There are countless gods and goddesses in the stories that were accepted as a religion in the ancient Greek period and transferred to the present day as Greek mythology. One of them is the goddess Artemis. Artemis, the daughter of Zeus, the god of gods, is the sister of Apollo, who is also the sun god. She is one of the most important female figures in Greek mythology stories.
Many important stories are told, in which Artemis plays a major role. If we look at all the stories in general, we see that Artemis is the protector of young women and the wild nature. The most important reason for undertaking this mission is actually a kind of childhood trauma that he has experienced. Let’s take a closer look at what Artemis is not a god, what she protects, and let’s see some of the stories she is talking about.
A goddess who took a vow of virginity because she saw her brother’s birth: Who is Artemis?
Artemis is the daughter of Zeus, the god of gods in Greek mythology, and the goddess Leto. Born on Delos Island, Artemis is also the two sisters of the sun god Apollo. However, she was born the day before Apollo and helped her mother during his birth. Her mother suffered so much during childbirth that Artemis swore never to marry, not to have children, and to remain a virgin. In another story, she asks for eternal virginity as a gift from her father, Zeus.
So what god is Artemis?
Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo, has a structure based on contrasts, even though she has similar characteristics with her brother. Therefore, Apollo is the sun god while Artemis is the moon goddess. It is also for this reason that Apollo is called Phoebos and Artemis is called Phoebe. Both use bow and arrow. Apollo’s arrows are reflections of sunlight, Artemis’ arrows are reflections of moonlight.
Artemis is also known as the goddess of the hunt, nature, animals, plants, childbirth, children and chastity. Artemis, who wanders in the forest with other hunters who believed in her and took the oath of virginity, especially protects the baby animals. Men who wanted to approach Artemis, a goddess mostly prayed to by women, were punished by her being transformed into a deer or a rabbit. In some stories, it is told that he killed those who broke the vow of virginity with his arrows.
The king’s daughter, who rebelled against her mother, killed all her children:
Niobe, the daughter of the king of Lydia, married the king Amphion and gave birth to 6 girls and 6 boys. Proud of having so many children, Niobe became arrogant by humiliating the goddess Leto. Niobe’s 6 boys were killed by Apollo and 6 girls by Artemis in order to punish this behavior towards their mother. Unable to endure this pain, Niobe turned to stone. Today, it is possible to see the stone face of Niobe in Manisa.
Woe to those who do not make a vow to Artemis:
Meleagros, the son of the king of Kalidon, made a vow to all gods for the harvest festival, but forgot to dedicate it to Artemis. Angry at this, Artemis sends a huge pig to the area. This pig starts to destroy all the fields. When Meleagros can’t cope, their neighbor calls the Curettes and the pig is killed.
Since Artemis’ anger does not subside, he starts a fight between the Curettes and the Kalidonians. Cursed by his mother for not being able to protect his uncles, Meleagros leaves the country, and the Curettes destroy the country. The people call Meleagros again and the Curettes are expelled. In another story, this pig is killed by Atalante, a character we have told here before, but the hunters, who cannot accept that a woman is held above them, rebel.
Troubles come to those who do not stay away from their holy deer:
Iphigeneia hunts one of Artemis’ sacred deer during a hunt with her father, the Spartan king Agamemnon. Enraged, Artemis blocks the wind, stopping their ship bound for the Trojan War. His only condition for leaving the ships is for Agamemnon to kill his own daughter. Just as Agamemnon was about to slit his own daughter’s throat, Artemis took pity on the girl and allowed her to kill a deer instead.
Artemis nearly broke her oath out of love for Orion:
Artemis, who is in love with the handsome hunter Orion, decides to marry this man by breaking her vow of virginity, but this time her brother Apollo does not allow it. When Artemis still insists, Apollo tells Orion to swim to a very far point and bets Artemis to hit that far point. When Artemis hits him with an arrow without realizing that it is Orion, she gets very upset and asks her father Zeus to stay in the sky as a constellation.
In another story, Artemis and Orion, who are in love with each other, are hunting in the forest one day. When Orion approaches and takes Artemis’s hand, Artemis, who touches her hand for the first time, gets very angry and kills her. However, he immediately regrets it and asks his father Zeus to resurrect him. Zeus said he could not do this and immortalized Orion as a constellation in the sky.
He does not like arrogant hunters:
Aktaion, a Thebian hunter, is indeed a very good hunter, and for this reason, he becomes arrogant and begins to consider himself superior to Artemis. Angered by this, Artemis turns Aktaion into a deer and unleashes his fifty dogs on him. As Aktaion’s dogs do not know that they are tearing their owners apart, they start to attack in anger while looking for him. Chiron then makes a statue of Aktaion and calms the dogs.
Actually, we all know the name Artemis as one of the Seven Wonders of the World:
The Temple of Artemis, located in the Ancient City of Ephesus, located within the borders of İzmir province of our country, is a sacred place built in the name of the goddess Artemis. It is here as a symbol of abundance and fertility. The Temple of Artemis; The Pyramid of Giza is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, along with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Artemis is also a unique figure for the art world:
When we examine ancient Greek art, Artemis generally appears as a beautiful womanizer with a spear in her hand. At the same time, there is a deer and a hunting dog figure next to it. Artemis, which we also see in red and black colored vases, is emphasized as a goddess, especially in early works, and is sometimes even shown as winged.
We answered questions such as who is Artemis, one of the most important goddesses in ancient Greek mythology, and what goddess. When you hear the stories in Greek mythology, one cannot help but wonder whose imagination they are.
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