ARTEMIS

Why I like artemis

 

In Greek mythology Artemis, despite her "wildness" (her refusal to conform to conventional ways or tradition) and her fierce independence, was depicted as one of the compassionate, healing goddesses. Of all the Greek goddesses, she was the most self-sufficient, living life on her own terms, comfortable both in solitude and in holding the reins of leadership. Artemis is unsurprisingly associated with the wilderness and the natural world. She symbolizes the untamed spirit, never being tied down by things such as love, being the eternal huntress of the forests. The Greek goddess Artemis was famous for her hunting skills, especially with her bow and arrow. She had unerring aim that never missed her target. She was a very able hunter taking down some of the most terrifying beasts with ease and grace.
 my favorite Legends of Artemis

In Greek mythology Artemis (also known as the Roman goddess Diana) was the daughter of Zeus, the mighty ruler of the Olympian gods. After an affair and secretly impregnating Leto, Leto had to give birth to Aretmis while being chased by the Python sent by Hera. Fortunately for Leto her first child, Artemis, was birthed without any pain. However Leto had twins so her labor continued, and as weak as she was the newborn Artemis quickly took the roll as midwife and helped birth her twin brother Apollo. You could say that, of all the Greek goddesses, the goddess Artemis was literally born to serve as a nurturer and protector!


On her birthday Artemis asked for six wishes from Zeus, his father. These wishes were.
1. To be able to live life chaste.                 
2. To be able to be a lifelong bachelorette and never marry.
3. A bow and arrow like that of Artemis’s
4. Hunting dogs to assist her hunting.
5. Stags to lead her chariot.
6. And 80 virgin nymphs to be her hunting companions.
Zeus was amused by wishes and being the good father granted her each wish she asked for. Artemis would never marry, and would be chaste for all eternity. She roamed with her hunting dogs, nymphs, and her stags, hunting all throughout the mountains where she resided.

Artemis was very protective of the chastity of her nymphs and was angered when they didn’t keep their purity. In the case of Callisto, Zeus had disguised himself as Artemis and took advantage and impregnated Callisto, Artemis was furious that she was no longer chaste and blamed her loss of purity on her. Artemis then immediately irrevocably turned her into a bear. However before Artemis killed Callisto in bear form Zeus intervened turning Callisto into constellation in the stars, as Callisto the Bear, also known as Ursa Major.

Artemis was also very protective of the animals in her domain. Once the King Agamemnon slaughtered one of Artemis’s sacred stags and boasted that he was a superior hunter to Artemis. In vengeance while Agamemnon and his forces were sailing to Troy for the Trojan War Artemis becalmed the ships so they were stuck in the middle of the sea with no wind. Artemis then demanded Agamemnon sacrifice his daughter and then Artemis would restore the wind. In the end Artemis herself swaps the sacrifice of Agamemnon.

Artemis never had any love affairs, but one. That was with the mortal Orion. Artemis was in love with Orion. However, upset that his sister's time and attentions had been diverted away from him, the God Apollo, her twin, became very jealous. So when Orion was swimming far into the ocean Apollo made a wager with Artemis that she couldn’t hit the floating object on the horizon.Artemis being the prideful archer she was took the wager gladly and proudly drew her bow and shot the object on the horizon winning the wager. However once she won she realized that the “floating object” was actually her only lover Orion. In her great grief the Goddess Artemis turned Orion into various stars and shot him into the night sky, making him a constellation in the night sky forevermore.

According to the Agraeans, after being born on Delos, Artemis hunted for the first time on their lands. She then went to Ambracia, where she discovered the people were being tormented by the tyrant Phalaexis. The Ambracians believed that Artemis had a lioness tear him apart.

During the Persian War, the Persian army set out for Megara. The Megarans, fearful for their city, prayed to Artemis for help. The enemy became lost in the forested hills at night, and shot the majority of their arrows into the forest. Each time an arrow hot a tree, Artemis caused the Persians to hear the groans of wounded people. Convinced they were killing Greeks, the Persians finished off their ammunition and were an easy mark for the Megarans in the morning. In thanks for Artemis' help, the Megarans built her a temple.

While much of Classical Greek mythology portrays Artemis as retiring and indisposed to act unless personally insulted, a few do show her as quick witted and decisive. One of these myths concerns the tragic fate of Otus and Ephialtes, giants whom the Greeks writers called sons of Poseidon. These two giants were extremely arrogant, and cared only for each other. Selfish and wasteful, they existed for the instant gratification of whatever desires they happened to have. One day, they decided that they would take over Mount Olympus. Astonishingly, they nearly succeeded, forcing Zeus to throw them back to earth with a thunderbolt. He was going to kill these violent rivals in order to secure his position, but Poseidon convinced him to let them go. Thwarted in one foolish desire, Otus and Ephialtes came up with another. Each decided that they would rape a Goddess. One chose Hera, the other, Artemis. However, Hera was unreachable, and Artemis was not merely the chief hunter on Olympus, but chief defender of all Goddesses. She allowed the two giants to pursue her, leading them into the sea. They were sons of a sea god, and they ran across it as easily as if it were land. No one notes if they were surprised that Artemis could also perform this feat. Since she is the daughter of a sea Goddess, perhaps it wasn't surprising. Artemis led Otus and Ephialtes to the island of Naxos and allowed them to approach her so closely they nearly touched her, and felt the movement of the air when she disappeared. Some distance away, at the edge of the forest appeared a white hind with silver hooves, which dashed away. True to their short attention spans, the brothers grabbed their spears and chased it instead. Eventually they each arrived at opposite sides of a glade. Able to see only the hind at its center, they threw their spears and impaled one another.