Artemis

Born on the island of Delos moments before her twin Apollo, Artemis asked her father Zeus for eternal virginity, a bow and arrows, and dominion over all the mountains. Zeus granted every wish. She became the greatest hunter among the gods, equally skilled at protecting wildlife and pursuing it.

Artemis was fiercely protective of her chastity and punished any who threatened it. When the hunter Actaeon stumbled upon her bathing, she transformed him into a stag, and his own hounds tore him apart. She also demanded the sacrifice of Iphigenia from Agamemnon after he boasted of being a better hunter.

Despite her association with virginity, Artemis was paradoxically also a goddess of childbirth, having helped her mother deliver Apollo immediately after her own birth. Women in labor called upon her for protection, and her temples served as places of refuge.