Artemis (Wild Goddess)
godThe virgin huntress who roamed the wild places with her nymphs, punishing those who trespassed on her domain with lethal precision.
The Myth
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:
Explore Further
Apollo
godGod of light, music, poetry, and prophecy. Apollo embodied the Greek ideal of youthful masculine...
Artemis
godTwin sister of Apollo and goddess of the hunt. Artemis roamed the wild forests with her band of...
Artemis Brauronia
godAn epithet of Artemis worshipped at Brauron in Attica, where young girls performed bear dances as a...
Zeus
godSupreme ruler of the Olympian gods and lord of the sky. Zeus overthrew his father Kronos and...
Zeus (King)
godZeus was the king of the Olympian gods, ruler of the sky, wielder of the thunderbolt — the supreme...
Actaeon
heroActaeon was a master hunter who accidentally saw Artemis bathing naked — she transformed him into a...
Agamemnon
heroAgamemnon led the Greek coalition against Troy but was murdered upon return by his wife...
Delos
placeDelos was a tiny island in the Cyclades, sacred as the birthplace of the twin gods Apollo and...
Iphigenia
heroIphigenia was Agamemnon's eldest daughter, sacrificed at Aulis to gain winds for Troy — or rescued...
Leto
titanA gentle Titaness and mother of the twin Olympians Apollo and Artemis, persecuted by Hera across...
Niobe
heroA queen who boasted that her fourteen children made her superior to the goddess Leto, who had only...
Actaeon (Transformation)
heroHunter who accidentally saw Artemis bathing and was transformed into a stag, then torn apart by his...