Actaeon
Actaeon was a master hunter who accidentally saw Artemis bathing naked — she transformed him into a stag and his own hounds tore him apart.
The Legend of Actaeon
Grandson of Cadmus and a devoted hunter, Actaeon roamed the forests near Thebes with his fifty hounds. Artemis, bathing in a woodland pool sacred to the nymphs, was seen by him and turned him into a stag. His own dogs, unable to recognise their master, tore him apart. Zeus did not intervene, and Chiron fashioned a lifelike statue to comfort the grieving hounds. The tale warns that even the innocent suffer when mortals trespass on the divine, a theme echoed in the fates of Pentheus and Niobe.
Parents
Aristaeus and Autonoe
Symbols
Fun Fact
Titian's "Diana and Actaeon" (1559) was bought by the National Gallery and National Galleries of Scotland for £50 million in 2009.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Actaeon
🗡 heropunishment
Hunter who accidentally saw Artemis bathing and was transformed into a stag, then torn apart by his own hunting dogs.
Actaeon's Transformation
💭 concepttaboo, punishment
The hunter who accidentally saw Artemis bathing naked and was transformed into a stag, then torn apart by his own hounds.
Arcas
🗡 heroKingship, hunting, Arcadia
Eponymous founder and king of Arcadia who was nearly tricked into eating his own transformed mother
Meleager
🗡 heroLeader of the Calydonian Boar Hunt
Meleager's life was bound to a burning log.
Io
🗡 herotransformation
Priestess of Hera transformed into a white cow by Zeus (or Hera), driven across the world by a gadfly until she reached Egypt.
Lycaon
🗡 heroKing transformed into a wolf
Lycaon was the king of Arcadia who tested Zeus by serving him human flesh at a banquet — and was transformed into a wolf as punishment.
Meleager
🗡 heroHero whose life was bound to a burning log
The leader of the Calydonian Boar Hunt whose fate was tied to a charred brand — when it burned out, he died.
Phaea
🗡 heroNone recorded
Monstrous sow of Crommyon that terrorised the countryside until slain by Theseus
Caeneus
🗡 herotransformation
Born as the woman Caenis, raped by Poseidon, who granted her wish to become an invulnerable man.
Atalanta
🗡 heroThe virgin huntress who outran every suitor
The swift-footed huntress who drew first blood against the Calydonian Boar and was only beaten in a footrace by divine trickery.
Io
🗡 heroPriestess transformed into a cow
Io was a priestess of Hera whom Zeus seduced and then transformed into a white cow to hide from his jealous wife — she wandered the world in torment.
Acis
🗡 heroLove, rivers
Sicilian shepherd youth beloved by the sea-nymph Galatea and crushed by the jealous Cyclops Polyphemus