Gods and Goddesses
Eastern Mediterranean
Greek
Artemis

ORIGIN: Greek

TYPE: Goddess of animals and hunting.

KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: Circa 800 BCE and earlier until Christianization (circa 400 CE) and probably later.

SYNONYMS: Potnia Theron (mistress of the animals)

CENTER(S) OF CULT: Antioch-near-Pisidia; Delos; Magnesia-on-the-Maeander; Pamphylia; Perge; Epheseus [Turkey]

ART REFERENCES: Cultic statues, etc., most notably the multibreasted figures at Ephesus.

LITERARY SOURCES: Cuneiform texts (earlier Asian models); Iliad (Homer), Theogony (Hesiod)

ABODE: Mount Olympus

PLANET: Moon

ANIMALS: Deer, serpent, dog, boar, goat, bear, quail, buzzard, Guineafowl

SYMBOL: Bow and arrows, crescent moon, animal pelts, spear, knives, torch, lyre, amaranth

TREE: Cypress, palm, walnut

MOUNT: A golden chariot driven by four golden-horned deer.

BORN: Delos

PARENTS: Zeus and Leto

SIBLINGS: Apollo (twin), Aeacus, Angelos, Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, Dionysus, Eileithyia, Enyo, Eris, Ersa, Hebe, Helen of Troy, Hephaestus, Heracles, Hermes, Minos, Pandia, Persephone, Perseus, Rhadamanthus, The Graces, The Horae, The Litae, The Muses, The Morai.

EQUIVALENTS:

INFORMATION:
Artemis is a deity of very ancient origins who survived and attracted great popularity in both Asia Minor and Greece into Christian times, when arguably much of her ethos was transferred to the Virgin Mary. Both figures enjoyed major sanctuaries at Ephesus. As an Asiatic goddess Artemis was often drawn winged and standing between wild animals. In this context she generally appears equipped with boots, a torch and a pointed cap. She is also a strongly androgynous figure, a feature depicted dramatically in the statue of Artemis of Ephesus. Her temple at Ephesus dates from the fourth century BCE and is ranked among the seven wonders of the world. The cult statues were carried in procession on May 25 among a congregation of up to 30,000.
To the Greeks she was the daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was honored in the sanctuary on Delos with its celebrated Horn Altar from circa 700 BCE. In Greek mythology that androgynous aspect was firmly discounted. In her earliest pre-Homeric form the Mistress of Animals "suckles the young of every wild creature that roams the fields." As a huntress she uses a bow and arrows.
By Homeric times the ferocity of this prehistoric element has waned in favor of a more timid image of a young girl dominated robustly by her step-mother Hera. A contrary character study in the Odyssey pictures her more positively as a virgin goddess chasing and killing boars and hinds over the hills and fields, fleet of foot and in company with a band of nymphs. She presides over nature and over the initiation rituals of young girls. SHe is also a goddess of blood sacrifice. A cruel element emerged in a different sense as ashe threatened any maiden who turned to the role of wife. Paradoxically, and more in keeping with the old Semitic personality, she is also the goddess of birth.