Artemis

Greek mythology – Present

Goddess of the hunt, the wild, and the moon; twin sister of Apollo and a protector of young animals and girls.

greek mythologygoddessolympian

Artemis was the Greek goddess of the hunt, wild animals, and the moon. She was the daughter of Zeus and the twin of Apollo: two archers, one tied to moonlight and the forest, the other to sunlight and the lyre. Myths say she asked Zeus for eternal independence and became a goddess who did not marry, a sharp contrast to Hera’s role as goddess of marriage. Greeks pictured her with a bow, a deer, and a band of huntresses. She could be a helper of girls coming of age and a sudden punisher of hunters who showed disrespect, as in the story of Actaeon. That mix, care and danger, is how Greeks imagined the wild itself. How we know. Twin temples and festivals (including at Ephesus, later one of the ancient world’s great sanctuaries) show a real cult. She is less central to Homer’s Odyssey than Athena, but she completes the Olympian family students meet in the Odyssey journey. Pair her with Apollo at Delphi.

Artemis

Further reading