~Artemis~

Artemis Goddess of the Hunt, Wild Animals, Child birth and the Moon. She is the daughter of Leto and Zeus (who once again was cheating on his wife Hera) and the twin sister of Apollo, God of the Sun. When Hera found out that Zeus had impregnated Leto she forbade that Leto give birth on mainland or on an island. The island Delos, an island that floated and was not considered an island or mainland, is said to have disobeyed Hera's command and let Leto give birth on the island. When Hera found out that Leto had found a place to give birth, she kidnapped Eileithyia, the goddess of Childbirth, to stop Leto from going into labor. The other gods soon forced Hera to let Eileithyia go and Leto gave birth to Artemis who then helped her mother give birth to her brother, Apollo. In some legends it says that Artemis helped Leto give birth to Apollo for seven days. Another legend says that Artemis was born a day earlier than Apollo on the island of Ortygia then helped her mother across to the island Delos where Apollo was born.

Artemis unlike most gods or goddesses, had a childhood. When Artemis was young, Hera was often nasty and cruel to her. When Hera did this Artemis would go to her father, Zeus, and sit on his lap. When she was three years old she climbed into her father's lap and asked him to grant her six wishes, which he did. Her first wish was to remain chaste for eternity, and never to be confined by marriage. She then asked for lop-eared hounds, stags to lead her chariot, and nymphs to be her hunting companions. 60 nymphs from the river and 20 nymphs from the ocean. She also asked for a silver bow like her brother Apollo. All of her companions remained virgins, and Artemis guarded her own chastity closely. Her symbol became the silver bow and arrow.

Artemis was very protective of her maidenhood. There are many stories of Artemis' rage against males. One story is about the Theban Prince and hunter Actaeon. Actaeon was hunting one day and got separated from party. While looking for his party he stumbled upon the bathing Artemis and her nymphs. Some stories say that one of the nymphs saw him and screamed. Other stories say that he watched from behind a bush and left before anyone saw him. And as soon as he found his hunting party he boasted that he had seen the Great Hunter Artemis bathing. The forest animals hearing this sent word to Artemis. Either way Artemis was furious and turned Actaeon into a stag and was killed by his own dogs.

Another story involving the wrath of Artemis was when Adonis boasted that he was superior to the goddess in hunt. Again there are a couple different versions of the story. One is that she sent a boar down to kill him for making such a boast. The second is that she killed him for for revenge, for Adonis is one of Aphrodite's favorites and Aphrodite had killed Hippolytus, a forest god. Hippolytus, being a forest god was one of Artemis' favorites...so either way he was a dead man.

Though Artemis did kill many human males there was one she called her friend. Orion was a hunting companion of Artemis, though he too did die, but there are so many different versions that no knows what is true and what is not. One version says that he tried to rape one of Artemis' followers and she killed him. The second version is that Gaia sent a scorpion to kill him. In third version Orion took hold of Artemis' robe and she killed him self-defense. The last version says that it was Apollo, Artemis' brother, that sent the scorpion to kill Orion. According to Hyginus, Artemis once loved Orion and was tricked by her brother to kill him. Apollo was said to guard his sister's maidenhood ever more zealously than Artemis herself. In the end Orion was dead, but to keep his soul alive they place him in the night sky. Constellation of Orion it is called it is also the head of the astrology sign Scorpio.

There are a other stories about Artemis but all of them end up with someone dying or someone getting hurt (well except for Atalanta who was abandoned by her father. Artemis took pity on her and sent bear to suckle her and give her to hunters to raise. So no bloodshed there.).

As I said earlier Artemis is the Virgin Goddess of the Hunt, the Moon, Wild Animals, and Childbirth. She protects children, the forest, maidens, and women in labor. In Rome she has the same status, but goes by the the name Diana. Artemis has also been identified as Selene the Moon Goddess, or titianess. Artemis is also the ruling goddess of the astrology sign Cancer due to her association with the moon. She is one of my favorite goddesses.

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