Artemis Khryselakatos Iokheira

> *"I will not have them punished, I will have them rewarded. If we destroy heroes who do us a great favor, then we are no better than the Titans. If this is justice, I will have none of it."*
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## Artemis Khryselakatos Iokheira

### Aliases

* Fairy (by Apollon Agana Belea)
* The Best Adviser
* Selene's Little Apprentice

### Titles

* The Great Huntress
* The Divine Huntress
* She of the Golden Shaft
* She who Was Showered by Arrows

## Professional Status

### Affiliation(s)

Ascim

**Artemis Khryselakatos Iokheira** is the Goddess of the Hunt, the moon, archery, animals, the wilderness, maidenhood, women, and childbirth.

## Appearance

Artemis is a goddess who prefers her natural beauty. She is pretty but doesn't like to use her looks to get her way; she relies on her skills. Artemis is beautiful but she is not afraid of getting roughed up, scrapped bruised, dirty or muddy while hunting or fighting.

Because she likes her natural looks, Artemis doesn't use her powers to make herself beautiful, doesn't worry about hairstyles, and does not care about the best outfits or style.

## Personality

Artemis seems to be soft spoken and polite, but she can also be incredibly condescending to males. Artemis guards her virginity carefully. Actaeon and Orion tried to dishonor or rape her, but anyone who threatened her purity met with a violent end. Artemis acted out in anger whenever her wishes were disobeyed, especially if anyone transgressed against the animals that were sacred to her. She punished Agamemnon, for example, when he killed a stag in her sacred grove.

However, she is shown to be much more fragile than the front that she puts up. When Apollon yelled at her for underestimating the human race, she threw away her confident façade and broke down in tears while childishly calling Apollon names and blaming him. She seems to have a slight breast size complex. She admires how Apollon is able to accomplish all his goals without, as she states, "spilling a single drop of blood, flying without wings, and staying himself despite all the odds."

Artemis is strong and brave; she doesn't bend to the will of others or love. She also will not back down from a challenge. Artemis likes to show that women can do things that men can do. The hunting goddess loves the company of her followers and the animals but also loves the quiet alone time that nature can give. She enjoys the quiet darkness when the moon is visible in the night sky.

Hunters and huntresses love her and respect the goddess who, in return, looks out for them. However, Artemis does not share that caring feeling with people who don't show love and respect for animals and nature. She doesn't care too much for a wealthy, fancy life. What she likes are the few things she owns and what ever nature provides her and she expects those who follow her to feel the same way.

Because Artemis doesn't care about love unlike the other deities, she has never had an affair with any of her family; her brother, uncles, nephews, father or cousins. Artemis doesn't like those who worship her to fall in love or get married. Those that do are cast out of her group of followers or hunters but because she is the goddess of children and childbirth, even though they are not allowed to return, the goddess cares for the kids they have as she does for all children.

People believe that Artemis loved Adonis and Actaeon but the goddess has no love for those who do not care for wildlife and who like to boast. Artemis is a girl that does not believe in boasting, which is gloating, bragging, exaggerating, overconfident, laying it on thick and showing off. Those that do are punished for thinking they are greater than everyone.

She is brave, courageous, strong, determined, proud, fearless, serious, adventurous, headstrong, independent, confident, bold and strong willed. Artemis is tough but is also sweet, kind, caring, loving, selfless and gentle to the plants and animals of mother nature. Living in nature, she has seen the beauty and harshness of the wilderness and loves them both, the gentle side and rough side. Artemis chooses to live in nature to avoid the squabbles, drama, conflict, clashes, feuds and quarrels of humanity and the gods. Artemis cares for and protects all of the forests, the plants, the woods, the mountains, the hills, the jungles, the rainforests, the swamps, the marshes, the valleys, the groves, the animals, the bodies of water, the soil, the meadows, the fields, the caves and the rocks. Artemis looks after all of nature.

Artemis being born before Apollo and help her mother with the pain of childbirth is one of the few reasons why she made the choice to stay a virgin. Other reasons as to why Artemis stays single and doesn't have kids is because of the headache parents and older siblings have to go through with kids, but despite helping her mother take of her brother, even though she doesn't want to have her own children, she cares for them.

Artemis may have also made the choice of not liking men because of her family, her father Zeus and the other men in her family being married and having wives while also being in love with many other women. She might have also been disgusted about them even loving members of their family, which might have made her think all men are just as bad as the ones in her family. Living on Ascim as a little girl, watching and hearing about what her family did plus having a view down on the earth and seeing and hearing some of the things humanity does might be the reason why she chooses to live in the woods, forests, mountains, valleys, nature and hills instead of the cities and Ascim. Even though she sits on one of the thrones of Ascim, to her the loneliness from the gods and people is better. Animals and plants are better company to hang around with.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Animal/Plantlife Transformation**: She is able to protect the young girls in retaining their purity by transforming them into animals or trees so that the men couldn’t force themselves on them.
* **Immortality**: She is a God, after all.
* **Eternal Youth**: She has the gift of eternal youth, which meant that, unlike mortals, she would always look young and beautiful.
* **Superhuman Abilities**: Once, she mistakenly killed the mighty and a handsome huntsman named Orion with the perfect aim of her bow and arrow. She is capable of running and moving at great speed; resistant to physical injury; a master archer and huntress; immune to all known earthly diseases and can communicate in all languages and dialects. Besides, Artemis also has super human strength.
* **Shape-shifting**: Many gods and goddesses possess the ability to shape-shift, or physically transform oneself to some other being. Artemis is also a shape-shifter and can shape-shift at will. Aloadae is the collective name for two giants namely Otus and Ephialtes. Artemis shape shifted into a beautiful stag to mislead Aloadae and tricked them into shooting each other with their arrows.
* **Blessing and Cursing**: Artemis has the ability to bless and curse. It was common for Artemis to curse people who had the audacity to question her hunting skills and her beauty. She also cursed anyone breaking their vows of abstinence. Once, Artemis cursed and transformed Actaeon into a stag for trying to force himself on her. In another instance, Artemis transformed Callisto into a she-bear for breaking her vow of chastity. On the contrary, Artemis also possesses the power to bless anyone. Like she blesses and puts Orion’s body among the constellations as a tribute to their majestic friendship.

## Equipment

* **Khryselakatos Iokheira**: Artemis is always shown carrying a quiver full of golden arrows and a silver bow, indicating her all-time readiness to unleash the inner huntress. The weapons of Artemis were made by Cyclopes, the creator of the characteristic weapon of Zeus, the thunderbolt.
* **Chariot**: Artemis rides a chariot pulled by four golden horned deer.

## History

Artemis was conceived by Zeus and the Titaness Leto. After her mother got pregnant, Hera got infuriated for her husband's constant cheating and cursed Leto to wander the earth without finding a place with roots to give birth. Poseidon took pity on her and brought her to the island named Delos. On the island, the other gods took pity on her and convinced Hera to undo what she did and Artemis and Apollo were born. When Artemis was young, Hera was cruel to her, making the girl run to her father for protection. Zeus would let the weeping girl climb into his lap. After Artemis lovingly embraced Zeus with open arms, he swore on the River Styx to grant his daughter anything as a birthday present. Sitting on her father's knee, she asked for six wishes, which he granted. Artemis wanted to always be a virgin, live in the forest and mountains, no cities decided to her, many names to set her apart from her brother, nymphs to watch over the animals and her possessions, and to help women. She spent her childhood training to be a huntress. She had Hephaestus make her a bow and arrows and then went to Pan, the goat-legged god of the forest, who gave her dogs to hunt with. When Artemis visited Apollo in Delphi, their mother was raped by the giant Tityos. Her brother defeated the giant and their father Zeus sent him to the underworld.

### Capture of the Golden Deer

Needing wild animals to pull her chariot, Artemis and her Hunters decided to capture a herd of five golden deer. Britomartis was her most skilled trapper, using a set snares and concealed nets. The Hunters made noise to scare off the regular deer, while four of the five golden ones charged straight into the traps and were harnessed for Artemis' chariot. The fifth and smartest golden deer escaped, later becoming known as the Ceryneian Hind. She was given Artemis' blessing and protection from other hunters.

### Seduction of Callisto

Artemis' lieutenant and best friend was Callisto, a beautiful nymph who caught her father's attention. Zeus appeared to Callisto in his daughter's form and tried to seduce her, but a confused Callisto rejected his advances. He decided to reveal his true self and had his way with her, fathering a child in the process.

Many months later, after a long hunt, Artemis and the Hunters decide to go swimming. When Callisto was reluctant to join them, Artemis discovered the pregnancy and demanded to know who took her maidenhood. When Callisto told her it was Zeus disguised as Artemis herself, the goddess was unable to do much because of her father's power. Declaring that she would have allowed Callisto to go peacefully and settle into a new life, a saddened Artemis followed her rules and transformed the sobbing girl into a bear, telling her former best friend to leave or face death.

Callisto eventually gave birth to a human son by the name of Arkas, but was later killed by hunters. Upon death, Zeus, who possibly felt guilty for his actions, honored Callisto in the stars by making her the constellation Ursa Major.

### Befriending Hippolytus

Hippolytus was a charming, handsome prince and legacy who had no interest in romance whatsoever. His passion for hunting made Artemis accept him into the Hunt, though her followers were rather hesitant at the thought of having an attractive male among their ranks.

However, Hippolytus never tried anything romantic with the Hunters. His belief that romantic love and sexuality as not only beneath men but also ridiculous and shameful, which greatly enraged the love goddess Aphrodite, who manipulated his step-mother Phaedra into falling in love with him. When he denied her advances, she hanged herself and made a note to her husband Theseus that she was raped by Hippolytus and was too ashamed to continue living. Furious, the king of Athens not only banished his son, but also called upon one of the three blessings of his father Poseidon, which resulted in his death.

Upon hearing of her friend's death, a devastated Artemis promptly rushed to Hippolytus' tomb and carried his deceased body to her nephew Asclepius, the best physician in all of Greece. She requested that Asclepius revive him from the dead, which he did with the Physician's Cure. However, this had immediate repercussions: Aphrodite complained to Zeus about Hippolytus' revival along with Hades, as it could possibly cause chaos in both the mortal world and the Underworld.

Zeus appeased his aunt and brother by personally striking down Asclepius with a thunderbolt, but Apollo was angered and devastated by his death and killed one of the younger Cyclopes who forged Zeus' thunderbolts in retaliation. To prevent a feud, Asclepius was resurrected and made into a god, but Hades forbid him from ever resurrecting the dead again. Fortunately, Artemis protected Hippolytus and had him sent off to Valencia, where he lived to an old age as a priest to one of her sacred shrines.

In retaliation for the death of Hippolytus, Artemis becomes angry and kills Adonis, one of Aphrodite's favorite lovers, who boasted about being a better hunter then Artemis. She sent a boar to hunt and kill Adonis.

### Hercules’ Fourth Labor

Artemis met Hercules when, in his fourth labor, he had to steal her golden deer. Artemis was angry and told him he shouldn't try to capture her deer, because she was holy. Apollo believed that Hercules may have tried to even kill the golden deer, something Hercules would never do. Hercules told them about his labors and missions, thus they allowed him thankfully to complete his labor, knowing he wouldn't harm Artemis’ deer.

### Virgin Goddess

Some people believe that some of the nymphs, mortals, priests, priestess, demigods, demigoddesses, hunters and huntresses who follow the hunting goddess were some of her lovers, but Artemis only had one person she ever loved, the great hunter Orion. She loved him so much that she would have given up her virginity to be with him, but there were a few problems. Apollo didn't want his sister to be with the hunter; Orion fell in love with one of her followers while he was in love with Artemis and he was killing too many animals, so he tricked her into shooting at Orion from a far off distance. After his death, Artemis was heartbroken. She had him turned into a constellation to immortalize him. The goddess never fell in love again because she didn't want to feel the pain of loss.

Many mortal men, demigods, giants and gods tried to make the hunting goddess fall in love with them. Alpheus the river god tried where many had failed to win the heart of Artemis and her nymph followers. Artemis covered herself in mud so he would not recognize her. When the river god went after Arethusa, one of Artemis' followers, the goddess turned her into a spring to keep Arethusa safe.

One of the men in love with her was Buphagus, the son of the titan Iapetus. His lust for her made him chase after her when she ran to escape him. Artemis thought he would give up but he didn't. After he caught her and tried to rape her Artemis was angry and killed him.

Artemis and Aphrodite clashed with each other many times due to Artemis not believing in love and Aphrodite's belief in love. Aphrodite tried many times to make those who follow Artemis fall in love. One example is Polyphonte, a woman who wished to remain a virgin and fled to the forests. Artemis let Polyphonte join her followers. An angry Aphrodite decided to make Artemis pay for taking another person away from love. She decided to do something that Artemis would hate so she made Polyphonte fall in love with a bear and give birth to Agrips & Oreius, twin human/bear hybrids. This really disgusted the hunting goddess. This was something she could not forgive Polyphonte or Aphrodite for. Artemis had the animals attack Polyphonte, who was never allowed to have contact with nature ever again. The other gods, who were disgusted by this action, had the twins turned into a vulture and an eagle while the mother was turned into an owl. The servant, however, begged not to receive the same punishment. As she did so, she was turned into a woodpecker.

### Protector of Women and Children

There are many stories of Artemis protecting women and their virginity. In one story, Artemis rescues a girl named Britomartis who threw herself into the ocean to escape King Minos. The girl is turned a nymph and becomes worshipped as a goddess. Syrinx, one of her nymph followers was transformed into river reeds as protection from Pan, the Satyr god who gave Artemis her hunting dogs.

Artemis would take children or women who were not treated well by the gods or mortals under her wing and protect them, like Atalanta, a baby who was left in the woods to die. Artemis sent a female bear to care for the infant. The bear raised the girl until she became older and joined mortal hunters. In her adventures, she showed that she was better than any man she met. She helped kill the Calydonian Boar sent by Artemis to attack Calydon for neglecting to sacrifice the first fruits of harvest. When the boar was killed, the skin was hung in a sacred grove in dedication to the hunting goddess. She was so skilled that people said she rivaled Artemis. When a race was held for men to win Atalanta for marriage, Aphrodite gave one of the men, Hippomenes, some golden apples so he could win the race and the heart of Atalanta. Artemis didn't like that she lost one of her greatest huntresses to the goddess of love. Before Hippomenes won the heart of Atalanta, the Oracle of Delphi saw that the two would be turned into lions for defiling one of Zeus' temples. Apollo warned Atalanta and tired to keep her from getting married, but he failed; the future that the oracle had seen came true.

Although Artemis is good unlike the rest of her family, there are those who believe she isn't and question if she is good or evil. She cares for all the things she protects but some people claim that she is a plague to nature, children, women and animals instead of a protector.

Artemis defending her mother and killing Niobe's children for insulting Leto is viewed by some people as an evil act. Artemis taking people (mostly women) into her group of hunters who don't wish to fall in love is viewed by some people as a disease and claim that the goddess corrupts them rather then protects them. Some people even believe that the goddess doesn't care for the animals that she hunts, which, of course, are not true since Artemis is a protection goddess.

### Relationship With Men

> *"I'm the hunter. I'm always a hunter. And you are a victim. No man who has seen me naked has a right to live."*
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In two stories, Artemis' dislike for men is very strong. When she was seen taking a bath, one of the men who saw her was Actaeon, a skilled hunter who bragged about being better than the hunting goddess and was not kind to the animals he hunted. When Actaeon was hunting, he and his hounds stumbled across the goddess when she was alone and taking a bath. Actaeon was amazed by what he saw. when he saw her, he wanted the goddess to marry him. Artemis, disgusted by his action, turned him into a stag for not respecting her privacy and had him killed by his own dogs. Another young man who saw the goddess bathing was Siproites. When he accidentally stumbled across Artemis and her followers, he apologized. The apology saved his life but Siproites was still punished; he was changed into a female and had to serve the hunting goddess.

Though Artemis didn't get along too well with men, she show some compassion for them. After years of being trapped in tartarus, Artemis, along with her brother Apollo and mother Leto, asked Zeus to finally free Prometheus. But Zeus and the other gods still believed the titan should be punished for stealing fire and giving it to man. Eventually, the hunting goddess's anger, tears and pleas convinced Zeus to release Prometheus from his imprisonment.

## Relationships

### Subordinates:

#### Callisto (Former Nymph/Best friend)

Callisto was one of Artemis' Nymphs. Once, Zeus transformed into Artemis, seducing the young Nymph, and they mated. For her transgression, Artemis transformed Callisto into a bear.

Noting that Zeus had to transform into Artemis to just seduce Callisto, it can be inferred that Callisto held some sort of feelings towards Artemis, but never acted on it.

### Family:

#### Zeus (Father)

Artemis is one of Zeus' favorite children, and Artemis seems to like her father as well. This is shown when one of her nymphs was seduced by Zeus. Artemis transformed her into a bear and then killed her. Artemis appealed to Zeus to grant her eternal virginity. She often ran to her father when Hera was being cruel to her.

#### Leto (Mother)

Like her brother Apollon, Artemis is protective of her mother.

#### Hera Teleia (Paternal Aunt/Step-mother)

When Artemis was young, Hera was cruel to her, making the young girl run to her father for protection.

#### Apollon Agana Belea (Younger Twin Brother)

Like with all of the gods, Artemis has a very friendly relationship with Apollon and sees him as a dear friend. Apollon is quite interested in Artemis, with him calling her 'Fairy', and his affection for her has only grown over time. He even says once that he loves her "strength and optimism."

He is very open to Artemis and affectionate towards her, and often likes to be praised by her. He is also protective of her, seeing her as a fragile flower. As a result he becomes concerned at even the tiniest things, such as her getting soaked by a water hose. He loves Artemis and fears losing her, flying into a panic when he is separated from her suddenly. As he falls deeper in love with Artemis, he begins to remember his past with Cassandra and almost succumbs to it. However, thanks to Artemis, he is able to shake off the memories and move on. This break from the past increases his love for Artemis.

### Enemies:

#### Aphrodite (Rival)

Artemis and Aphrodite had a rivalry that was not so secret. Aphrodite hated that Artemis had some people who believed in the virgin goddess who stay single and don't fall in love. So the goddess of love and beauty would target those who follow Artemis and kill or make them fall in love. This made Artemis mad when Aphrodite did this.

## Trivia

* Artemis is one of the three Great Goddesses of Eternal Maidenhood, along with Hestia and Athena.
* She has a collection of furs belonging to many creatures, some of which may be extinct, that were hanging in her tent and temple.
* Her attributes are a silver bow, arrows, and the crescent moon (or the full moon).
	+ Her sacred animals are the deers, stags, bears, guinea fowl, bee, snakes and hunting dogs.
	+ Her sacred plants are the flowering almond, hazel, ranunculus, honeysuckle, thistle, fir and cypress.

## Quotes

### About Artemis

* *"Your sister has always been hot-headed. She'll come around."* -Leto, to Apollon
* *"Leto bore Apollon and Artemis, delighting in arrows, Both of lovely shape like none of the heavenly gods, As she joined in love to the Aegis-bearing ruler."*