Reference
- ArtemisAlthough a virgin herself, as Artemis Locheia (“She of the Childbed”) she presided over childbirth along with EILEITHYIA; and as Artemis Kourotrophos (“Nurse of the Young”) she was protector of all young living things, human and animal alike. As Aeschylus puts it (Agamemnon 140–3), she was “kind to the playful cubs of fierce lions, delighting in the suckling young of every wild creature that roams the fields”.
She was the daughter of ZEUS and LETO and the twin-sister of APOLLO, born on the island of DELOS after Leto had wandered through many lands, seeking a place for her labour. Sometimes it was said that Artemis was born first, then acted as midwife for Apollo. Brother and sister were together the two great archer-deities, whose unerring arrows brought death in their train. In the battle of the Gods and the GIANTS, Apollo slew Ephialtes, with Heracles’ help, while Artemis shot Gration. In their relationships with mortals, Artemis in particular was a divinity who often dealt out punishment and death. - DianaGoddess of hunters, an ancient divinity to the Romans; originally considered a goddess of the forest, whose sacred grove stood near Aricia. She was the patroness of hunters, and King Servius Tullius built her a temple on the Aventine Hill, where she became associated both with light (dies, “day”) and Artemis, the Greek sister of Apollo. Festivals held in honor of Diana were Greek in fashion, although she developed cultic aspects at other functions as well. Just as Artemis had many incarnations–Artemis Arcadia, Artemis Tauria, Artemis Ephesia–so did Diana serve as the goddess of a cult in Ephesus. Her statues displayed her concern for fertility, with a multitude of carved breasts. In Rome she joined with Janus, a god of light and the sun, serving as a consort and depicting the light of the moon.
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Perspectives
Artemis
Artemis is a literary, iconographic, and archaeological study of the ancient Greek goddess of the hunt, who presided over the transitions and mediations between the wild and the civilized, youth and maturity, life and death. Beginning with a study of the early origins of Artemis and her cult in the Bronze and Archaic Ages, Budin explores the goddess' persona and her role in the lives of her worshippers. This volume examines her birth and childhood, her place in the divine family, her virginity, and her associations with those places where the wilds become the "cities of just men." The focus then turns to Artemis' role in the lives of children and women, particularly how she helps them navigate the transition to adulthood and, perhaps too often, death. Budin goes on to reconsider some of the more harrowing aspects of Artemis' mythology, such as plague and bloodshed, while also examining some of her kinder, oft overlooked associations. Finally, the role of Artemis in the Renaissance and modern society is addressed, from the on-going fascination with the "breasts" on the statue of Artemis of Ephesos to the Artemisian aspects of Katniss Everdeen. Written in an accessible style, Artemis is a crucial resource for students not only of Greek myth, religion and cult, but also those seeking to understand the lives and roles of girls and women in ancient Greece, as this goddess presided over their significant milestones, from maiden to wife to mother.
Artemisia Gentileschi Around 1622
Mary D. Garrard, author of the acclaimed Artemisia Gentileschi, furthers her study of the seventeenth-century artist in this groundbreaking investigation of two little-known paintings. Taking as case studies the Seville Mary Magdalene and the Burghley House Susanna and the Elders, paintings of circa 1621-22 attributed to Artemisia, Garrard examines the ways that identity, gender, and market pressures interact both in the artist's work and in the criticism and connoisseurship that have surrounded it.
Paul, Artemis, and the Jews in Ephesus
The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZNW) is one of the oldest and most highly regarded international scholarly book series in the field of New Testament studies. Since 1923 it has been a forum for seminal works focusing on Early Christianity and related fields. The series is grounded in a historical-critical approach and also explores new methodological approaches that advance our understanding of the New Testament and its world.
Goddess of the Wilderness
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Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and the keeper of nature's provinces.
Orion
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowArtemis' brother, Apollo, was displeased that Orion and Artemis had fallen in love, and challenged Artemis to shoot a speck that was bobbing in the water. That speck was Orion who had wandered too far out in the water. Artemis fired an arrow out over the sea, hitting the speck. When Artemis realized she had killed Orion, she made him a constellation in the sky.
Artemis, Protector of Nature
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowSacred altars to Artemis are found primarily in the woods and protected flora and fauna, animals and nature.
Artemis: The Forces of Nature
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowArtemis, Apollo’s twin sister, was noted for both her beauty and her cruelty. She protected flora and fauna, especially wild animals, and was not reluctant to punish those who acted against nature. In this program, we visit the temple at Brauron, Arcadia, Mount Cithaeron, and other Artemisian haunts, and learn about Artemis’s birth and youth. Also told are the stories of Orion, Niobe, Callisto, Echo and Narcissus, and Actaeon.
Online Resources
- "Great Is Artemis of the Ephesians": Acts 19:23-41 in Light of Goddess Worship in EphesusArchaeological evidence unearthed from Ephesus demonstrates how widespread and prevalent worship of Artemis was in this city and beyond.1 The city's destruction in the seventh century ce. and subsequent relocation have afforded archaeologists extraordinary access to ancient Ephesus, where they have unearthed the Ephesian theater and stadium, temples, houses, streets, coins, statues, mosaics, and inscriptions.2 Such evidence allows us to see more clearly the socioreligious setting that forms the backdrop for the events about which Luke writes in Acts. According to Greek legend, Ephesian Artemis was the protector of the Amazons, the supposed founders of Ephesus who reflected the wild and ferocious nature of their goddess.
- Becoming Classical Artemis: A Glimpse at the Evolution of the Goddess as Traced in Ancient ArcadiaThis paper is concerned with the evolution of the goddess Artemis in Ancient Greek religion from prehistoric till late historic times. In the related studies, still there is no certainty as to the beginning of worship of Artemis in Ancient Greece and her original concept. Moreover, Artemis’ appearance in the early historic period with the features of the prehistoric Mountain-Mother-Goddess, the Mistress of Animals, the goddess of lakes, the goddess of trees, the goddess of birth and child-care, on the one hand, and as a virgin-huntress who presented rudimentary traits of bear-goddess and deer-goddess, on the other, raises questions whether Artemis originally had all these hypostases or acquired them gradually through assimilation with different goddesses. This paper argues that the concept of Artemis as attested during the historic period was the result of its long development, which consisted of two major phases. Originally, Artemis was a goddess of wild animals and herself was imagined as a bear and a doe. Perhaps, from the beginning, she was regarded as a guardian of sacred rules and a punisher for inappropriate religious behavior. Gradually, Artemis was identified with the old universal goddess of nature and received from her connection with mountain-tops and lakes, responsibility for plant growth and fertility in general, obligation to protect childbirth, etc.. In this paper, the evolution of the concept of Artemis is traced on the basis of her cults practiced in Arcadia, one of a few areas of Ancient Greece where ethno-cultural continuity remained unbroken from prehistoric to late historic times.