Artemis

the hunt and the wilderness

Artemis rules forest and game and, as a virgin goddess, watches over young women and childbirth.

💡 Did you know? Barely born, Artemis is said to have at once helped deliver her twin brother Apollo.

the bow and arrow

With a silver bow Artemis roams the woods; the deer is her sacred animal.

💡 Did you know? Her arrows were seen as the cause of the sudden, painless death of women.

she turned him into a stag

Because Actaeon saw her bathing, Artemis turned him into a stag.

💡 Did you know? His own hunting dogs no longer recognised him and tore him to pieces.

the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

The colossal Artemision at Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

💡 Did you know? An arsonist destroyed it in 356 BC just to become famous: reputedly on the night Alexander the Great was born.

Apollo

Artemis and Apollo, children of Zeus and Leto, are seen as siblings of moon and sun.

💡 Did you know? Together the siblings killed the seven sons and seven daughters of Niobe, who had mocked Leto.

Diana

For the Romans, Artemis corresponds to the goddess of the hunt and moon, Diana.

💡 Did you know? As a moon goddess she was often shown with a crescent moon in her hair.

on Delos

Only the floating island offered Leto refuge from Hera.

💡 Did you know? On the sacred isle, birth and death were later forbidden.

Niobe's

Niobe had set herself above Leto.

💡 Did you know? In grief she froze into weeping stone.

the she-bear

At Brauron, girls danced as “she-bears” for her.

💡 Did you know? The hind, too, is among her animals.

Iphigenia

In her place suddenly lay a hind.

💡 Did you know? The rescued girl became Artemis's priestess among the Taurians.

with the moon

As her twin Apollo was with the sun.

💡 Did you know? As moon goddess she merged with Selene.

Orion

Depending on the tale, by her arrow or a scorpion.

💡 Did you know? Hunter and scorpion both stand in the sky as constellations.