Artemis in Greek mythology the daughter of Zeus and of Leto and the twin sister of Apollo was one of the most widely venerated of the gods and manifestly one of the oldest deities (Burkert 1985:149).
In later times she was combined with the Roman goddess Diana. In Etruscan mythology, she took the form of Artume. Deer and cypress are sacred to her.
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, because she was angry with Zeus. For this, Zeus raised an island that had been floating underwater and not yet touched by the sun. The island was Delos, and Leto gave birth there, while grasping hold of a sacred palm-tree. Artemis was born first, on the 6th of the month. She then proceeded to assist her mother with the birth of Apollo, who was born on the 7th.
Artemis was worshipped almost everywhere in the Hellenic world. She is the goddess of the hunt and the wild she gradually displaced Selene (the titaness of the moon) as goddess of the moon. Her best known cults were in her birthplace, the island of Delos in Brauron Mounikhia (located on a hill near the port Piraeus) and in Sparta. Artemis is usually pictured naked in statues or paintings with deer, bow and arrows, in a forest setting.
In Ionia the "Lady of Ephesus", a goddess whom Hellenes identified with Artemis, was a principal deity. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (located in western part of Turkey), one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was probably the best known center of her worship apart from Delos. In Acts of the Apostles, the Ephesian metalsmiths who feel threatened by Paul's preaching of the new faith, jealously riot in her defense, shouting "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians".
Athenian festivals in honor of Artemis include Elaphebolia, Mounikhia, Kharisteria, Brauronia the festival of Artemis Orthia was observed 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 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 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.
Virginal Artemis 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.
Product Details
Code: 337
Dimensions: 10x14cm
Colors: White, Black, Brown