, as a goddess of vegetation": Nilsson, Geschichte Vol I, p.491
^"Hospitality to the strangers and freedom for all": L.H.Jeffery (1976),The city states, c.700-500 BCE, p.6, Ernest Benn Limited
^Ionescu, C.,The Enduring Goddess: Artemis and Mary, Mother of Jesus, dissertation under the tutelage of Prof. B. Lee,York University, Toronto, 2016,pp. 227–229.
^Martin Nilsson (1967), "Die Geschichte der Griechischen religion", C.H. Beck Verlag, Munchen, p.481-500
^Or as a separate island birthplace of Artemis: "Rejoice, blessed Leto, for you bear glorious children, the lord Apollon and Artemis who delights in arrows; her in Ortygia, and him in rocky Delos," says theHomeric Hymn; the etymologyOrtygia, "Isle of Quail", is not supported by modern scholars
^McLeish, Kenneth.Children of the Gods pp 33f; Leto's birth-pangs, however, are graphically depicted by ancient sources
^Biogeographically speaking, in Greece the nearest species of deer in which females carry horns was and is thereindeer (Ruck and Staples p 173), a fact which has occasioned various speculations: see alsoDeer (mythology)
^"I think that this is anaetiological myth, intended to explain the rite in which a human effigy was burnt upon a pyre in the festival of the hunters' goddess," observesMartin P. Nilsson, "Fire-Festivals in Ancient Greece",The Journal of Hellenic Studies43.2 (1923:144-148) p. 144 note 2;Pseudo-Apollodorus,Epitome2.2
^Heath, "The Failure of Orpheus",Transactions of the American Philological Association124 (1994:163-196) p. 196
^Walter Burkert,Homo Necans (1972), translated by Peter Bing (University of California Press) 1983, p. 111
^Lacy, "Aktaion and a Lost 'Bath of Artemis'"The Journal of Hellenic Studies110 (1990:26-42)
^Gantz (p.275) notes that "[t]he text here seems to indicate that Arkas (and others) pursued [Callisto] only after she had entered the sanctuary, and only because she had done so"
^In the first version, Artemis was not aware the bear was Callisto. (Gantz, p. 727) Of the second version, Gantz (p. 727) says that it "[q]uite probably … implies a variant in which Kallisto does not become a bear at all, as Artemis is not likely to transform herand shoot her, or to slay her for her own reasons after Hera has accomplished the transformation"
^Apollodorus,3.8.2; Gantz, p.727; Tripp, s.v. Callisto, p. 145–146; cf. Eumelos, fr. 32 (West 2003,p.248–249) [=Apollodorus,3.8.2. Gantz (p.727) suggests that this version may have come fromPherecydes, while West 2003 says thatEumelos "must have told the story of how Zeus made love to Callisto and changed her into a bear. Artemis killed her, but Zeus saved her child, who was Arcas." (West 2003,p.249, note 26 to fr. 32)
^Budin,p. 110 "One site especially famous for its choruses dedicated to Artemis was Ephesos. According to the Hellenistic poet Kallimakhos, this custom was established by the Amazons who founded the cult by dancing around a wooden image of the goddess."
^Maria Spathi (2018) "Findings of cultic traditions for goddess Artemis", p. Center for Hellenic studies in Greece. Harvard University.Cultic traditions of Artemis
^"Theater and Autocracy in Ancient world" (2022), p.65 eds. Walter de Gruyter.p.65
^abcdHjerrild, B. (2009). Near Eastern equivalents to Artemis. Tobias Fischer-Hansen & Birte Poulsen, eds.From Artemis to Diana: The Goddess of Man and Beast. Museum Tusculanum Press.ISBN8763507889, 9788763507882
^abBergmann, Bettina, Joseph Farrell, Denis Feeney, James Ker, Damien Nelis, andCelia Schultz. "An Exciting Provocation: John F. Miller's 'Apollo, Augustus, and the Poets.'" Vergilius (1959-) 58 (2012):10–11
^Greek poets variously described Artemis's bow as silver or gold: "Over the shadowy hills and windy peaks she draws her golden bow." (Homeric Hymn to Artemis), and it is a golden bow as well inOvid,Metamorphoses 1.693, where her nymph's is of horn. "And how often goddess, didst thou make trial of thy silver bow?", asksCallimachus for whom it is aCydonian bow that theCyclopes make for her (Callimachus, Hymn 3 to Artemis)
^"APEX – Artemis". Apex-telescope.org. 11 January 2010. Retrieved25 March 2013.
^According toHesiod,Theogony927–929, Hephaestus was produced by Hera alone, with no father, see Gantz, p. 74.
^According toHesiod'sTheogony886–890, of Zeus's children by his seven wives, Athena was the first to be conceived, but the last to be born; Zeus impregnated Metis then swallowed her, later Zeus himself gave birth to Athena "from his head", see Gantz, pp. 51–52, 83–84.
^According toHesiod,Theogony183–200, Aphrodite was born from Uranus's severed genitals, see Gantz, pp. 99–100.
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