Artemis

ARTEMIS GODDESS ARTEMIS

GENERAL INFO

I) What was Artemis the goddess of?

GODDESS OF WILD ANIMALS & HUNTING

Patron of: Wild Animals & Birds; Wilderness; Lakes; Marshes; Hunting; Fowling;Fishing (lakes, rivers, sea); Hunting bows, spears & nets; Hunting dogs; Fishing nets; Animal pelts & skins; Animal rabies
Favour: Success in hunting, fishing and fowling
Curse: Wild animals sent to plague men (boars, bears); Hunting injury

GODDESS OF
CHILD DELIVERY &
NURSING INFANTS

Patron of: Child delivery; Nursing infants
Favour: Successful delivery; Infant survival
Curse: Death in childbirth; Stillborn infants; Infant mortality

GODDESS OF GIRLS

Patron of: the Girl-child
Favour: Growth; Good-health
Curse: Stunted growth; Illness & disease; Sudden death

GODDESS OF MAIDEN DANCE & SONG

Patron of: Maiden dances; Maiden song

GODDESS OF
DISEASE, PLAGUE &
SUDDEN DEATH

Patron of: Disease, plague & sudden death (women & girls);
Healing; Good health
Favour: Good health; Recovery from illness
Curse: Sudden death; Plague; Illness

II) What were her symbols, attributes,
sacred plants and animals?

SYMBOLS

Golden bow & arrows; Deer (stag or hind)

ATTRIBUTES

Golden bow & arrows; Hunting spears; Knee-length dress; Animal-pelt; Hunting-boots; Deer; Wild beasts; Lyre; Torches

CHARIOT

Drawn by four golden-horned deer

SACRED PLANTS / FLOWERS

Cypress (Greek "kyparissos"); Walnut-tree (Greek "karya");
Amaranth-flower (Greek "amarantos")

SACRED ANIMALS

Deer (Greek "elaphos"); Bear (Greek "arktos"); Wild-boar (Greek "hus")

SACRED BIRDS

Guinea-fowl ( Greek "meleagris"); possibly Quail (Greek "ortyx");
Buzzard-hawk (Greek "triorkhes"?); Unidentified sea-bird (Greek "byssa")

III) Who were the family & attendants of Artemis?

FATHER

ZEUS King of the Gods, son of the Titanes Kronos and Rhea

MOTHER

LETO Titanis of Motherhood, daughter of the Titanes Koios and Phoibe

HUSBAND

None, she was a virgin goddess

DIVINE CHILDREN

None, she was a virgin goddess

ATTENDANTS & MINIONS

OKEANIDES Cloud-Nymphai (only 60 of the 3000)
NAIADES Fresh-water Nymphai (only some)
BRITOMARTIS Goddess of Nets
Apotheosed girl-companions (eg Phylonoe, Polyboia, Iphigeneia, Oupis)
Mortal hunting companions (eg Kallisto, Hippolytos)

IV) Where and how was she worshipped?

PATRON OF REGIONS

Aitolia in Greece; Delos, Greek Island; Lykia in Anatolia

HOLIEST SHRINE

Delos, Greek Island (where she was born)
Ephesos in Lykia, Anatolia

OTHER SHRINES

Temples throughout Greece and Anatolia

ASPECTS OF ARTEMIS

Titanis Phoibe (Bright); Titanis Eurybia (Wide-Power);Titanis Eos (Dawn);
Titanis Hekate (Far-Shooter); Britomartis-Diktynna (Lady of the Nets)

IDENTIFIED WITH
NON-GREEK GODS

Diana (Roman goddess); Bendis (Thracian goddess); Bastet (Egyptian goddess); "Perasia" (Cappadocian goddess); "Tauria" (Taurian goddess)

V) What were some popular myths about Artemis?

SAGA OF THE GODS

* Leto pregnant with Artemis and Apollon, fled heaven, and landed on the island of Ortygia in the form of a quail. There she birthed Artemis, who assisted her mother with the delivery of her twin brother Apollon.
* When the Aloadai Gigantes attempted to storm heaven and take Artemis and Hera for their wives, Artemis ran between them in the form of a deer, causing them to cast their spears and strike each other dead.

FAVOUR & BLESSINGS

* Artemis' beloved hunting companion Orion, foolishly boasted that he would slay all the beasts of the earth. Gaia (the Earth) sent forth a scorpion to slay him, and when he fell, the grief-stricken Artemis placed him amongst the stars as the constellation Orion.
* Arethousa, fleeing the lusty pursuit of the River-God Alpheios, prayed to her comrade Artemis for help. The goddess transformed her into a spring and so she eluded Alpheios.
* Hippolytos, a companion and devotee of Artemis, was slain through the machinations of Aphrodite, as punishment for his scorning of love. Artemis petitioned Asklepios to bring the boy back to life, and spirited him away to her sacred shrine in Aricia.

WRATH & PUNISHMENT

* Artemis transformed the hunter Aktaion into a stag, to be torn apart by his own hounds, as punishment for spying on her whilst she bathed.
* Artemis and Apollon slew the seven sons and seven daughters of Niobe as punishment for her arrogant boasts that she was superior in motherhood to their own mother Leto.
* She transformed her one-time companion Kallisto into a bear, when it was revealed that the girl had forsworn her pledge of virginity, becoming pregnant by the god Zeus.
* Artemis sent a gigantic boar to plague the Kalydonians, when their King Oineus neglected her share in the offering of the first fruits of the season to the gods.
* The goddess sent storms to prevent the Greek fleet from sailing for Troy as punishment for Agamemnon's foolish boasts that he surpassed the goddess in hunting. To appease her wrath he offered his daughter up as sacrifice. The goddess snatched her away before the killing blow was felled and substituted a deer.

PICTURES

I) Depictions of Artemis in Greek Vase Painting

These images of Artemis come from Ancient Greek Vases, painted approximately
2,500 years ago. NB Click on thumbnails to view full-size images.


II) Other Classical Depictions of Artemis

Artemis was also depicted in classical statues, stone reliefs, frescoes and coins.

SELECTED MYTHS (short versions)

I) Artemis & the Death of Aktaion

"To Autonoe and Aristaios was born a son Aktaion, who was reared by Kheiron and trained as a huntsman, but was later eaten up on Kithairon by his own dogs [because] ... he saw Artemis bathing. They say that the goddess changed him on the spot into a deer, and drove his fifty hunting dogs into a frenzy so that they unintentionally ate him. When he was no more, they looked for their master with great howls and bays." Source: Apollodorus, The Library 3.30

II) Artemis & the Daughters of Niobe

"Amphion married Niobe, the daughter of Tantalos, who bore him seven sons ...and as many daughters ... With her fine brood Niobe claimed to be more blest with children than Leto. Leto was annoyed by this, and urged Artemis and Apollon against Niobe’s children. Artemis killed all the females in the house with her arrows, an Apollon all the males as they were hunting together on Mount Kithairon. Of the males only Amphion was spared, and of the females only Khloris the elder." Source: Apollodorus , The Library 3.46

III) Artemis & the Gigante Orion

"Diana [Artemis] loved [the giant] Orion and came near marrying him. Apollo [her twin brother] took this hard, and when scolding her brought no results, on seeing the head of Orion who was swimming a long way off, he wagered her that she couldn’t hit with her arrows the black object in the sea. Since she wished to be called an expert in that skill, she shot an arrow and pierced the head of Orion. The waves brought his slain body to the shore, and Diana [Artemis], grieving greatly that she had struck him, and mourning his death with many tears, put him among the constellations."Source: Hyginus, Astronomica 2.34

IV) Artemis & the Gigantes Aloadai

"When the Aloadai Giants were nine years old and measured eighteen feet across by fifty four feet tall, they decided to fight the gods. So they set Mount Ossa on top of Mount Olympos, and then placed Mount Pelion on top of Ossa, threatening by means of these mountains to climb up to the sky ... Ephialtes paid amorous attention to Hera, as did Otos to Artemis ... Artemis finished off the Aloadai in Naxos by means of a trick: in the likeness of a deer she darted between them, and in their desire to hit the animal they speared each other." Source: Apollodorus, The Library 1.53

V) Artemis & the Sacrifice of Iphigeneia

"When the [Greek] expedition [for Troy] had mustered at Aulis, Agamemnon, while at the chase, shot a stag and boasted that he surpassed even Artemis in hunting. At this the goddess was so angry that she sent stormy winds and prevented them from sailing. Kalkhas then told them of the anger of the goddess and bade them sacrifice Iphigeneia to Artemis. This they attempt to do, sending to fetch Iphigeneia as though for marriage with Akhilleus. Artemis, however, snatched her away and transported her to the Tauroi, making her immortal, and put a stag in place of the girl upon the altar." Source: Proclus, Chrestomathy 1

VI) Artemis & the Kalydonian Boar

"Once when he [Oineus king of Kalydon] was sacrificing first-fruits on behalf of his country, he forgot about Artemis. In her anger she set on them a savage Boar that ravaged the land slaying many. Then Meleagros and the son of Thestios assembled the flower of Greece against the Boar. They arrived and slew the beast. Meleagros assigned the flesh of the boar to the heroes, keeping the head and the hide as his privilege. Because they had slain a Boar sacred to her, Artemis was even more angry and inflicted discord among them. So the sons of Thestios and the other Kouretes seized the hide declaring that it was the half-share of the perquisites due to them [leading to a war between the Kalydonians and Kouretes]." Source: Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 2

VII) Artemis & the Fall of Kallisto

"Callisto was a daughter of Lycaon, who ruled in Arcadia. Out of her zeal for hunting she joined Diana [Artemis], and was greatly loved by the goddess because of their similar temperaments. Later, when made pregnant by Jove [Zeus], she feared to tell the truth to Diana [Artemis]. But she couldn’t conceal it long, for as her womb grew heavier near the time of her delivery, when she was refreshing her tired body in a stream, Diana realized she had not preserved her virginity. In keeping with her deep distrust, the goddess inflicted no light punishment. Taking away her maiden features, she changed her into the form of a bear, called ‘arktos’ in Greek. In this form she bore Arcas ...
[In another version of the story] Jupiter [Zeus], assuming the form of Diana
[Artemis], followed the girl as if to aid her in hunting, and embraced her when out of sight of the rest. Questioned by Diana as to the reason for her swollen form, she replied that it was the goddess’ fault, and because of this reply, Diana changed her into the shape we mentioned above." Source: Hyginus, Astonomica 2.1