Actaeon - Greek Mythology Link About • Copyright © 1997 Carlos Parada and Maicar Förlag. Actaeon advanced Actaeon, having surprised Artemis and her train of nymphs in the bath, is turned into a stag. 3320: German work from the 17th century AD. Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg. Actaeon is the hunter who was torn to pieces by his own dogs after having been turned into a stag by Artemis , whom he had seen unrobed. Misfortune Actaeon’s own death is what made him famous, for there are almost no accounts of his life, except that he was trained by the Centaur Chiron to be a hunter. And, they say, it was not any crime of his the cause of his death, but mere mischance. For not knowing anything about the secret cave of Artemis in the vale of Gargaphia, Actaeon came wandering with his dogs after a day of hunt, and entered the cave when the goddess of the wild woods was preparing to bathe in the waters of the spring Parthenius together with the nymphs who attended her.

Artemis uses water instead of arrows When Actaeon came into the cave, the girls, with loud cries, thronged around Artemis trying to hide her body with their own. But Artemis , standing head and shoulders over the rest, took up the water and flung it into Actaeon’s face saying: “Now you are free to tell that you have seen me all unrobedif you can tell.” ( Artemis to Actaeon. Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.192). So soon the goddess had uttered those words, Actaeon began to turn into a stag, much as the Cretan Siproites had his sex changed by Artemis when he saw the goddes bathing. And when the transformation was completed, the goddess planted fear within his heart, and the stag Actaeon fled away. His dogs then went after him, pursuing him in all grounds around Mount Cithaeronbetween Boeotia and Atticaand having finally caught him, the dogs buried their fangs in his body until there was no place for further wounds, thus causing his death. That was the misfortune of Actaeon.

For not knowing what he did, he came to be punished and suffered to be hunted, just as he had hunted. Because of this deed, some deemed Artemis to be more cruel, but others judged her act worthy of her virginity. Arrogance Yet it has also been told that Actaeon presented himself as superior to Artemis as a hunter, being his boast the reason behind his unfortunate fate. And again, others say that Actaeon came into the cave, and tried to ravish the goddess who, in her anger, made horns grow on his head, turning him into a stag. Still others say that Actaeon, upon dedicating the fruits of his hunting to Artemis , purposed to marry her at the temple of the goddess. Yet others affirm that what happened to Actaeon was conceived by Zeus because Actaeon loved Semele , the mother of Dionysus 2 . Artemis then cast a deer-skin round Actaeon to make sure that his dogs would kill him, so as to prevent him to marry Semele . Grief In any case, when Actaeon was gone, the dogs are said to have sought their master, howling in grief.

Searching for him, it is told, they came to the cave of the Centaur Chiron , who made an image of the unfortunate Actaeon to soothe their grief. The death of Actaeon was much lamented by his parents. His father Aristaeus migrated to Sardinia, and Actaeon’s mother Autonoe 2 is said to have left Thebes to live near Megara , because of her grief at the death of her son. A similar case Far away from where Actaeon was killed, Thasius, son of Anius, son of Apollo and Rhoeo, was also reported to have been destroyed by his own dogs in the island of Delos. The death of this prince (Anius was a king) is the reason why there are no dogs on Delos. Family Actaeon | Article about Actaeon by The Free Dictionary Actaeon | Article about Actaeon by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Wikipedia . Related to Actaeon: Pentheus Actaeon (ăktē`ən), in Greek mythology, son of Aristaeus and Autonoë.

Because he saw Artemis bathing naked, she changed him into a stag, and his own dogs killed him. Actaeon Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content . Link to this page: Berlinde De Bruyckere: ARTER/CUKURCUMA HAMMAM In 2008 the Duke of Sutherland (heir to the Bridgewater collection) offered Diana and Actaeon (Fig. Masterpiece goes on show Reyahn King, director of art galleries at National Museums Liverpool, said: "Diana and Actaeon is one of the most important paintings that Britain owns and to have it displayed at the Walker art gallery is fantastic and will only enrich our visitors' experience further. Walker hosts work by Renaissance master Titian The mosaic depicts a myth in which the Greek goddess of the hunt Artemis (Diana in Roman mythology) was surprised while she was bathing with her handmaidens by the hunter Actaeon, causing the goddess to punish him by turning him into a stag and was devoured by his own hunting dogs.

actaeon - 必应 Sign in Actaeon According to the Latin version of the story told by the Roman Ovid having accidentally seen Diana ( Artemis ) on Mount Cithaeron while she was bathing, he was changed by her into a stag, and pursued and killed by his fifty hounds. This version also appears in Callimachus' Fifth Hymn, as a mythical parallel to the blinding of Tiresias after he sees Athena bathing. The literary testimony of Actaeon's myth is largely lost, but Lamar Ronald Lacy, deconstructing the myth elements in what survives and supplementing it by iconographic evidence in late ... (展开) vase-painting, made a plausible reconstruction of an ancient Actaeon myth that Greek poets may have inherited and subjected to expansion and dismemberment. His reconstruction opposes a too-pat consensus that has an archaic Actaeon aspiring to Semele, a classical Actaeon boasting of his hunting prowess and a Hellenistic Actaeon glimpsing Artemis ' bath.

Lacy identifies the site of Actaeon's transgression as a spring sacred to Artemis at Plataea where Actaeon was a hero archegetes (" hero -founder") The righteous hunter, the companion of Artemis , seeing her bathing naked at the spring, was moved to try to make himself her consort, as Diodorus Siculus noted, and was punished, in part for transgressing the hunter's "ritually enforced deference to Artemis " (Lacy 1990:42). Actaeon The plot Among others, John Heath has observed, "The unalterable kernel of the tale was a hunter's transformation into a deer and his death in the jaws of his hunting dogs. But authors were free to suggest different motives for his death." In the version that was offered by the Hellenistic poet Callimachus, which has become the standard setting, Artemis was bathing in the woods when the hunter Actaeon stumbled across her, thus seeing her naked. He stopped and stared, amazed at her ravishing beauty.

Once seen, Artemis got revenge on Actaeon: she forbade him speech — if he tried to speak, he would be changed into a stag — for the unlucky profanation of her virginity's mystery. Upon hearing the call of his hunting party, he cried out to them and immediately was changed into a stag. At this he fled deep into the woods, and doing so he came upon a pond and, seeing his reflection, groaned. His own hounds then turned upon him and tore him to pieces, not recognizing him. In an endeavour to save himself, he raised his eyes (and would have raised his arms, had he had them) toward Mount Olympus. The gods did not heed his actions, and he was torn to pieces. An element of the earlier myth made Actaeon the familiar hunting companion of Artemis, no stranger. In an embroidered extension of the myth, the hounds were so upset with their master's death, that Chiron made a statue so lifelike that the hounds thought it was Actaeon.

There are various other versions of his transgression: The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women and pseudo-Apollodoran Bibliotheke state that his offense was that he was a rival of Zeus for Semele, his mother's sister, whereas in Euripides' Bacchae he has boasted that he is a better hunter than Artemis: Further materials, including fragments that belong with the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women and at least four Attic tragedies, including a Toxotides of Aeschylus, have been lost. Diodorus Siculus (4.81.4), in a variant of Actaeon's hubris that has been largely ignored, has it that Actaeon wanted to marry Artemis. Other authors say the hounds were Artemis' own; some lost elaborations of the myth seem to have given them all names and narrated their wanderings after his loss. According to the Latin version of the story told by the Roman Ovid having accidentally seen Diana (Artemis) on Mount Cithaeron while she was bathing, he was changed by her into a stag, and pursued and killed by his fifty hounds.

This version also appears in Callimachus' Fifth Hymn, as a mythical parallel to the blinding of Tiresias after he sees Athena bathing. The literary testimony of Actaeon's myth is largely lost, but Lamar Ronald Lacy, deconstructing the myth elements in what survives and supplementing it by iconographic evidence in late vase-painting, made a plausible reconstruction of an ancient Actaeon myth that Greek poets may have inherited and subjected to expansion and dismemberment. His reconstruction opposes a too-pat consensus that has an archaic Actaeon aspiring to Semele, a classical Actaeon boasting of his hunting prowess and a Hellenistic Actaeon glimpsing Artemis' bath.

Lacy identifies the site of Actaeon's transgression as a spring sacred to Artemis at Plataea where Actaeon was a hero archegetes ("hero-founder") The righteous hunter, the companion of Artemis, seeing her bathing naked at the spring, was moved to try to make himself her consort, as Diodorus Siculus noted, and was punished, in part for transgressing the hunter's "ritually enforced deference to Artemis" (Lacy 1990:42). Names of the dogs who devoured Actaeon The following list is as given in Hyginus' Fabulae. The first part of the list is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses (Book III, 206 - 235), and the second from an unknown source. Note: In the first part of the list, Hyginus fails to correctly differentiate between masculine and feminine names.

According to Ovid Dogs: Melampus, Ichnobates, Pamphagos, Dorceus, Oribasos, Nebrophonos, Laelaps, Theron, Pterelas, Hylaeus, Ladon, Dromas, Tigris, Leucon, Asbolos, Lacon, Aello, Thoos, Harpalos, Melaneus, Labros, Arcas, Argiodus, Hylactor. Bitches: Agre, Nape, Poemenis, Harpyia, Canache, Sticte, Alce, Lycisce, Lachne, Melanchaetes, Therodamas, Oresitrophos.

Authors other than Ovid Dogs: Acamas, Syrus, Leon, Stilbon, Agrius, Charops, Aethon, Corus, Boreas, Draco, Eudromus, Dromius, Zephyrus, Lampus, Haemon, Cyllopodes, Harpalicus, Machimus, Ichneus, Melampus, Ocydromus, Borax, Ocythous, Pachylus, Obrimus; Bitches: Argo, Arethusa, Urania, Theriope, Dinomache, Dioxippe, Echione, Gorgo, Cyllo, Harpyia, Lynceste, Leaena, Lacaena, Ocypete, Ocydrome, Oxyrhoe, Orias, *Sagnos, Theriphone, *Volatos, *Chediaetros.

In the standard version of the Epic of Gilgamesh (tablet vi) there is a parallel, in the series of examples Gilgamesh gives Ishtar of her mistreatment of her serial lovers: You loved the herdsman, shepherd and chief shepherd Who was always heaping up the glowing ashes for you, And cooked ewe-lambs for you every day. But you hit him and turned him into a wolf, His own herd-boys hunt him down And his dogs tear at his haunches. Actaeon, torn apart by dogs incited by Artemis, finds another Near Eastern parallel in the Ugaritic hero Aqht, torn apart by eagles incited by Anath who wanted his hunting bow. The virginal Artemis of classical times is not directly comparable to Ishtar of the many lovers, but the mytheme of Artemis shooting Orion, was linked to her punishment of Actaeon by T.C.W. Stinton; the Greek context of the mortal's reproach to the amorous goddess is translated to the episode of Anchises and Aphrodite. Daphnis too was a herdsman loved by a goddess and punished by her: see Theocritus' First Idyll.

Actaeon in art Aeschylus and other tragic poets made use of the story, which was a favourite subject in ancient works of art. There is a well-known small marble group in the British Museum illustrative of the story, in gallery 83/84. Two paintings by the 16th century painter Titian (Acteon and Diana and Actaeon). Actéon, an operatic pastorale by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Percy Bysshe Shelley suggests a parallel between his alter-ego and Actaeon in his elegy for John Keats, Adonais, stanza 31 ('[he] had gazed on Nature's naked loveliness/ Actaeon-like, and now he fled astray/ .../ And his own thoughts, along that rugged way,/ Pursued, like raging hounds, their father and their prey.') The aria "Oft she visits this lone mountain" from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, first performed in 1689 or earlier. Giordano Bruno, "Gli Eroici Furori".

In canto V of Giambattista Marino's poem "Adone" the protagonist goes to theater to see a tragedy representing the myth of Actaeon. This episode foreshadows the protagonist's violent death at the end of the book. In Act I Scene 2 of Jacques Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld Actaeon is Diana (Artemis)'s lover, and it is Jupiter who turns him into a stag, which puts Diana off hunting. His story is relinquished at this point, in favour of the other plots. Ted Hughes wrote a version of the story in his Tales from Ovid. In Alexandre Dumas' novel La Reine Margot, Charles IX of France, fond of the hunt, has a much-loved and ill-fated hunting dog named Actaeon. Diane and Actéon Pas de Deux from Marius Petipa’s ballet, Le Roi Candaule, to the music by Riccardo Drigo and Cesare Pugni, later incorporated into the second act of La Esmeralda (ballet). In Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, Orsino compares his unrequited love for Olivia to the fate of Actaeon.

"O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first, Methought she purged the air of pestilence, That instant was I turned into a hart, and my desires like fell and cruel hounds e'er since pursue me." Act 1 Scene 1. Paul Manship in 1925 created a set of copper statute of Diane and Actaeon, which in the Luce Lunder Smithsonian Institution.

Actaeon/Aktaion & The Hounds of Diana is used in the television series Under the Dome.[citation needed] Aktaion Energy is the name of a local conglomerate with ties to the Dome event and The Hounds of Diana is a Dome conspiracy/Aktaion Energy watchdog website run by a member of Aktaion's IT department who goes by the alias Dromas.[non-primary source needed] ^ He was sometimes called Actaeus (Ἀκταῖος), as in the poetic fragment quoted at Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.4.4: "then [they] killed Actaeus at Zeus's instigation", τότ' Ἀκταῖον κτεῖναι Διὸς αἰνεσίῃσι ^ Through his mother he was a member of the ruling House of Cadmus. ^ Later his myth was attached to her Roman counterpart Diana. ^ Walter Burkert, Homo Necans (1972), translated by Peter Bing (University of California Press) 1983, p 111.

^ Heath, "The Failure of Orpheus", Transactions of the American Philological Association 124 (1994:163-196) p. 196. ^ Callimachus, Hymn v. ^ Callimachus gives no site: a glen in the foothills of Mount Cithaeron near Boeotian Orchomenus, is the site according to Euripides, Bacchae 1290-92, a spring sanctuary near Plataea is specified elsewhere. ^ Fragmentary sources for the narrative of Actaeon's hounds are noted in Lamar Ronald Lacy, "Aktaion and a Lost 'Bath of Artemis'" The Journal of Hellenic Studies 110 (1990:26–42) p. 30 note 32, p. 31 note 37. ^ Thus potentially endangering the future birth of Dionysus, had he been successful. Pausanias referred (9.2.3) to a lost poem by Stesichoros also expressing this motif.

The progressive destruction of the House of Cadmus to make way for the advent of Dionysus can be followed in the myths of its individual members: Actaeon, Semele, Ino and Melicertes, and Pentheus. ^ This mytheme would link him with Agamemnon and Orion (Lacy 1990). ^ Lacy 1990, emphasizing that the central core is lost, covers the literary fragments, pp 26-27 and copious notes. ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses iii.131; see also pseudo-Apollodorus' Bibliotheke iii. 4 ^ a b Chisholm 1911. ^ Lacy, "Aktaion and a Lost 'Bath of Artemis'" The Journal of Hellenic Studies 110 (1990:26-42).

^ Pausanias (ix.2.3) reports that "Stesichorus of Himera says that the goddess cast a deer-skin round Actaeon to make sure that his hounds would kill him, so as to prevent his taking Semele to wife"; the lines of Stesichorus have not survived. ^ Lacy 1990:27f. ^ Plutarch, Aristeides11.3-4. ^ Hyginus Fabulae 181 ^ See the Index nominum in R. J. Tarrant (2004) P. Ovidi Nasonis Metamorphoses, Oxford, pp. 503-534 ^ Pausanias ix.2.3. ^ "Gilgamesh VI" in Myths from Mesopotamia... a new translation by Stephanie Dalley, rev. ed.2000:79; note 60, p. 129: "This metamorphosis has been compare to the Greek myth of Actaeon." ^ The comparison is made in Michael C.

Astour, Hellenosemitica: an ethnic and cultural study of West Semitic impact on Mycenaean Greece (Leiden:Brill, 1965). ^ Stinton "Euripides and the Judgement of Paris" (London, 1965:45 note 14) reprinted in Stinton, Collected Papers on Greek Tragedy (London, 1990:51 note 14). ^ Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite. ^ Jasper Griffin, "Theocritus, the Iliad, and the East", The American Journal of Philology 113.2 (Summer 1992:189-211) esp. pp 205f. ^ Biedermann, Hans (1989). The Dictionary of Smbolism. Facts on File. ISBN0-8160-2593-2. ^ Wolfgang Giegerich, The Soul’s Logical Life, (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2001) ^ "Rooms 83-84: Roman sculpture". British Museum.

Retrieved 2014-04-08. ^ "Hounds Of Diana". houndsofdiana. Retrieved 30 September 2014. ACTAEON, Greek Mythology Index ACTAEON ΑΚΤΑΙΩΝ Son of Aristaeus and Autonoë , a daughter of Cadmus . He was trained in the art of hunting by the centaur Cheiron , and was afterwards torn to pieces by his own 50 hounds on mount Cithaeron. The names of these hounds are given by Ovid (Met. iii. 206, &c.) and Hyginus. (Fab. 181; comp. Stat. Theb. ii. 203.) The cause of this misfortune is differently stated: according to some accounts it was because he had seen Artemis while she was bathing in the vale of Gargaphia, on the discovery of which the goddess changed him into a stag, in which form he was torn to pieces by his own dogs. (Ov. Met. iii. 155, &c.; Hygin. Fab. 181; Callim. h. in Pallad.

110.) Others relate that he provoked the anger of the goddess by his boasting that he excelled her in hunting, or by his using for a feast the game which was destined as a sacrifice to her. (Eurip. Bacch. 320; Diod. iv. 81.) A third account stated that he was killed by his dogs at the command of Zeus , because he sued for the hand of Semele . (Acusilaus, ap. Apollod. iii. 4. § 4.) Pausanias (ix. 2. § 3) saw near Orchomenos the rock on which Actaeon used to rest when he was fatigued by hunting, and from which he had seen Artemis in the bath; but he is of opinion that the whole story arose from the circumstance that Actaeon was destroyed by his dogs in a natural fit of madness. Palaephatus (s. v. Actaeon) gives an absurd and trivial explanation of it.

According to the Orchomenian tradition the rock of Actaeon was haunted by his spectre, and the oracle of Delphi commanded the Orchomenians to bury the remains of the hero, which they might happen to find, and fix an iron image of him upon the rock. This image still existed in the time of Pausanias (ix. 38. § 4), and the Orchomenians offered annual sacrifices to Actaeon in that place. The manner in which Actaeon and his mother were painted by Polygnotus in the Lesche of Delphi, is described by Pausanias. (x. 30. § 2) Actaeon | Greek hero | Britannica.com Greek hero Athena Actaeon, in Greek mythology , son of the minor god Aristaeus and Autonoë (daughter of Cadmus , the founder of Thebes in Boeotia); he was a Boeotian hero and hunter.

According to Ovid’s Metamorphoses , Actaeon accidentally saw Artemis (goddess of wild animals, vegetation, and childbirth) while she was bathing on Mount Cithaeron; for this reason he was changed by her into a stag and was pursued and killed by his own 50 hounds. In another version, he offended Artemis by boasting that his skill as a hunter surpassed hers. Actaeon being hunted by his own hounds, sculpture at the Royal Palace at Caserta, Italy. japiot The story was well-known in antiquity, and several of the tragic poets presented it on the stage (e.g., Aeschylus in his lost Toxotides, “The Female Archers”). Actaeon was worshiped in Plataea and Orchomenus . Learn More in these related articles: Metamorphoses poem in 15 books, written in Latin about 8 ce by Ovid. It is written in hexameter verse. The work is a collection of mythological and legendary stories, many taken from Greek sources, in which transformation (metamorphosis) plays a role, however minor. The stories, which are unrelated, are told in...

Artemis in Greek religion, the goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation, and of chastity and childbirth; she was identified by the Romans with Diana. Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo. Among the rural populace, Artemis was the favourite goddess. Her character... Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback. MEDIA FOR: You have successfully emailed this. Error when sending the email. Try again later. Edit Mode Submit Tips For Editing We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Encyclopædia Britannica articles are written in a neutral objective tone for a general audience. You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered. Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources. At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are the best.) Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval.

Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions. Submit Thank You for Your Contribution! Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article. Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed. Uh Oh There was a problem with your submission. Please try again later. Close Date Published: November 24, 2008 URL: Access Date: January 20, 2017 Share Aktaion | Article about Aktaion by The Free Dictionary Aktaion | Article about Aktaion by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Wikipedia . Actaeon (ăktē`ən), in Greek mythology, son of Aristaeus and Autonoë. Because he saw Artemis bathing naked, she changed him into a stag, and his own dogs killed him. Actaeon Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content . Link to this page: Voyeurism References in periodicals archive ?

The transformation of the unnamed shepherd into a wolf recalls the cruel transformation of the hunter (or, alternately, shepherd) Aktaion in Classical mythology: Aktaion stumbled upon the naked Artemis and was punished for his visual transgression by being transformed into a stag to be torn apart by his own hounds. Copyright © 2003-2017 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Artemis, Greek Goddess of the Hunt - Profile Gods and Goddesses Index Powers: Artemis is the goddess of the hunt and wild animals. Although a virgin herself, Artemis helps women in childbirth. Artemis watches over streets and harbors. Family of Origin: Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo. Their parents were Zeus and Leto. Artemis was born on Delos . Roman Equivalent: The Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Artemis was Diana. Attributes: Golden arrows, bow, and fawn.

Sources: Ancient sources for Artemis include: Apollodorus, Callimachus, The Cypria, Diodorus Siculus, Euripides, Hesiod, Homer, Hyginus, Nonnius, Ovid, Pausanias, and Statius. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance Temple of Artemis: One of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World was the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, built around 550 B.C. The temple of Artemis was deliberately burned down by Herostratus in an attempt to gain fame in 356 B.C. More on Artemis: Artemis | Greek Mythology Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Weapons Silver Bow and Arrows Artemis (Ancient Greek: Ἄρτεμις) was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name, and indeed the goddess herself, was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals".

The Arcadians believed she was the daughter of Demeter . In the classical period of Greek mythology, Artemis was often described as the daughter of Zeus and Leto , and the twin sister of Apollo . She was the Hellenic goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity and protector of young girls, bringing and relieving disease in women; she often depicted as a huntress carrying a Bow & Arrows . The deer, wolves , and the cypress were sacred to her. In later Hellenistic times she also assumed the ancient role of Eileithyia in aiding childbirth. Ancient Greek writers linked Artemis (Doric Artamis) by way of folk etymology to artemes (ἀρτεμής) "safe" or artamos (ἄρταμος) "butcher".

However, the name Artemis (variants Arktemis, Arktemisa) is most likely related to Greek árktos "bear" (from PIE *h₂ŕ̥tḱos), supported by the bear cult that the goddess had in Attica (Brauronia) and the Neolithic remains at the Arkoudiotissa Cave, as well as the story about Callisto, which was originally about Artemis (Arcadian epithet kallisto). This cult was a survival of very old totemic and shamanistic rituals and formed part of a larger bear cult found further afield in other Indo-European cultures (e.g., Gaulish Artio). It is believed that a precursor of Artemis was worshiped in Minoan Crete as the goddess of mountains and hunting, Britomartis. While connection with Anatolian names has been suggested, the earliest attested forms of the name Artemis are the Mycenaean Greek a-te-mi-to and a-ti-mi-te, written in Linear B at Pylos. Artemis was venerated in Lydia as Artimus.

Contents [ show ] Birth Various conflicting accounts are given in Classical Greek mythology of the birth of Artemis and her twin brother, Apollo. All accounts agree, however, that she was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and that she was the twin sister of Apollo . An account by Callimachus has it that Hera forbade Leto to give birth on either terra firma (the mainland) or on an island. Hera was angry with Zeus , her husband, because he had impregnated Leto. But the island of Delos (or Ortygia in the Homeric Hymn to Artemis) disobeyed Hera, and Leto gave birth there. Once, Artemis was tricked into having a child. Artemis had offended Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. She told Athena and Hera that they were not true virgin goddess. After all, Athena had children, and Hera was the goddess of marriage. She then told Aphrodite that love was worthless, since you would most likely have a broken heart in the end. She showed the example of Orpheus and Eurydice. They still had broken hearts. Of course, these goddess did not take offense easily. They plotted to get revenge.

With the help of Dionysus, they made every young man look like a golden stag. But really, they were the men of Athens. Soon she was in childbirth, which was very painful. Hera (who was also the goddess of childbirth), made sure that the birth would not come easily for Artemis. People are not sure who her daughter was. Some say it is Haley's comet. Others say that she is the shadows of night. Most most people believe that it was moon that was her daughter, always shining down upon us. In ancient Cretan history Leto was worshiped at Phaistos and in Cretan mythology Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis at the islands known today as the Paximadia. A scholium of Servius on Aeneid iii. 72 accounts for the island's archaic name Ortygia by asserting that Zeus transformed Leto into a quail (ortux) in order to prevent Hera from finding out his infidelity, and Kenneth McLeish suggested further that in quail form Leto would have given birth with as few birth-pains as a mother quail suffers when it lays an egg.

The myths also differ as to whether Artemis was born first, or Apollo. Most stories depict Artemis as born first, becoming her mother's mid-wife upon the birth of her brother Apollo. Artemis caused no pain to Leto, earning her the title of goddess of childbirth. After she was born she helped Leto give birth to Apollo her twin brother. Childhood The childhood of Artemis is not fully related in any surviving myth. The Iliad reduced the figure of the dread goddess to that of a girl, who, having been thrashed by Hera , climbs weeping into the lap of Zeus.

A poem of Callimachus to the goddess "who amuses herself on mountains with archery" imagines some charming vignettes: according to Callimachus, Artemis, at three years old, while sitting on the knee of her father, Zeus , asked him to grant her six wishes: to remain always a virgin; to have many names to set her apart from her brother Apollo ; to be the Phaesporia or Light Bringer; to have a bow and arrow and a knee-length tunic so that she could hunt; to have sixty "daughters of Okeanos", all nine years of age, to be her choir; and for twenty Amnisides Nymphs as handmaidens to watch her dogs and bow while she rested. She wished for no city dedicated to her, but to rule the mountains, and for the ability to help women in the pains of childbirth. Artemis believed that she had been chosen by the Fates to be a midwife, particularly since she had assisted her mother in the delivery of her twin brother, Apollo. All of her companions remained virgins, and Artemis closely guarded her own chastity.

Her symbols included the silver bow and arrow, the hunting dog, the stag, and the moon. Callimachus tells how Artemis spent her girlhood seeking out the things that she would need to be a huntress, how she obtained her bow and arrows from the isle of Lipara, where Hephaestus and the Cyclops worked. Okeanus' daughters were filled with fear, but the young Artemis bravely approached and asked for bow and arrows. Callimachus then tells how Artemis visited Pan , the god of the forest, whom gave her seven female dogs and six dogs. She then captured six golden-horned deer to pull her chariot. Artemis practiced with her bow first by shooting at trees and then at wild beasts. Possible Relations & Others As a virgin, Artemis had interested many gods and men. Artemis was friends with the giant Orion, but long after Orion's death humans thought that they could have been something more. This was unlikely true because the first stories of their friendship were things like Orion being a rapist and attempting to take advantage of their friendship and rape Artemis, which in turn led to her killing him.

Others were things like Orion attempting to kill every beast in the world to win her heart, in order to stop him either Artemis killed him without regret (she thought he was crazy and that she would never fall in love no matter what, or Gaia sending Scorpio to kill him. Either way unlike popular belief there was plenty of evidence that they had nothing other than a mere friendship (despite Orion wanting more but he may or may not have acted on it and tried to rape her). In the unlikely case of Artemis being in love with Orion it would have likely ended with with Apollo wanting to make sure Artemis kept her vow and he either sent Scorpio to kill him or tricked Artemis into shooting Orion. Orion was the self-proclaimed best hunter in another version and Hera sent Scorpio to kill him, in this version Zeus put him in the stars as a constellation as an apology to Orion for what his wife did. It was most likely in most case that Zeus was the one who put him in the sky and only the ones where Artemis was in love with him would Artemis have put her in the sky. The whole idea of Artemis loving Orion was started way after the first stories of any possible friendship between the two.

Alpheus , a river god, was in love with Artemis, but he realizes that he can do nothing to win her heart. So he decides to capture her. Artemis, who is with her companions at Letrenoi, goes to Alpheus, but, suspicious of his motives, she covers her face with mud so that the river god does not recognize her. In another story, Alphaeus tries to rape Artemis' attendant Arethusa . Artemis pities Arethusa and saves her by transforming Arethusa into a spring in Artemis' temple, Artemis Alphaea in Letrini, where the goddess and her attendant drink. Bouphagos, the son of the Titan Iapetos, sees Artemis and thinks about raping her. Reading his sinful thoughts, Artemis strikes him at Mount Pholoe. Sipriotes is a boy, who, either because he accidentally sees Artemis bathing or because he attempts to rape her, is turned into a girl by the goddess. Aktaeon Multiple versions Actaeon myth survive, though many are fragmentary.

The details vary but at the core they involve a great hunter, Aktaeon who Artemis turns into a stag for a transgression and who is then killed by hunting dogs. Usually the dogs are his own, whom no longer recognize their master. Sometimes they are Artemis' hounds. According to the standard modern text on the work, Lamar Ronald Lacey's The Myth of Aktaion: Literary and Icongraphic Studies, the most likely original version of the myth is that Aktaeon was the hunting companion of the goddess who, seeing her stark naked in her sacred spring, attempts to force himself on her. For this hubris he is turned into a stag and devoured by his own hounds. However, in some surviving versions Aktaeon is a stranger who happens upon her. Different tellings also diverge in the hunter's transgression, which is sometimes merely seeing the virgin goddess naked, sometimes boasting he is a better hunter than she, or even merely being a rival of Zeus for the affections of Semele .

Adonis In some versions of the story of Adonis , who was a late addition to Greek mythology during the Hellenistic period, Artemis sent a wild boar to kill Adonis as punishment for his hubristic boast that he was a better hunter than she. In other versions, Artemis killed Adonis for revenge. In later myths, Adonis had been related as a favorite of Aphrodite , and Aphrodite was responsible for the death of Hippolytus , who had been a favorite of Artemis. Therefore, Artemis killed Adonis to avenge Hippolytus's death. In yet another version, Adonis was not killed by Artemis, but by Ares , as punishment out of jealousy. Orion Orion was Artemis' hunting companion. In some versions, he is killed by Artemis, while in others he is killed by a scorpion sent by Gaia . In some versions, Orion tries to seduce Opis , one of her followers, and she killed him. In a version by Aratus , Orion took hold of Artemis's robe and she killed him in self-defense. In yet another version, Apollo sends the scorpion.

According to Hyginus , Artemis once loved Orion (in spite of the late source, this version appears to be a rare remnant of her as the pre-Olympian goddess, who took consorts, as Eos did), but was tricked into killing him by her brother Apollo, who was "protective" of his sister's maidenhood. Artemis was friends with the giant Orion, but long after Orion's death humans thought that they could have been something more. This was unlikely true because the first stories of their friendship were things like Orion being a rapist and attempting to take advantage of their friendship and rape Artemis, which in turn led to her killing him. Others were things like Orion attempting to kill every beast in the world to win her heart, in order to stop him either Artemis killed him without regret (she thought he was crazy and that she would never fall in love no matter what, or Gaia sending Scorpio to kill him. Either way unlike popular belief there was plenty of evidence that they had nothing other than a mere friendship (despite Orion wanting more but he may or may not have acted on it and tried to rape her).

In the unlikely case of Artemis being in love with Orion it would have likely ended with with Apollo wanting to make sure Artemis kept her vow and he either sent Scorpio to kill him or tricked Artemis into shooting Orion. Orion was the self-proclaimed best hunter in another version and Hera sent Scorpio to kill him, in this version Zeus put him in the stars as a constellation as an apology to Orion for what his wife did. It was most likely in most case that Zeus was the one who put him in the sky and only the ones where Artemis was in love with him would Artemis have put her in the sky. The whole idea of Artemis loving Orion was started way after the first stories of any possible friendship between the two The Aloadae These twin sons of Iphidemia and Poseidon , Otos and Ephialtes, grew enormously at a young age. They were aggressive, great hunters, and could not be killed unless they killed each other. The growth of the Aloadae never stopped, and they boasted that as soon as they could reach heaven, they would kidnap Artemis and Hera and take them as wives.

The gods were afraid of them, except for Artemis who captured a fine deer (or in another version of the story, she changed herself into a doe) and jumped out between them. The Aloadae threw their spears and so mistakenly killed each other. Callisto Callisto was the daughter of Lycaon, King of Arcadia and also was one of Artemis' hunting attendants. As a companion of Artemis, she took a vow of chastity. Zeus appeared to her disguised as Artemis, or in some stories Apollo , gained her confidence, then took advantage of her. As a result of this encounter she conceived a son, Arcas. Enraged, Hera or Artemis (some accounts say both) changed her into a bear. Arcas almost killed the bear, but Zeus stopped him just in time. Out of pity, Zeus placed Callisto the bear into the heavens, thus the origin of Callisto the Bear as a constellation. Some stories say that he placed both Arcas and Callisto into the heavens as bears, forming the Ursa Minor and Ursa Major constellations.

Iphigenia and the Taurian Artemis Artemis punished Agamemnon after he killed a sacred stag in a sacred grove and boasted that he was a better hunter than the goddess. When the Greek fleet was preparing at Aulis to depart for Troy to begin the Trojan War , Artemis becalmed the winds. The seer Calchas advised Agamemnon that the only way to appease Artemis was to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia . Artemis then snatched Iphigenia from the altar and substituted a deer. Various myths have been told around what happened after Artemis took her. Either she was brought to Tauros and led the priests there, or became Artemis' immortal companion. Niobe A Queen of Thebes and wife of Amphion , Niobe boasted of her superiority to Leto because while she had fourteen children (Niobids), seven boys and seven girls, Leto had only one of each. When Artemis and Apollo heard this impiety, Apollo killed her sons as they practiced athletics, and Artemis shot her daughters, whom died instantly without a sound.

Apollo and Artemis used poisoned arrows to kill them, though according to some versions two of the Niobids were spared, one boy and one girl. Amphion, at the sight of his dead sons, killed himself. A devastated Niobe and her remaining children were turned to stone by Artemis as they wept. The gods themselves entombed them. Niobe and Amphion boasted they were better than Leto, becuase they had raised fourteen children and Leto had only raised two. Artemis and Apollo, very angered that the two dared to compare their mortal lives to that of a goddess, killed their children. Apollo killed all the male children and Artemis killed all the female children, each with their bow and arrows. Amphion committed suicide and Niobe wept until she was turned into a rock. This myths is said to be the explanation of why rocks "cry". Khione Khione was a princess of Pokis. She was beloved by two gods, Hermes and Apollo, and boasted that she was prettier than Artemis because she made two gods fall in love with her at once. Artemis was furious and killed Khione with her arrow or struck her dumb by shooting off her tongue.

However, some versions of this myth say Apollo and Hermes protected her from Artemis' wrath. Atalanta, Oeneus and the Meleagrids Artemis saved the infant Atalanta from dying of exposure after her father abandoned her. She sent a female bear to suckle the baby, whom was then raised by hunters. But she later sent a bear to hurt Atalanta because people said Atalanta was a better hunter. This is in some stories. Among other adventures, Atalanta participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar, which Artemis had sent to destroy Kalydon because King Oeneus had forgotten her at the harvest sacrifices. In the hunt, Atalanta drew the first blood, and was awarded the prize of the skin. She hung it in a sacred grove at Tegea as a dedication to Artemis. Meleager was a hero of Aetolia. King Oeneus had him gather heroes from all over Greece to hunt the Calydonian Boar. After the death of Meleager, Artemis turned his grieving sisters, the Meleagrids into guineafowl that Artemis loved very much.

Aura In Nonnus Dionysiaca, Aura was Greek goddess of breezes and cool air, daughter of Lelantos and Periboia . She was a virgin huntress, just like Artemis and proud of her maidenhood. One day, she claimed that the body of Artemis was too womanly and she doubted her virginity. Artemis asked Nemesis for help to avenge her dignity and caused the rape of Aura by Dionysos . Aura became a mad and dangerous killer. When she bore twin sons, she ate one of them while the other one, Iakhos, was saved by Artemis. Iakhos later became an attendant of Demeter and the leader of Eleusinian Mysteries. Trojan War Artemis may have been represented as a supporter of Troy because her brother Apollo was the patron god of the city and she herself was widely worshiped in western Anatolia in historical times. In the Iliad she came to blows with Hera , when the divine allies of the Greeks and Trojans engaged each other in conflict. Hera struck Artemis on the ears with her own quiver, causing the arrows to fall out.

As Artemis fled crying to Zeus , Leto gathered up the bow and arrows. Artemis played quite a large part in this war. Like her mother and brother, whom was widely worshiped at Troy, Artemis took the side of the Trojans. At the Greek's journey to Troy, Artemis becalmed the sea and stopped the journey until an oracle came and said they could win the goddess' heart by sacrificing Iphigenia , Agamemnon's daughter. Agamemnon once promised the goddess he would sacrifice the dearest thing to him, which was Iphigenia, but broke the promise. Other sources said he boasted about his hunting ability and provoked the goddess' anger. Artemis saved Iphigenia because of her bravery. In some versions of the myth, Artemis made Iphigenia her attendant or turned her into Hekate , goddess of night, witchcraft, and the underworld. Aeneas was helped by Artemis, Leto, and Apollo. Apollo found him wounded by Diomedes and lifted him to heaven. There, the three of them secretly healed him in a great chamber.

Artemis in Art The oldest representations of Artemis in Greek Archaic art portray her as Potnia Theron ("Queen of the Beasts"): a winged goddess holding a stag and leopard in her hands, or sometimes a leopard and a lion. This winged Artemis lingered in ex-votos as Artemis Orthia , with a sanctuary close by Sparta . In Greek classical art she is usually portrayed as a maiden huntress, young, tall and slim, clothed in a girl's short skirt with hunting boots, a quiver, a bow and arrows. Often, she is shown in the shooting pose, and is accompanied by a hunting dog or stag. When portrayed as a goddess of the moon, Artemis wore a long robe and sometimes a veil covered her head. Her darker side is revealed in some vase paintings, where she is shown as the death-bringing goddess whose arrows fell young maidens and women, such as the daughters of Niobe . Only in post-Classical art do we find representations of Artemis-Diana with the crown of the crescent moon, as Luna . In the ancient world, although she was occasionally associated with the moon, she was never portrayed as the moon itself.

Ancient statues of Artemis have been found with crescent moons, but these moons are always Renaissance-era additions. On June 7, 2007, a Roman era bronze sculpture of Artemis and the Stag was sold at Sotheby's auction house in New York state by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery for $25.5 million. Attributes Bow and Arrow: According to the Homeric Hymn to Artemis, she had golden bow and arrows, as her epithet was Khryselakatos, "of the Golden Shaft", and Iokheira (Showered by Arrows). The arrows of Artemis could also to bring sudden death and disease to girls and women. Artemis got her bow and arrow for the first time from The Kyklopes, as the one she asked from her father. The bow of Artemis also became the witness of Callisto's oath of her virginity. In later cult, the bow became the symbol of waxing moon. Chariots: Artemis' chariot was made of gold and was pulled by four golden horned deer (Elaphoi Khrysokeroi). The bridles of her chariot were also made of gold.

Spears, Nets and Lyres: Although quite seldom, Artemis is sometimes portrayed with a hunting spear. Her cult in Aetolia, the Artemis Aetolian, showed her with a hunting spear. The description about Artemis' spear can be found in Ovid's Metamorphosis, while Artemis with a fishing spear connected with her cult as a patron goddess of fishing. As a goddess of maiden dances and songs, Artemis is often portrayed with a lyre. Fauna Deer Deer were the only animals held sacred to Artemis herself. On seeing a deer larger than a bull with horns shining, she fell in love with these creatures and held them sacred. Deer were also the first animals she captured. She caught five golden horned deer called Elaphoi Khrysokeroi and harnessed them to her chariot. The third labour of Heracles , commanded by Eurystheus , consisted in catching the Kerynitis Hind alive. Heracles begged Artemis for forgiveness and promised to return it alive. Artemis forgave him but targeted Eurystheus for her wrath. Hunting Dog Artemis got her hunting dogs from Pan in the forest of Arcadia.

Pan gave Artemis two black-and-white dogs, three reddish ones, and one spotted one - these dogs were able to hunt even lions. Pan also gave Artemis seven bitches of the finest Arcadian race. However, Artemis only ever brought seven dogs hunting with her at any one time. Bear The sacrifice of a bear for Artemis started with the Brauron cult. Every year a girl between five and ten years of age was sent to Artemis' temple at Brauron. The Byzantine writer Suidos relayed the legend in Arktos e Brauroniois. A bear was tamed by Artemis and introduced to the people of Athens. They touched it and played with it until one day a group of girls poked the bear until it attacked them. A brother of one of the girls killed the bear, so Artemis sent a plague in revenge. The Athenians consulted an oracle to understand how to end the plague. The oracle suggested that, in payment for the bear's blood, no Athenian virgin should be allowed to marry until she had served Artemis in her temple ('played the bear for the goddess'). Boar The boar is one of the favorite animals of the hunters, and also hard to tame.

In honor of Artemis' skill, they sacrificed it to her. Oineus and Adonis were both killed by Artemis' boar. Guinea Fowl Artemis felt pity for the Meleagrids as they mourned for their lost brother, Meleagor, so she transformed them into Guinea Fowl to be her favorite animals. Citation needed Buzzard Hawk Hawks were the favored birds of many of the gods, Artemis included. Citation needed Flora Palm Tree and Cypress Tree trees were connected with the story of their birth to be her birthplace. Other plants sacred to Artemis are Amaranth and Asphodel . Artemis as The Lady of Ephesus Main Article: Temple of Artemis At Ephesus in Ionia, Turkey, her temple became one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was probably the best known center of her worship except for Delos. There the Lady whom the Ionians associated with Artemis through interpretatio graeca was worshiped primarily as a mother goddess, akin to the Phrygian goddess Cybele, in an ancient sanctuary where her cult image depicted the "Lady of Ephesus" adorned with multiple rounded breast like protuberances on her chest.

They have been variously interpreted as multiple accessory breasts, as eggs, grapes, acorns, or even bull testes. Excavation at the site of the Artemision in 1987-88 identified a multitude of tear-shaped amber beads that had adorned the ancient wooden xoanon. In Acts of the Apostles, Ephesian metalsmiths who felt threatened by Saint Paul's preaching of Christianity, jealously rioted in her defense, shouting "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" Of the 121 columns of her temple, only one composite, made up of fragments, still stands as a marker of the temple's location. The rest were used for making churches, roads, and forts. Artemis in Astronomy A minor planet, (105) Artemis ; a lunar crater; the Artemis Chasma and the Artemis Corona have all been named for her.

Artemis is the acronym for "Architectures de bolometres pour des Telescopes a grand champ de vue dans le domaine sub-Millimetrique au Sol," a large bolometer camera in the submillimeter range that was installed in 2010 at the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), located in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Animals and other things sacred to Artemis The Goose Sacred to Artemis The Guinea-Fowl is sacred to Artemis The Wolf is sacred to Artemis as well as Zeus

Question: In Greek mythology, Actaeon was changed into a stag by who when he saw her bathing, and was then killed by his own dogs?
Answer: Artemis