Artemis- Goddess of the moon, wilderness, hunt & wild

animals, and fertility.

• By: Tamara Brisibe

ChastityWhen Artemis was at a very young age, (it was said in one legend that she was 3) she asked her father(Zeus) to grant her eternal Chastity.

All of Artemis’s companions were virgins as well, Artemis was very respectful and protective of her purity, and threatened any man that tried to test that.In one legend, when Actaeon was hunting, he accidentally came upon Artemis and her nyphms bathing in a secluded pool. When Actaeon saw them and stopped to watch, Artemis caught him and turned him into a stag. Then she turned his own hounds upon him, which they chased and killed him, not knowing it was their master.

More about ArtemisDaughter of Leto and Zeus, twin of Apollo.

Artemis was born one day before her brother, almost immediately after she was born, she helped her mom cross the straits over to Delos. Where her mom delivered Apollo. This was the beginning of her role as guardian over young children, and patron over women in child birth.

Apollo

Zeus Leto

Artemis Legends

• Artemis was very possessive and showed wrath upon any one that disobeyed her, some examples are of:

• . The great Agamemnon came upon the wrath of Artemis when he killed a stag in Artemis’s sacred grove. His punishment was when he was sailing to Troy and there were no winds to sail with to get there, the only way Artemis said she would bring the winds back was if Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia. Some legends say Agamemnon did sacrifice her, and others say Artemis exchanged a deer in her place, because of Iphigenia’s bravery and took Iphigenia to the land of Tauri as a priestess to prepare strangers for sacrifice to Artemis.

• Talking more about Artemis’s chastity, when Orion tried to rape her she conjured up a scorpion which killed Orion and his dog, Orion became a constellation in the night sky, while his dog became Sirius the dog star.

• Also, one of Artemis’s nymphs was approached by Zeus(Zeus came in one of his guises and came as Artemis and Callisto gave birth to Arcas, Artemis became enraged, even when Callisto tried to explain that she was unwillingly tricked, Artemis still showed no mercy, turned her into a bear, and shot and killed her.

Artemis’s Involvement in the Trojan War

• Artemis may have been considered a supporter of the Trojans because her twin brother Apollo, was the patron god of the city.

• During the Trojan was, Artemis had an encounter with Hera(technically her step-mom). Apollo (her twin brother) was bragging about how he could beat Poseidon anytime, because Apollo was always bragging, Poseidon decided during the Trojan War would be the best time. When Apollo said “he wouldn’t want to lay a hand on his brother from his own father.” Artemis confronted her younger brother saying she shouldn’t brag in her own fathers house, this was when Hera verbally attacked her while grabbing her wrists and taking Artemis’s arrows from her sack, and hitting Artemis on it with her ears, Artemis ran away leaving her bows behind. This was not one of her bravest moments.

Artemis

The end of Artemis…there really was no end to her, for she was immortal. She was worshiped in the Greek City, and also b the Trojans. Since she was he goddess f fertility, before women go married, the worshipped her in a temple, before they got married. Although Artemis did not die, she was forgotten, along with other Gods when Rome converted t Christianity in 313AD. Her myths and legends still live on.

Bibliography

• Trojan War

• http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Artemis.html