Artemis

God InfoBox Artemis, lady of the Hunt. Details Gender Female Cult center Calydon Parents Zeus and Leto Siblings Apollo Symbols Golden bow & arrows; Deer (stag or hind); Hunting spears; Knee-length dress; Animal-pelt; Hunting-boots; Deer; Wild beasts; Lyre; Torches Roman equivalent Diana

Artemis was the chaste Olympian goddess of the hunt and the moon, and the protector of the wilderness, lakes & marshes, and animals and birds. She was the patron of the girl-child, and her health and well-being, entertainment and protection. She embodied the spirit of hunting, and the huntress of souls. She protected the wild places and animals; to her was known the deep places in Nature where one could rest and regain strength. Violence for itself was abhorrent to her, yet she was swift to deal out punishment to offenders, especially those who threatened or harrassed women.

She was to the females as Apollo was to the males -- she was the goddess of disease, sickness and sudden death in maidens. She was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. In later Hellenistic times, she became a goddess of childbirth and fertility, assuming the role of the goddess Eileithyia. She was often depicted with the crescent of the moon above her forehead and was sometimes identified with Selene (goddess of the moon). Her main vocation was to roam mountain forests and uncultivated land with her nymphs in attendance hunting for lions, panthers, hinds and stags. Contradictory to the later, she helped in protecting and seeing to their well-being, also their safety and reproduction. She was armed with a bow and arrows which were made by Hephaestus and the Cyclopes.

The deer, bear and the cedar were sacred to her. She was also sometimes considered as a sorceress, or a goddess of trickery. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals". The Arcadians believed she was the daughter of Demeter. The Romans equated her with the goddess Diana.

Etymology

Ancient Greek writers linked Artemis (Doric Artamis) by way of folk etymology to artemes (ἀρτεμής) ‘safe’ or artamos (ἄρταμος) ‘butcher’. However, the name Artemis (variants Arktemis, Arktemisa) is most likely related to Greek árktos ‘bear’ (from PIE *h₂ŕ̥tḱos), supported by the bear cult that the goddess had in Attica (Brauronia) and the Neolithic remains at the Arkouditessa, as well as the story about Callisto, which was originally about Artemis (Arcadian epithet kallisto).

This cult was a survival of very old totemic and shamanistic rituals and formed part of a larger bear cult found further afield in other Indo-European cultures (e.g., Gaulish Artio). It is believed that a precursor of Artemis was worshiped in Minoan Crete as the goddess of mountains and hunting, Britomartis. While connection with Anatolian names has been suggested, the earliest attested forms of the name Artemis are the Mycenaean Greek a-te-mi-to and a-ti-mi-te, written in Linear B at Pylos. Artemis was venerated in Lydia as Artimus.

Imagery

The oldest representations of Artemis in Greek Archaic art portray her as Potnia Theron ("Queen of the Beasts"): a winged goddess holding a stag and leopard in her hands, or sometimes a leopard and a lion. This winged Artemis lingered in ex-votos as Artemis Orthia, with a sanctuary close by Sparta.

In Greek classical art she is usually portrayed as a maiden huntress, tall, slim and young, in the shooting pose, clothed in a knee-length chiton and wearing hunting boots. Often, she is accompanied by a hunting dog or stag. When portrayed as a goddess of the moon, 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 of Niobe.

Only in post-Classical art do we find representations of Artemis-Diana with the crown of the crescent moon, as Luna. In the ancient world, although she was occasionally associated with the moon, she was never portrayed as the moon itself. Ancient statues of Artemis have been found with crescent moons, but these moons are always Renaissance-era additions.