Artemis
The virgin huntress who roamed the wild places with her nymphs, punishing those who trespassed on her domain with lethal precision.
The Myth of Artemis
Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo, born on the island of Delos to Leto and Zeus. She was born first and immediately helped deliver her brother — establishing her paradoxical role as virgin goddess of childbirth. She chose eternal virginity and asked Zeus for a silver bow, a company of sixty ocean-nymphs, all the mountains in the world as her domain, and hounds from Pan. She got everything she asked for. Artemis was merciless to those who offended her: Actaeon saw her bathing and was transformed into a stag, then torn apart by his own dogs. Orion was killed for his presumption (the method varies by tradition). Niobe boasted of having more children than Leto, and Artemis killed all six of her daughters while Apollo killed her sons. Agamemnon killed a deer in her sacred grove, and Artemis becalmed the Greek fleet at Aulis until he sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia (whom she secretly replaced with a deer). Her cult at Brauron involved young girls performing a bear dance — the arkteia.
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
Artemis
⚡ godGoddess of the hunt, wilderness, the moon, childbirth
Twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the hunt. Artemis roamed the wild forests with her band of nymphs, fiercely protecting her virginity and the natural world.
Goddess of the Hunt
💭 conceptHunting, wilderness, childbirth, the moon
Artemis roams the forests with her band of nymphs, protecting wild animals and punishing those who violate her sacred groves.
Artemis Brauronia
⚡ godwilderness, girlhood
An epithet of Artemis worshipped at Brauron in Attica, where young girls performed bear dances as a rite of passage before marriage.
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.
Atalanta
🗡 herospeed, independence
The only woman among the Argonauts in some traditions, a virgin huntress raised by bears who could outrun any man and demanded a footrace as the price of marriage.
Aphrodite
⚡ godGoddess of love, desire, and beauty
The goddess born from sea-foam whose power over desire could override the will of gods and mortals alike.
Cyrene
🌿 nymphhunting, wild beasts
A Thessalian huntress-nymph whose fearless wrestling of a lion attracted Apollo's love, becoming the mother of Aristaeus.
Hera
⚡ godQueen of the gods, marriage, family, childbirth
Queen of the Olympian gods and goddess of marriage. Known for her jealous rages against Zeus's lovers and their children.
Diana
⚡ godHunt, moon, wilderness, crossroads
Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon, and wild places, identified with the Greek Artemis
Meliboea
🌿 nymphnature, grief
A nymph (or mortal woman) who survived the massacre of Niobe's children and was preserved by her extreme pallor of terror.
Circe
⚡ godSorceress goddess of transformation
A powerful sorceress who lived on the island of Aeaea. Circe transformed Odysseus's men into swine and later became his lover and advisor.
Persephone
⚡ godQueen of the Underworld
The daughter of Demeter who became queen of the dead — the goddess who bridges the living world and the realm of the departed.