Artemis
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- For other uses, see Artemis (disambiguation).
Image:Diane de Versailles Leochares.jpg
In Greek mythology, Artemis (/Template:IPA/) (Greek Ἀρτεμις) is the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo. In later times she was conflated with the goddess Diana of Roman mythology. In Etruscan mythology, she took the form of Artume.
Contents |
Worship
| Greek deities series |
|---|
| Primordial deities |
| Titans |
| Aquatic deities |
| Chthonic deities |
| Personified concepts |
| Other deities |
| Olympians |
| Zeus and Hera, |
| Poseidon, Hades, |
| Hestia, Demeter, |
| Aphrodite, Athena, |
| Apollo, Artemis, |
| Ares, Hephaestus, |
| Hermes, Dionysus |
Artemis was the virgin goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, and childbirth. She was worshipped as a fertility/childbirth goddess in some places since, according to some myths, she assisted her mother in the delivery of her twin. During the Classical period in Athens, she was identified with Hecate. Artemis also assimilated Caryatis (Carya) and Ilithyia.
Artemis was worshipped almost everywhere in Greece, but her most well known cults were in Brauron, Mounikhia (located on a hill near the port Piraeus), and Sparta.
In Asia Minor, a goddess identified with Artemis was a principal deity. The city of Ephesus is probably the best known of the Asian centers of her worship, from the story in the Acts of the Apostles, where the Ephesian metalsmiths who feel threatened by Paul's preaching of the new faith, zealously riot in her defense, shouting "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" (Acts 19:28 KJV)
Festivals in honor of Artemis include Elaphebolia, Mounikhia, Kharisteria, Brauronia, and the festival of Artemis Orthia in Sparta.
Young Athenian girls between the ages of five and ten were sent to the sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron to serve the Goddess for one year. During this time the girls were known as arktoi, or little she-bears. A myth explaining this servitude relates that a bear had gotten into the habit of regularly visiting the town of Brauron, and the people there fed it, so that over time the bear became tame. A young girl teased the bear, and, in some versions of the myth it killed her, while in other versions it clawed her eyes out. 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.
In many parts of ancient Greece, just before marriage young women would dedicate toys, dolls, and locks of their hair to Artemis.
Diana
The Romans equated their Goddess Diana with Artemis.
Artemis in art
Image:Statue of Artemis Ephesus.jpg
In art, she was typically portrayed with a her bow and arrows and accompanied by a deer. As Potnia Theron she was shown having large wings and holding an animal in either hand, usually a stag and a leopard, but sometimes a leopard and a lion.
In Ephesus, the Temple of Artemis became one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In Ephesus, and elsewhere in Asia Minor, she was worshipped primarily as an earth and fertility goddess, akin to Cybele, unlike in mainland Greece. Statues in Greece depict her with her bow and arrow. In Asia Minor, she was often depicted with multiple rounded protuberances on her chest. They were formerly believed to be multiple breasts but are now known to have represented bull testes (see right).
Appellations
As Agrotora, she was especially associated as the patron goddess of hunters. Artemis was often associated with the local Aeginian goddess, Aphaea. As Potnia Theron, she was the patron of wild animals; Homer used this title. As Kourotrophos, she was the nurse of youths. As Locheia, she was the goddess of childbirth and midwives. She was sometimes known as Cynthia, from her birthplace on Mount Cynthus on Delos. She sometimes used the name Phoebe, the feminine form of her brother, Apollo's, Phoebus.
Birth
In Greek mythology Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. Leto had to find a place where the sun had never shone to give birth to the two due to a curse set by Hera, Zeus' wife. For this, Zeus rose an island that had been floating underwater and not yet touched by the sun. The island was Delos, and Leto gave birth there. Artemis was born first and then assisted Leto in the birth of her brother. Artemis and Apollo were born greater than any of Hera's children.
Childhood
At three years old, Artemis asked her father, Zeus, while sitting on the god king's knee, to grant her several wishes. She asked to never have to be married and to have lop-eared hounds, stags to lead her chariot, and nymphs as her hunting companions. He granted her wishes. All of her companions remained virgins, and she guarded her chastity very closely.
Tales of Artemis and Men
Actaeon
She was once bathing naked in the woods when the Theban prince and hunter Actaeon stumbled across her. He stopped and stared, amazed at her ravishing beauty. He was so stunned that he accidentally stepped on a twig, and Artemis noticed him. She was so disgusted at his stares that she changed him to a stag and set his own hounds to kill him. He was torn apart by the deadly hunting dogs, who never knew that the stag they were hunting was their own master. Alternatively, Actaeon boasted that he was a better hunter than she and Artemis turned him into a stag and he was eaten by his hounds.
Adonis
In some versions of the story of Adonis, Artemis or Ares (her lover in this story) sent a wild boar to kill Adonis. This version is suspect because it implies that Artemis had lain with Ares and by virtually all accounts, she remained chaste throughout time.
It is important to notice that the concept of "virginity" is rather different from what it is nowadays. At that time it is strongely believed that "to be a virgin woman" was considered the unmarried woman, with no strings attached to any man, therefore endorsing Ártemis' nature of untameable.
Siproites
A Cretan, Siproites, saw Artemis bathing nude and was changed by her into a woman. (The complete story does not survive in any mythographer's works, but is mentioned offhand by Antoninus Liberalis.)
Orion
After leaving Eos, Orion became a follower of Artemis. She eventually killed him, though the reasons given vary:
- Orion and Artemis were engaged. Her brother, Apollo didn't believe it was appropriate for her to marry a mortal. Apollo convinced Orion to walk out into the water and then dared Artemis to try to hit the barely visible speck (actually Orion's head) with an arrow from the shore. She succeeded, killing him.
- Orion raped one of Artemis' female followers. She sent Scorpio, a scorpion, to kill him and both were placed in the stars as constellations. This legend explains why the constellation Scorpio rises just after Orion begins to set -- the scorpion still chases him. Orion's dog became Sirius, the dog-star.
- Artemis was in love with Orion. She was very happy and spent many of her days hunting with him. Apollo, her brother, got jealous that she was paying more attention to Orion than to himself, so he came up with a plan to get rid of him. Apollo sent a giant scorpion to kill Orion, but Artemis put him on an island where the scorpion could not get to him. Apollo then challenged Artemis, saying that she could not hit with a bowshot what appeared to be a rock, but was really Orion, far out in the water. When Orion's dead body floated to the shore, Artemis wept for days. She sent his body and his hunting dog to the stars, where they became the constellations Orion and the dog star Sirius. The scorpion became the constellation Scorpio.
Other stories
Callisto
Image:Tizian 015.jpgArtemis killed any of her companions who lost their virginity, such as Maera and Callisto.
One of Artemis' companions, Callisto, lost her virginity to Zeus, who had come disguised as Artemis. Enraged, Artemis changed her into a bear. Callisto's son, Arcas, nearly killed his mother while hunting, but Zeus or Artemis stopped him and placed them both in the sky as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.
Agamemnon and Iphigenia
Artemis punished Agamemnon after he killed a sacred deer in a sacred grove and boasted he was a better hunter. On his way to Troy to participate in the Trojan War, Agamemnon's ships were suddenly motionless as Artemis stopped the wind. An oracle named Calchis told Agamemnon that the only way to appease Artemis was to sacrifice Iphigenia, his daughter. According to some versions, he did so, but others claims that he sacrificed a deer in her place and Iphigenia was taken to Crimea to prepare others for sacrifice to Artemis.
Otus and Ephialtes
Otus and Ephialtes were a pair of brothers and giants. At one point, they wanted to storm Mt. Olympus. They managed to kidnap Ares and hold him in a jar for thirteen months. He was only released when Artemis offered to sleep with Otus. This made Ephialtes envious and the pair fought. Artemis changed herself into a doe and jumped between them. The Aloadae, not wanting her to get away, threw their spears and killed each other.
Atalanta and Oeneus
Artemis saved the infant Atalanta from dying of exposure after her father abandoned her. She sent a female bear to suckle the baby, who was then raised by hunters.
Among other adventures, Atalanta participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar, which Artemis had sent to destroy Calydon because King Oeneus had forgotten her at the harvest sacrifices.
Artemis in Neopaganism
Many Neopagans that worship Artemis today seem to omit many of the ancient myths. Those myths which are accepted by modern Neopagans seem to be interpreted rather abstractly, as mostly metaphor. Artemis is believed to be rather concerned with her follower's well being, but to reserve her boons to those who respect nature. Artemis, in this type of modern worship, is often seen as the goddess of wealth, magic, abundance, fertility, hunting, and longevity. While many who practice magic worship Hecate more favor Artemis for her supposed benevolence. Worship of Artemis may often include the burning of oils and incense, prayer, ritual nocturnal hunts, the burning of bread, and prostration. Artemis is thought to grant numerous boons and blessings on her followers, and is commonly worshipped by both men and women.
In contrast, modern practitioners of Hellenic Reconstructionism, Hellenic Polytheism, or Hellenismos see Artemis in a much more traditional light, viewing her primarily as a Goddess of hunting, wild animals, nature, wildness, women, childbirth, and girls. They accept the validity and importance of all of the ancient myths, attempting to learn the lessons beneath the details. Modern Hellenic rituals tend to reflect the rituals of ancient Greece, modified for practicality and feasibility in the modern world. The three festivals of Artemis most often worshipped in the modern day are Elaphebolia, Mounikhia, and Kharisteria or Agrotera. Activities of worship include dedication of deer shaped cakes at Elaphebolia and amphiphontes (cakes 'shining all around') at Mounikhia, and activities such as archery contests and dances can happen at any time. Offering Artemis small model animals has also become popular.als:Artemis (Mythologie) ast:Artemisa bg:Артемида ca:Àrtemis cs:Artemis da:Artemis de:Artemis (Mythologie) el:Άρτεμις (μυθολογία) es:Artemisa fr:Artémis ko:아르테미스 hi:आर्टेमिस it:Artemide he:ארטמיס lv:Artemīda lb:Artemis (Mythologie) lt:Artemidė hu:Artemisz (mitológia) nl:Artemis ja:アルテミス no:Artemis pl:Artemida pt:Artemis ro:Artemis ru:Артемида sk:Artemis sl:Artemida (mitologija) sr:Артемида fi:Artemis sv:Artemis tr:artemis uk:Артеміда zh:阿尔忒弥斯