ZArtemisZ

 

(In Greek)

 

 

* Diana* 

(In Roman)

 

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 Who is she?!

Artemis is the goddess of the hunt, wilderness, wild animals, fertility/birth, and the moon.

She is often depicted wearing a short skirt and hunting boots

while wearing the crescent of the moon on or above her head.

Accompanying her are usually her hounds, nymphs, and her bow and arrow.

 

 

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Parents:

Zeus: son of Titans, Kronos and Rhea. He is also the lord of the gods and the god of the sky^[3]

Leto: daughter of the Titans, Pheobe and Coeus. She was also the Titanis of Mother known as the "hidden and bright one"

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Birth:

     Zeus and Hera were married while Zeus was having an affiar with Leto. Hera was so jealous that she told Leto that she could not give birth in any place the sun shone. Leto decided to go to the island of Ortygia to give birth to Artemis in a cave. One day after her birth, she helped her mother, Leto cross the straits to Delos. There, she helped her mother deliver a painless birth of her twin brother, Apollo. From that day on, pregnent women would pray to Artemis for a safe and painless birth.

 

 

Sibling:

Apollo: god of the sun, light, medicine, and music.

     He is also Artemis' twin brother, born one day after her on the island Delos.

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Symbols:

 

 

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Characteristics:

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      Artemis is a very independent, beautiful, and possesive goddess. She is eternally a young woman, and was granted eternal virginity from her father, Zeus. Leto had taken Artemis to meet her father, Zeus, when she was three. Zeus was so attatched to his little Goddess to the point that he granted her any wish. She asked him, "Pray give me eternal virginity; as many names as my brother Apollo; a bow and arrow like his; the office of bringing light; a saffron hunting tunic with a red hem reaching to my knees; sixty young ocean nymphs; all of the same age, as my maids of honor; twenty river nymphs from Amnisus in Crete, to take care of my buckskins and feed my hounds when I am not out shooting; all the mountains in the world and lastly, any city you care to choose for me, but one will be enough, because I intend to live on mountains most of the time." That is how Artemis gained her everything wish. She assists the wildlife in hunting with her bow and arrows and watches over them in assurance of their safety and reproduction.

     Aside from being the goddess of the hunt, wilderness, and wild animals, she is also the goddess of fertility/birth and the moon. Artemis is known as a goddess of the moon, while her twin brother, Apollo, is the sun god. She is often identified with Selene^[6], the moon goddess, but she is not Selene. Artemis, unlike Selene, kept her virginity which correctly distinguishes her from the other moon goddess. Although Artemis and Selene are both moon goddesses, they both have their own right to be recognized as the moon goddess. Artemis is greatly recgonized as the moon goddess and is often depicted with a lunar crescent on her brow.

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A Major Myth Artemis Was Involved In: 

     Being protective of her purity, Artemis has many myths acquainted with men who wished to change her views upon her virginity or disrespected her in such a way. Such myths often surround Artemis and her wrath towards those men. One myth is the myth of, Artemis's Wrath Towards Actaeon (Aktaion).

     In this myth, there was a valley hidden in the forest called, Gargaphie, which was sacred to Artemis. In its furthest place of the valley, secluded by the woods, a cave was hidden. This cave had carved a natural arch formed by nature and there was a serene spring that flowed into a wide pool. Artemis and her fellow nymphs had finished their days' hunt and had receded towards the cavern to bathe in the cool waters. She handed over he bow and arrows to one of the nymphs, and they all undressed to bathe.

     It is said that the hunter, Actaeon grandson of Cadmus, had also finish his days' hunt and accidentally stumbled upon Artemis' loved pool, and Artemis herself accompanied by her nymphs bathing naked in the secluded pool. He then deliberately climbed on a nearby tree to get a clearer view of the goddess' form, that was when her Naides spotted him. Gazing in awe at their beauty, Acaeon watched as Artemis' loyals nymphs all frantically screamed and gathered around their goddess to cover up her body from his greedy eyes. With no weapons nearby, seeing how she had removed her bow and arrows before bathing, Artemis flung a shower of water onto Actaeon. Angrily, she threatened, "Now tell you saw me here naked without my clothes, if you can tell at all!" At those words, she turned him into a stag by adding antlers to his soaking head, lengthening his neck, making his ears pointy, transforming his hands to hooves, arms to long legs, set his body with a spotted hide, and last let terror in his heart. He leapt out of the cavern as a stag and saw his group of hounds waiting at the entrance for their master. It is said either that Artemis tricked the hounds to turn on their master, or that the hounds simply did not recognize their owner. Actaeon tried to call out to them, but such a stag had no voice of a humans. Seeing the stag, the hunter's own group of hounds chased him down and sank their teeth into his skin. They tore at his flesh and proceded to tear their own beloved master apart to his death.

     This death of the hunter, left Artemis satisfied. As the tale spread, many views upon the matter were made. Some believed that Artemis' violence was unjust while many others praised it, as being proper to her chosen virginity. All that can be said, is that Artemis is truly a possesive virgin goddess. ^[8]

 

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