In Greek mythology, the goddess Artemis, the daughter of Zeus and sister of Apollo, is one of the most important female figures in ancient stories. Let’s take a closer look at Artemis, a goddess tasked with protecting young women and the wilderness, and see some of her surviving stories.
There are countless gods and goddesses in the stories that were accepted as a religion in the ancient Greek period and transferred to the present day as Greek mythology. One of them is the goddess Artemis. Artemis, the daughter of Zeus, the god of gods, is also She is the sister of Apollo, the sun god. She is one of the most important female figures in Greek mythology stories.
Many important stories are told, in which Artemis plays a major role. Let’s take a look at all the stories that Artemis is the protector of young women and the wilderness. We see. The most important reason for undertaking this mission is actually a kind of childhood trauma that he has experienced. Let’s take a closer look at what Artemis is not a god, what she protects, and let’s see some of the stories she is talking about.
A goddess who took a vow of virginity because she saw her brother’s birth: Who is Artemis?
Artemis is the daughter of Zeus, the god of gods in Greek mythology, and the goddess Leto. Born on Delos Island, Artemis is also the two sisters of the sun god Apollo. However, she was born the day before Apollo and helped her mother during his birth. Her mother suffered so much during childbirth that Artemis has sworn never to marry, not to have children, and to remain a virgin. Another story tells that he asked for eternal virginity as a gift from his father, Zeus.
So what god is Artemis?
Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo, has a structure based on contrasts, even though she has similar characteristics with her brother. Because Apollo is the sun god, while Artemis is the moon goddess. It is also for this reason that Apollo is called Phoebos and Artemis is called Phoebe. Both use bow and arrow. Apollo’s arrows are reflections of sunlight, Artemis’ arrows are reflections of moonlight.
Artemis is also known as the goddess of the hunt, nature, animals, plants, childbirth, children and chastity. Along with other hunters who believed in him and swore virginity wandering in the forest, Artemis especially protects baby animals. Men who wanted to approach Artemis, a goddess mostly prayed to by women, were punished by her being transformed into a deer or a rabbit. In some stories, it is told that he killed those who broke the vow of virginity with his arrows.
The king’s daughter, who rebelled against her mother, killed all her children:
Niobe, the daughter of the king of Lydia, married the king Amphion and gave birth to 6 girls and 6 boys. Proud to have so many children, Niobe He was arrogant by humiliating the goddess Leto. Niobe’s 6 boys were killed by Apollo and 6 girls by Artemis in order to punish this behavior towards their mother. Unable to endure this pain, Niobe turned to stone. Today, it is possible to see the stone face of Niobe in Manisa.
Woe to those who do not make a vow to Artemis:
Meleagros, the son of the king of Kalidon, made a vow to all gods for the harvest festival, but forgot to dedicate it to Artemis. Angry at this, Artemis sends a huge pig to the area. This pig starts to destroy all the fields. When Meleagros can’t cope, their neighbor calls the Curettes and the pig is killed.
Since Artemis’ anger does not subside, he starts a fight between the Curettes and the Kalidonians. By her mother for not being able to protect her uncles cursed Meleagros leaves the country, Curettes devastate the country. The people call Meleagros again and the Curettes are expelled. In another story, this pig is killed by Atalante, a character we have told here before, but the hunters, who cannot accept that a woman is held above them, rebel.
Troubles come to those who do not stay away from their holy deer:
Iphigeneia hunts one of Artemis’ sacred deer during a hunt with her father, the Spartan king Agamemnon. Enraged, Artemis blocks the wind, stopping their ship bound for the Trojan War. His only condition for leaving the ships is for Agamemnon to kill his own daughter. Just as Agamemnon was about to slit his own daughter’s throat, Artemis took pity on the girl and allowed her to kill a deer instead.
Artemis nearly broke her oath out of love for Orion:
Artemis, who is in love with the handsome hunter Orion, decides to marry this man by breaking her virginity vow, but This time, his brother Apollo will not allow it. When Artemis still insists, Apollo tells Orion to swim to a very far point and bets Artemis to hit that far point. When Artemis hits him with an arrow without realizing that it is Orion, she gets very upset and asks her father Zeus to stay in the sky as a constellation.
In another story, Artemis and Orion, who are in love with each other, are hunting in the forest one day. Orion approached and took Artemis’ hand. Artemis, who touched her hand for the first time, gets very angry and kills her. However, he immediately regrets it and asks his father Zeus to resurrect him. Zeus said he could not do this and immortalized Orion as a constellation in the sky.
He does not like arrogant hunters:
Aktaion, a Thebian hunter, is indeed a very good hunter, and for this reason, he becomes arrogant and begins to consider himself superior to Artemis. Angry at this, Artemis Transforms Aktaion into a deer and set his fifty dogs on him. As Aktaion’s dogs do not know that they are tearing their owners apart, they start to attack in anger while looking for him. Chiron then makes a statue of Aktaion and calms the dogs.
Actually, we all know the name Artemis as one of the Seven Wonders of the World:
The Temple of Artemis, located in the Ancient City of Ephesus, located within the borders of İzmir province of our country, It is a sacred place built for the goddess Artemis. It is here as a symbol of abundance and fertility. The Temple of Artemis; The Pyramid of Giza is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, along with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Artemis is also a unique figure for the art world:
When we examine the ancient Greek art, Artemis is generally encountered. comes out as a beautiful woman hunter with a spear in her hand. At the same time, there is a deer and a hunting dog figure next to it. Artemis, which we also see in red and black colored vases, is emphasized as a goddess, especially in early works, and is sometimes even shown as winged.
One of the most important goddesses in ancient Greek mythology Who is Artemis, what goddess We answered frequently asked questions such as: When you hear the stories in Greek mythology, one cannot help but wonder whose imagination they are.