Greek Goddess Artemis

Artemis is the virgin goddess of hunting, wild animals and forests. She is also considered as the protectress of young children and women in labor. She is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, who is also known as Letona. Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo who is often associated with Moon and silver since it was believed that she wore silver costumes and had a silver chariot and came out in moonlit nights. The name "Artemis" is derived from the Greek word "artemes" which means healthy and energetic and who also serves as the source of strength and vitality for other people. Aretemis is often associated with Diana, a Roman Goddess and Bast, an Egyptian Goddess.

Aretemis can be identified as the first epitome of female independence and decisiveness because on her third birthday she asked for six things from her father, which are as follows:

• She asked him to let her remain a virgin and out of any bonding of romantic love or marriage.
• She demanded for a bow and arrow like one that Apollo, her brother had.
• She also demanded for a hunting costume and liberty to dress up. She wanted to dress up like a man.
• She also wanted sixty nymphs who would be her companions.
• She wanted to bring light to the world.
• The last wish or demand that she had was to give her all the mountains on Earth so that she could live on any one of them.

She was the first woman to place her opinions openly and to claim equality with men, especially her brother and father. She lived an independent life and lived in

Myths surrounding Aretemis

Birth myth

The greatest myth that surrounds Artemis is the myth of her birth. As stated earlier she is the twin sister of Apollo who is believed to have taken birth nine hours after her birth and since his birth became difficult for Leto their mother, Artemis helped her in giving birth to Apollo acting as mid wife. This is the reason Artemis is often considered a protectress of young children and women in labor.

Actaeon Myth

It is said that once she was bathing with her nymphs in a vale in a distant forest and Actaeon had gone there for hunting. It is said that he came upon her by chance and saw her bathing, which enraged and she transformed Actaeon into a stag, which was hunted down by his own hounds. Alternatively, there is another legend according to which Actaeon boasted of being a better hunter than Aretemis as a result of which she turned him into a stag to be hounded and killed by his own wild dogs.

Callisto Myth

Since Artemis herself pledged to remain a virgin all her life, she wanted her companions and followers to do the same. Callisto according to some legends is considered to be one of her companions and according to the others is considered to be her follower. In either case she should have been a virgin but she breaks and her vow and becomes pregnant as a result of an affair with Zeus. She becomes the subject of Artemis's wrath and is transformed into a bear by her so that some hunter hunts her. It would have happened so and Callisto would have been killed if Zeus had not interfered and given her a place in the constellation. So this is the legend behind the constellation Callisto that is in the shape of a bear.

Orion Myth

It is said that there were very few men with whom Artemis shared a friendly relationship and the most important of such kind of relationship in life was with her brother Apollo. They were very close to each other and seldom was another man in her life who could make Apollo insecure of his sister's affection but when Orion came in her life, that was the first time that she felt romantically for somebody which was not taken by Apollo in good spirit. He tricked Artemis into killing her lover Orion by challenging her aim in archery and while Orion was swimming across the ocean, Apollo asked Artemis to aim at that thing in the horizon and she did the same. As was obvious and known that she never missed her aim, the arrow struck Orion and he was killed. This is how the story goes according to some legends while some say that Artemis killed Orion in self-defense when he tried to rape her. Again some are of the opinion that Artemis killed him while he tried to rape one of her companions.

Role of Artemis in Art and Painting

In art and literature Artemis is looked upon as an epitome of beauty and freedom. She is portrayed as an independent and impulsive female figure whose nature and beauty cannot be tamed. She is considered to be the Goddess of wilderness and wild animals. In most of the paintings she can be seen in the garb of a huntress who is wearing a short skirt, hunting shoes, bows and arrows.

The character of Artemis represents an indifferent woman of free spirits who defies all the norms of female archetype of being submissive, humble and restrained. She is carefree and denies being a victim of all these norms and prejudices. She establishes her freedom and equality from a very early age.