Artemis/Diana

Artemide

Artemide (in greco antico: Ἄρτεμις, Ártemis) è un personaggio della mitologia greca, dea della caccia, degli animali selvatici, del tiro con l'arco, della foresta e dei campi coltivati; è anche la dea delle iniziazioni femminili, protettrice della verginità e della pudicizia. Figlia di Zeus e Latona e sorella gemella di Apollo, è una dei dodici Olimpi e la sua origine risale ai tempi più antichi. Fu più tardi identificata come la personificazione della Luna crescente, insieme a Selene (la Luna piena) ed Ecate (la Luna calante). Assieme ad Atena ed Estia, era una dea vergine, armata di arco e frecce d'oro, dimorava nei boschi con i suoi affidabili cani da caccia e con uno stuolo di ninfe.
A Roma fu associata alla figura di Diana, mentre gli Etruschi la veneravano con il nome di Artume.

Il culto di Artemide

Artemide era adorata e celebrata allo stesso modo in quasi tutte le zone della Grecia, specialmente nel Peloponneso e a Creta, ma i più importanti luoghi di culto a lei dedicati si trovavano a Delo (sua isola natale), Braurone, Munichia (su una collina nei pressi del Pireo) e a Sparta. Il suo culto fu molto presente anche in Sardegna e nel sud Italia.
Artemide è detta Trivia sia in quanto era venerata sotto le tre forme corrispondenti alle tre fasi lunari (Selene in cielo, Artemide in terra ed Ecate nel mondo degli inferi) sia perché le sue immagini erano spesso poste all'incrocio di tre strade. Durante l'epoca classica ad Atene veniva ulteriormente identificata con Ecate.
Le fanciulle ateniesi di età compresa tra i cinque e dieci anni venivano mandate al santuario di Artemide a Braurone per servire la dea per un anno: durante questo periodo le ragazze erano conosciute come arktoi ("orsette"). Quest'usanza viene spiegata da una leggenda: un orso era stato addomesticato dalla gente di Braurone, ma una giovinetta prese a infastidirlo e ne fu uccisa (o, secondo un'altra versione ne fu accecata); il fratello della ragazza per vendetta uccise l'orso, ma Artemide andò per questo in collera e pretese che le ragazze prendessero il posto dell'orso nel suo santuario.^{[senza fonte]}
I sacerdoti e le sacerdotesse devoti al suo servizio erano obbligati a vivere casti e puri; le trasgressioni del loro voto di castità venivano punite severamente.
Il suo culto venne spesso sovrapposto a quello di Eileithyia, od Ilithyia (Εἰλείθυια), Dea del Parto per antonomasia, e della fertilità. Ne conseguì un'incongruenza del mito poiché, alla nascita dei Gemelli Apollo ed Artemide, la madre Leto era stata aiutata dalla dea del Parto Ilithyia, in seguito alla sovrapposizione delle due divinità risulterebbe che fu la neonata Artemide ad aiutare la madre nel parto del fratello Apollo ^{[senza fonte]}. A riprova della capacità di Artemide di facilitare il parto, in Grecia comunque era frequente il nome Artemidoro (dono di Artemide).

Artemide Arcadica

In Arcadia, Artemide era la dea delle ninfe ed era adorata come tale da tempi molto antichi. I suoi templi e santuari erano più numerosi in questa regione che in altre parti della Grecia e sorgevano di solito nei pressi di fiumi e laghi, da qui l'appellativo di limnêtis o limnaia, e vicino ad essi si trovavano fonti d'acqua come a Corinto. Il fatto che i suoi appellativi ed epiteti usati in Arcadia siano quasi tutti derivati da montagne, fiumi e laghi, dimostra che lei era la personificazione di qualche parte o forza della natura.

La Signora di Efeso

Il Tempio di Artemide a Efeso era considerato una delle Sette meraviglie del mondo. In questa regione, la Signora di Efeso, era adorata soprattutto come dea della fertilità, una figura simile alla dea frigia Cibele e molto diversa dall'Artemide greca. Mentre le statue greche ritraggono Artemide come una giovane con arco e frecce, le statue provenienti da questa zona la mostrano con il busto coperto di protuberanze rotondeggianti che sono state interpretate sia come seni che come testicoli di toro. Negli Atti degli Apostoli i fabbri efesini, quando sentono la loro fede minacciata dalla predicazione di San Paolo si levano a difenderla con fervore gridando: "Grande è Artemide degli efesini!!"..
È opinione quasi universalmente riconosciuta che ella fosse un'antica divinità orientale, il cui culto fu scoperto dai Greci nella Ionia quando essi vi si stabilirono, e che per alcune peculiarità da loro scoperte, le applicarono il nome di Artemide. Non appena fu riconosciuta questa identità della dea orientale con l'Artemide greca, viceversa anche le peculiarità di Artemide furono trasferite alla Signora di Efeso.

Attributi ed Epiteti

Le più antiche rappresentazioni di Artemide nell'arte greca dell'età arcaica la ritraggono come "Potnia Theron" (La regina degli animali selvatici): una dea alata che ha accanto un cervo e un leopardo, qualche volta un leone. Nell'arte classica greca era abitualmente ritratta come vergine cacciatrice, con una gonna corta, gli stivali da caccia, la faretra con le frecce e un arco. Spesso è ritratta mentre sta scoccando una freccia e insieme a lei vi sono o un cane o un cervo. Gli attributi caratteristici della dea variano spesso: l'arco e le frecce sono talvolta sostituiti da lance da caccia. Vi sono rappresentazioni di Artemide vista anche come dea delle danze delle fanciulle, e in questo caso tiene in mano una lira, oppure come dea della luce mentre stringe in mano due torce accese e fiammeggianti. Solo nel periodo post-classico si possono trovare rappresentazioni di un'Artemide che porta la corona lunare, simbolo della sua identificazione con la dea Luna, mentre nei tempi più antichi, sebbene questa identificazione fosse già presente, questo tipo di iconografia non fu mai usata.
Alla dea erano sacri: il cervo, il daino, la lepre, la quaglia, l'orso, il cane, il cipresso e l'alloro.
A seguire, alcuni degli epiteti con cui Artemide era chiamata:

• Afea – per assimilazione con l'omonima dea dell'isola Egina;
• Agrotera – che significa "Campestre". Agrotera è un'incarnazione di Artemide che la rappresenta anche come dea della guerra: gli Spartani celebravano sacrifici in suo onore prima di iniziare una nuova campagna militare;
• Agròtis (Αγρότις), agreste, cacciatrice;
• Amarisia – dal santuario di Amarynthos, sull'isola di Eubea, presso il quale si celebravano le feste Amarisie;
• Anùmpheutos - (Άνύμφευτος) "Senza nozze"
• Asulòs - "inviolabile";
• Basileia - "Sovrana";
• Brimò - (Βριμώ), "terribile";
• Cynthia – con riferimento al Monte Cinto (Kynthos) nell'isola di Delo, ai piedi del quale nacque la dea;
• Daphnia - Daphne, nome greco dell'alloro, era sacro alla dea come ad Apollo;
• Delia - nata nell'isola di Delo (greco Δῆλος). Sorella di Delios (Apollo o Febo);
• Dia - "Figlia di Zeus";
• Drumonia - "Silvestre";
• Elaphêbolos - "Colei che ferisce i cervi";
• Eùskopos iochéaira (ἐύσκοπος ἰοχέαιρα), "Saettatrice infallibile" (in Omero, Odissea);
• Ghiunaia - (Γυναία), "protettrice degli esseri femminili";
• Kourothrophos – protettrice dei giovani; (in Diodoro);
• Kynegétria (κυνηγέτρια) o anche Kynegòs (κυνηγός), cacciatrice;
• Limnes - fluviale poiché in Arcadia i suoi templi sorgevano presso i corsi d'acqua;
• Locheia – dea della nascita e patrona delle levatrici;
• Opadòs okypòdon elàphon (ὀπαδός ὠκυπόδων ἐλάφων) "inseguitrice di cervi dal piede veloce" (in Sofocle, Edipo a Colono);
• Orthia - dea adorata a Sparta, dove era situato un importante santuario a lei dedicato.
• Ortigia - derivato dall'antico toponimo di Delo o dall'isola di Ortigia o da altra località, sulla base di una controversa lettura di Omero. La dea portava questo nome in vari posti, ma sempre in riferimento al luogo in cui era nata;
• Phacelitis (Fascelide) – venerata a Rhegion (Reggio Calabria);
• Phoebe – versione femminile dell'appellativo del fratello, Febo Apollo;
• Potnia Theron – patrona degli animali selvatici. Appellativo usato da Omero.

Artemide nella mitologia

Vengono di seguito riportati i fatti più rilevanti riferiti ad Artemide dai miti tradizionali greci.

La nascita

Secondo la Teogonia di Esiodo, Zeus si era invaghito di Leto, figlia dei Titani Ceo e Febe. Al momento dell'unione il re degli dei trasformò Leto, e se stesso in quaglie. Era, regina degli dei e moglie di Zeus, decisa a punire l'adulterio, ordinò al mostro Pitone di perseguitare la donna, impedendole di partorire su nessuna terra dove avesse brillato il sole. Leto riuscì a partorire a Delo, l'unica isola galleggiante e quindi non soggetta alla maledizione di Era; isola che, secondo una versione del mito, non era altra che sua sorella Asteria, tramutata in isola in quanto aveva rifiutato l'amore di Zeus. Leto partorì ai piedi del Monte Cinto, la prima a nascere fu Artemide, che subito dopo aiutò la madre a partorire il fratello Apollo.
Altri miti riportano che la vendicativa Era, pur di impedirne la nascita, giunse a rapire Ilizia, dea del parto. Solo l'intervento degli altri Dèi, che offrirono alla regina dell'Olimpo una collana di ambra lunga nove metri, riuscì a convincere Era a desistere dal suo intento.

Genealogia (Esiodo)

Urano

Gea

Genitali di  Urano

CRONO

Rea

Zeus

Era

Poseidone

Ade

Demetra

Estia

a

b

Ares

Efesto

Meti

Atena

Latona

Apollo

Artemide

Maia

Ermes

Semele

Dioniso

Dione

a

b

Afrodite

L'infanzia

Il poeta Callimaco, nel suo Inno ad Artemide, ci racconta che la dea, a tre anni, sedutasi sulle ginocchia di Zeus, chiese al padre di rimanere eternamente vergine e di essere chiamata con molti nomi, come suo fratello Apollo; di avere un arco ricurvo forgiato dai Ciclopi; di concederle sessanta Oceanine di nove anni come ancelle e venti ninfe figlie del fiume Amnìso perché si curino dei suoi calzari e dei suoi cani quando non caccia; di darle tutti i monti e quante città vorrà lui dedicarle, dal momento che la dea abiterà sui monti e raramente andrà in città. Zeus accontentò la figlia e inoltre le donò tre città che avrebbero onorato soltanto lei e la nominò custode delle strade e dei porti. Artemide lo ringraziò e si recò subito sul Monte Leuco in Creta, e poi nel fiume Oceano, dove scelse molte Ninfe di nove anni come sue ancelle e poi le ninfe amnise. Dietro invito di Efesto, la dea allora si recò a visitare i Ciclopi nell'isola di Lipari e li trovò intenti a martellare un truogolo per i cavalli di Poseidone. Artemide disse ai Ciclopi di trascurare per qualche tempo il truogolo di Poseidone e di farle un arco d'argento e un bel fascio di frecce d'oro; in cambio essa avrebbe loro offerto in pasto la prima preda abbattuta. Con queste armi Artemide si recò in Arcadia, dove Pan le diede tre cani segugi dalle orecchie mozze, due bicolori ed uno macchiettato e sette agili segugi spartani. Avendo catturato vive due coppie di cerve cornute, Artemide le aggiogò a un cocchio d'oro con redini pure d'oro e le guidò a settentrione verso l'Emo, monte della Tracia. Poi ritornò in Grecia dove le Ninfe amnise staccarono le cerve dal cocchio, le strigliarono, le nutrirono e le abbeverarono in truogoli d'oro.

Artemide e Apollo

Artemide, come il fratello Apollo, è armata di arco, faretra e frecce e manda piaghe e morte ad uomini ed animali: mentre il dio era causa delle morti di uomini per opera delle sue temibili frecce, allo stesso modo Artemide lo era di quelle di donne. Artemide agisce congiuntamente al fratello: come infatti Apollo non era solo un dio distruttivo, ma aveva anche il potere di allontanare il male da lui stesso inflitto, così Artemide era allo stesso tempo soteira, ossìa curava e alleviava le sofferenze dei mortali. Curò ad esempio Enea quando fu ferito e portato nel tempio di Apollo. Inoltre, come Apollo fu successivamente identificato con il Sole, così Artemide venne identificata con la Luna. Ci sono anche fattori, comunque, che non ravvisano analogie tra i due dei: Artemide non ha nulla a che fare con la musica e la poesia, e non ci sono tracce di lei come divinità oracolare, come invece lo era Apollo.

Tizio

Leto si era recata con Artemide a Delfi, dove si appartò in un sacro boschetto per adempiere a certi riti. Era, per vendicarsi di Leto suscitò un forte desiderio al gigante Tizio, che stava tentando di violentarla, quando Apollo e Artemide, udite le grida della madre, accorsero e uccisero Tizio con nugolo di frecce: una vendetta che Zeus, padre di Tizio, giudicò atto di giustizia. Nel Tartaro Tizio fu condannato alla tortura con le braccia e le gambe solidamente fissate al suolo e due avvoltoi gli mangiavano il fegato,che gli si rigenerava ogni volta che veniva estratto completamente.

Atteone

Pausania narra che un giorno Artemide stava facendo il bagno nuda presso uno specchio d'acqua in una valle sul monte Citerone quando il principe tebano Atteone, durante una battuta di caccia, la scorse per caso e si fermò ad osservarla di nascosto; egli ne fu talmente incantato che, involontariamente, calpestò un ramo e, per il rumore, Artemide si accorse di lui e restò così disgustata dal suo sguardo fisso sul suo corpo nudo che decise di lanciargli addosso dell'acqua magica e trasformarlo in un cervo: in questo modo i suoi cani, scambiandolo per una preda, lo uccisero sbranandolo. Una versione alternativa della storia narra che Atteone si fosse vantato che la dea si fosse a lui mostrata nuda e per questo la dea lo trasformò in cervo, facendolo divorare per vendetta.

Adone

Adone era uno degli amanti di Afrodite. Secondo una versione secondaria del mito, Artemide (e non Ares) lo fece uccidere dal cinghiale calidonio per rendere la pariglia ad Afrodite, responsabile della morte di Ippolito, uno dei suoi favoriti.

Siproite

Anche un cretese, Siproite, fu trasformato in cervo da Artemide per aver visto la dea nuda. La storia completa non è sopravvissuta in alcuna opera scritta originale, ma è riportata di seconda mano da Antonino Liberale, il che suggerisce che l'aneddoto fosse abbastanza noto.

Orione

Omero racconta che la ninfa Calipso, lamentando che gli dèi sono invidiosi quando una dea è innamorata di un mortale, narra dell'uccisione di Orione, compagno della dea dell'aurora Eos, da parte della dea Artemide. Apollodoro racconta invece che Orione fu ucciso dalla dea Artemide mandandogli contro uno scorpione perché il cacciatore aveva tentato di insidiare le Pleiadi. Per aver reso questo servizio ad Artemide, lo scorpione fu trasformato in costellazione, e lo stesso Orione subì una sorte analoga. Per questo la costellazione d'Orione fugge eternamente quella dello Scorpione.

Chione

Artemide uccise con una freccia la giovane Chione che si era vantata di essere più bella della dea.

Callisto

Una delle ninfe compagne di Artemide, Callisto, perse la verginità per inganno di Zeus, che era andato da lei nelle sembianze di Artemide stessa, per unirsi a lei più facilmente. Infuriata, la dea la trasformò in un'orsa. Il figlio di Callisto, Arcade, stava per uccidere accidentalmente la madre durante una battuta di caccia, ma fu fermato da Zeus che li pose entrambi nel cielo sotto forma di costellazioni: l'Orsa maggiore e l'Orsa Minore. Altre versioni riportano, invece, che Artemide uccise l'orsa con una freccia.

Eracle

Una delle fatiche d'Eracle fu l'ordine di riportare ad Euristeo la cerva di Cerinea dalle auree corna, sacra ad Artemide. Eracle, che non voleva né uccidere né ferire l'animale, portò a termine questa fatica senza ricorrere alla forza. Instancabile, egli la inseguì per un anno intero e la catturò presso il fiume Ladone, in Arcadia, ferendola leggermente con una freccia. Poi, gettatasi la cerva sulle spalle, si affrettò verso Micene attraversando l'Arcadia. Altri tuttavia dicono che egli si servì di reti; oppure seguì le tracce dell'animale finché lo trovò addormentato sotto un albero. Artemide andò incontro a Eracle e lo rimproverò aspramente perché aveva maltrattato la cerva a lei sacra; ma Eracle si difese dicendo di esservi stato costretto e fece ricadere la colpa su Euristeo.

Ifigenia

Artemide volle punire Agamennone per aver ucciso un cervo a lei sacro oppure, secondo un'altra versione, per essersi vantato di essere un cacciatore migliore di lei. Quando la flotta greca si stava preparando per salpare verso Troia per portare la guerra, Artemide fece sparire il vento. L'indovino Calcante disse ad Agamennone che l'unico modo per placare la dea era sacrificare sua figlia Ifigenia. Quando il re era sul punto di farlo, Artemide la portò via dall'altare e la sostituì con un cervo. La fanciulla fu trasportata in Crimea e nominata sacerdotessa del tempio della dea a Tauride, in cui le venivano offerti stranieri come sacrifici umani. In seguito, suo fratello Oreste la riportò in Grecia dove, in Laconia, istituì il culto di Artemide Tauridea. Secondo le cronache spartane, il legislatore Licurgo sostituì l'usanza del sacrificio umano con la flagellazione.

Nella guerra di Troia

Durante la decennale guerra di Ilio, Artemide si schierò dalla parte dei Troiani contro i Greci. Si azzuffò con Era quando i divini alleati delle due parti si scontrarono tra loro: Era la colpì sulle orecchie con la sua stessa faretra e le frecce caddero a terra mentre Artemide fuggì da Zeus piangendo. Pare che Artemide sia stata rappresentata come sostenitrice della causa troiana sia perché il fratello Apollo era il protettore della città sia perché essa stessa nell'antichità era molto venerata nelle zone dell'Anatolia occidentale.

L'uccisione dei figli di Niobe

Niobe, regina di Tebe e moglie di Anfione, si vantò di essere migliore di Leto perché mentre lei aveva avuto quattordici figli, sette maschi e sette femmine, detti i Niobidi, Latona ne aveva avuti soltanto due. Quando Artemide e Apollo vennero a saperlo si affrettarono a vendicarsi: usando delle frecce avvelenate, Apollo le uccise i figli(o,secondo una diversa versione,risparmiò insieme alla sorella solo un maschio e una femmina dei quattordici Niobidi) mentre stavano facendo ginnastica, badando che soffrissero molto prima di morire, mentre Artemide colpì le figlie, che si accasciarono all'istante senza un lamento. Anfione, vedendo i suoi figli morti, decise di togliersi a sua volta la vita. Niobe, distrutta, quando iniziò a piangere fu trasformata in pietra da Artemide. Secondo alcune versioni della leggenda fu scagliata in qualche luogo sperduto del deserto egiziano. Un'altra sostiene che le sue lacrime formarono il fiume Acheloo. Dato che Zeus aveva trasformato in statue tutti gli abitanti di Tebe, nessuno seppellì i Niobidi per nove giorni, quando furono gli dèi stessi a provvedere a calarli nella tomba.

Atalanta

Artemide salvò la piccola Atalanta dalla morte per assideramento, dopo che suo padre, Iasio, l'aveva abbandonata sul monte Pelio: mandò infatti da lei un'orsa che la allattò finché non venne raggiunta da alcuni cacciatori. Tra le sue avventure, Atalanta partecipò alla caccia al Cinghiale calidonio che Artemide aveva mandato per distruggere Calidone, dato che il re Eneo si era dimenticato di lei durante i sacrifici per celebrare il raccolto.

Taigete

Taigete, una delle Pleiadi, era una delle compagne di caccia di Artemide. Quando si accorse che Zeus tentava con insistenza di insidiarla, la ninfa pregò Artemide di aiutarla e la dea la trasformò in una cerva. Zeus però la possedette ugualmente mentre si trovava in stato di incoscienza, e dall'unione nacque Lacedemone il mitico fondatore di Sparta.

Oto ed Efialte

Oto ed Efialte erano due fratelli giganti che un giorno decisero di assaltare il Monte Olimpo per violentare Artemide ed Era riuscendo a rapire Ares e a tenerlo richiuso in un grosso vaso per tredici mesi. Artemide si trasformò in un cervo e si mise a correre tra di loro: i due giganti, per non farsela sfuggire dato che erano esperti cacciatori, le lanciarono contro le loro lance, ma mentre la dea saettava velocissima tra loro finirono per uccidersi l'un l'altro.

Le Meleagridi

Dopo la morte di Meleagro, Artemide trasformò le sue inconsolabili sorelle, le Meleagridi, in galline faraone.

Agrio e Orico

La dea Afrodite aveva ordinato alla vergine Polifonte di prendere marito, ma ella, volendo conservare la sua castità, chiese aiuto alla dea Artemide. La dea la protesse, facendola diventare una delle sue Cacciatrici. Afrodite tuttavia si vendicò: fece innamorare la fanciulla di un orso, con il quale si accoppiò. La dea Artemide, disgustata del fatto, la abbandonò, ed ella partorì i due gemelli, Agrio e Orico dalle sembianze per metà umane e per metà di orso.

Influenza culturale

Ad Artemide sono intitolati l'Artemis Chasma e l'Artemis Corona su Venere.

Artemis with a hind, better known as "Diana of Versailles". Marble, Roman artwork, Imperial Era (1st-2nd centuries CE). Found in Italy.

Copy of Leochares (?) - Marie-Lan Nguyen (January 2005)

Diana

Diana è una dea italica, latina e romana, signora delle selve, protettrice degli animali selvatici, custode delle fonti e dei torrenti, protettrice delle donne, cui assicurava parti non dolorosi, e dispensatrice della sovranità. Spesso questa dea romana si fa corrispondere alla dea Artemide della mitologia greca, ma secondo alcuni studiosi la fusione fra le due figure avvenne solo in un secondo momento. Artemide-Diana, dea della caccia, della verginità, del tiro con l'arco, dei boschi e della Luna, durante il sincretismo religioso dell'età imperiale venne ulteriormente identificata con altre divinità femminili orientali.
Secondo la leggenda, Diana - giovane vergine abile nella caccia, irascibile quanto vendicativa - era amante della solitudine e nemica dei banchetti; era solita aggirarsi in luoghi isolati. In nome di Amore aveva fatto voto di castità e per questo motivo si mostrava affabile, se non addirittura protettiva, solo verso chi - come Ippolito e le ninfe che promettevano di mantenere la verginità - si affidava a lei. Diana è gemella di Apollo o Febo ed è figlia di Giove e Latona.

Etimologia

La radice si trova nel termine latino dius ("della luce", da dies, "[la luce del] giorno"), arcaico divios per cui il nome originario sarebbe stato Diviana. La luce a cui si riferisce il nome sarebbe quella che filtra dalle fronde degli alberi nelle radure boschive, mentre viene respinta quella della Luna perché tale associazione con la dea fu molto tarda.

Simboli associati alla dea

La simbologia della dea è legata al mondo delle selve: già in molte gemme la si vede portare una fronda in una mano e una coppa ricolma di frutti nell'altra, in piedi accanto ad un altare, dietro al quale si intravede un cervo.
Su un candelabro d'argento conservato nei Musei Vaticani la dea non viene raffigurata in forma umana ma una serie di simboli ne richiamano alla mente il numen, in parte identificato con la dea greca Artemide: un albero di lauro (sacro ad Apollo) al quale sono appese le armi da caccia della dea (l'arco, la faretra e la lancia), un palo conico al quale sono applicate le corna di un cervo, un altare ricolmo di offerte tra le quali si scorge una pigna, una fiaccola accesa (a ricordare la sua accezione originaria di dea della luce) appoggiata all'altare e un cervo accanto ad esso.
Infine su un rilievo di Porta Maggiore a Roma si vede l'immagine di una colonna che regge un vaso e un albero dalle lunghe fronde, circondati da un recinto semicircolare a costituire un locus saeptus, cioè una forma arcaica di sacello all'aperto.

Santuari

Il principale luogo di culto di Diana si trovava presso il piccolo lago laziale di Nemi, sui colli Albani, e il bosco che lo circondava era detto nemus aricinum per la vicinanza con la città di Ariccia. Il santuario di Ariccia potrebbe essere stato il nuovo santuario federale dei latini dopo la caduta di Alba Longa. Ciò è desumibile da quanto riportato da Catone il Censore nelle Origines, cioè che il dittatore tusculano Manio Egerio Bebio officiò una cerimonia comunitaria nel nemus aricinum insieme ai rappresentanti delle altre principali comunità latine dell'epoca (Ariccia, Lanuvio, Laurentum, Cora, Tibur, Pometia, Ardea e i Rutuli): Lucum Dianium in nemore Aricino Egerius Baebius Tusculanus dedicavit dictator Latinus. Hi populi communiter: Tusculanus, Aricinus, Lanuvinus, Laurens, Coranus, Tiburtis, Pometinus, Ardeatis, Rutulus..
In seguito Servio Tullio fonda il nuovo tempio di Diana sull'Aventino e lì sposta il centro del culto federale con il consenso dell'aristocrazia latina.
Altri santuari erano situati nei territori del Lazio antico e della Campania: il colle di Corne, presso Tusculum, dove è chiamata con il nome latino arcaico di deva Cornisca e dove esisteva un collegio di cultori della dea come attesta un'iscrizione ritrovata presso Tuscolo e dedicata ai Mani di Giulio Severino patrono del collegio; il monte Algido, sempre presso Tuscolo; a Lanuvio, dove è festeggiata alle idi (13) di agosto dal Collegio Salutare di Diana e Antinoo; a Tivoli, dove è chiamata Diana Opifera Nemorense; un bosco sacro citato da Tito Livio ad compitum Anagninum, cioè all'incrocio fra la via Labicana e la via Latina, presso Anagni, e del quale nel settembre 2007 si è parlato del possibile ritrovamento dei suoi resti; il monte Tifata, presso Caserta.
Di recente scoperta è un santuario dedicato a Diana Umbronensis all'interno del Parco Regionale della Maremma.

Rapporto con la sovranità

Come già in altre culture, anche in quella latina appare la connessione tra il simbolismo delle corna e la divinità, in questo caso la dea Diana. Tito Livio infatti ricorda un episodio in cui era stato predetto che chi avesse sacrificato una certa vacca di grande bellezza avrebbe dato al suo popolo l'egemonia sull'intera regione del Lazio antico. Il sabino proprietario della vacca si recò al tempio di Diana a Roma per sacrificarla, ma il sacerdote del tempio riuscì con uno stratagemma a distrarre il sabino e sacrificò lui la vacca alla dea garantendo alla città di Roma l'egemonia; le corna stesse furono affisse all'entrata del tempio come ricordo della vicenda e come pegno tangibile della sovranità sul Lazio.
Il legame con la sovranità e la regalità è esplicitato anche dal rapporto tra la dea e il Rex Nemorensis, il sacerdote di Diana che viveva nel bosco sacro sulle rive del Lago di Nemi.

Identificazione con la dea greca Artemide

Diana assomiglia ad un'altra divinità la dea Artemide della mitologia greca, anche se la somiglianza tra le due non è così marcata, tanto che si può anche definirle due entità distinte. In Diana il suo carattere di protettrice della partorienti è molto più accentuato. In Artemide prevale il carattere di protettrice dei boschi e degli animali.
Fin dal XV secolo a.C. a Creta veniva venerata una dea protettrice dei boschi e delle montagne; ugualmente, a Efeso, fu a lungo praticato il culto di una similare divinità i cui connotati conducono però alla dea frigia Cibele e, contestualmente, alla dea che in tutto il bacino dell'Egeo rappresentava la Madre Terra, vale a dire Rea. Facile comprendere, quindi, come - in base alle diverse epoche e civiltà - siano possibili diverse interpretazioni di una medesima divinità. Ed in questo contesto è possibile vedere anche una associazione della figura di Diana con quella della divinità lunare Selene: in molti riti dei romani, inoltre, Diana viene venerata come divinità trina, punto di congiunzione della Terra e della Luna per personificare il Cielo (in contrasto a Ecate cui era riservato il Regno dei Morti).

Diana e la stregoneria

La dea Diana, identificata nella sua manifestazione lunare, è stata oggetto di culto nella stregheria della tradizione italiana. Come riporta Charles Leland nel Vangelo delle streghe Diana è adorata come dea dei poveri, degli oppressi e dei perseguitati dalla Chiesa cattolica. Per far sì che il culto della stregoneria andasse avanti mandò sua figlia Aradia per liberare dagli oppressori gli schiavi e per divulgare il culto della dea.

Diana nell'arte

In molte rappresentazioni pittoriche e in letteratura, Diana cacciatrice - la cui grazia femminile del corpo contrasta decisamente con l'aspetto fiero e quasi virile del viso - viene spesso raffigurata con arco e frecce. Di figura atletica e longilinea, ha i capelli raccolti dietro il capo e indossa vesti semplici quasi a sottolineare una natura dinamica se non addirittura androgina.

Pittura

• Bagno di Diana e storie di Atteone e Callisto di Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn.
• Diana al bagno di François Boucher (1742).
• Diana e Atteone di Tiziano (1556-1559 circa).
• Diana e Callisto di Pieter Paul Rubens (1637-1638).
• La camera di San Paolo di Correggio (1519-1520).
• La stanzetta di Diana e Atteone del Parmigianino (1524).

Cinema

• Gladiatori di Roma di Iginio Straffi (2012).

Influenza culturale

A Diana è intitolato il Diana Chasma su Venere.

A Roman fresco depicting the goddess Diana hunting, 4th century AD, from the Via Livenza hypogeum in Rome.

Artemis (/ˈɑːrtɪmɪs/; Greek: Ἄρτεμις Artemis, Attic Greek: [ár.te.mis]) 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 was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows. The deer and the cypress were sacred to her. In later Hellenistic times, she even assumed the ancient role of Eileithyia in aiding childbirth.

Etymology

The name Artemis (noun, feminine) is of unknown or uncertain etymology, although various ones have been proposed.^[10]
For example, according to J. T. Jablonski, the name is also Phrygian and could be "compared with the royal appellation Artemas of Xenophon. According to Charles Anthon the primitive root of the name is probably of Persian origin from *arta, *art, *arte, all meaning "great, excellent, holy," thus Artemis "becomes identical with the great mother of Nature, even as she was worshipped at Ephesus". Anton Goebel "suggests the root στρατ or ῥατ, "to shake," and makes Artemis mean the thrower of the dart or the shooter".
The name could also be possibly 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 worshipped 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 𐀀𐀳𐀖𐀵, a-te-mi-to /Artemitos/ and 𐀀𐀴𐀖𐀳, a-ti-mi-te /Artimitei/, written in Linear B at Pylos. R. S. P. Beekes suggested that the e/i interchange points to a Pre-Greek origin. Artemis was venerated in Lydia as Artimus. Georgios Babiniotis, while accepting that the etymology is unknown, also states that the name is already attested in Mycenean Greek and is possibly of Pre-Greek origin.
Ancient Greek writers, by way of folk etymology, and some modern scholars, have linked Artemis (Doric Artamis) to ἄρταμος, artamos, i.e. "butcher" or, like Plato did in Cratylus, to ἀρτεμής, artemḗs, i.e. "safe", "unharmed", "uninjured", "pure", "the stainless maiden".

Mythology

Leto bore Apollo and Artemis, delighting in arrows,
Both of lovely shape like none of the heavenly gods,
As she joined in love to the Aegis-bearing ruler.

— Hesiod, Theogony, lines 918–920 (written in the 7th century BC)

Birth

Various conflicting accounts are given in Classical Greek mythology regarding the birth of Artemis and Apollo, her twin brother. However, in terms of parentage, all accounts agree 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 her husband Zeus because he had impregnated Leto but the island of Delos disobeyed Hera and Leto gave birth there.
According to the Homeric Hymn to Artemis the island where Leto gave birth was Ortygia.
In ancient Cretan history Leto was worshipped at Phaistos and, in Cretan mythology, Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis on the islands known today as 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 about 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 midwife upon the birth of her brother Apollo.

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 by Callimachus to the goddess "who amuses herself on mountains with archery" imagines some charming vignettes. Artemis, while sitting on the knee of her father, Zeus, asked him to grant her several wishes:

1. to always remain a virgin
2. to have many names to set her apart from her brother Phoebus (Apollo)
3. to have a bow and arrow made by the Cyclops
4. to be the Phaesporia or Light Bringer
5. to have a knee-length tunic so that she could hunt
6. to have sixty "daughters of Okeanos", all nine years of age, to be her choir
7. to have twenty Amnisides Nymphs as handmaidens to watch her dogs and bow while she rested
8. to rule all the mountains
9. any city
10. to have 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 golden 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.
Oceanus' 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, who gave her seven bitches 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.

Intimacy

As a virgin, Artemis had interested many gods and men, but only her hunting companion, Orion, won her heart. Orion was accidentally killed either by Artemis or by Gaia.
The river god Alpheus was in love with Artemis, but as he realizes that he can do nothing to win her heart, 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 Iapetus, sees Artemis and thinks about raping her. Reading his sinful thoughts, Artemis strikes him at Mount Pholoe.
Siproites 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.

Actaeon

Multiple versions of the Actaeon myth survive, though many are fragmentary. The details vary but at the core, they involve a great hunter, Actaeon who Artemis turns into a stag for a transgression and who is then killed by hunting dogs. Usually, the dogs are his own, who 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 Iconographic Studies, the most likely original version of the myth is that Actaeon was the hunting companion of the goddess who, seeing her 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, Actaeon is a stranger who happens upon her. According to the Latin version of the story told by the Roman Ovid having accidentally seen Artemis (Diana) on Mount Cithaeron while she was bathing, he was changed by her into a stag, and pursued and killed by his fifty hounds. 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 her.
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 for being with Aphrodite.

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 Artemis' followers, and she kills him. In a version by Aratus, Orion takes hold of Artemis' robe and she kills 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.

The Aloadae

The twin sons of Poseidon and Iphidemia, 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's 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 and took advantage of her or, according to Ovid, raped 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 about 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, who 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.

Chione

Chione 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 Chione 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, who was then raised by hunters. In some stories, Artemis later sent a bear to hurt Atalanta because others claimed Atlanta was a superior hunter.
Among other adventures, Atalanta participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar, which Artemis had sent to destroy Calydon 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 the 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 Dionysus. Aura became a mad and dangerous killer. When she bore twin sons, she ate one of them while the other one, Iacchus, was saved by Artemis. Iacchus later became an attendant of Demeter and the leader of Eleusinian Mysteries.

Polyphonte

Polyphonte was a young woman who fled home preferring the idea of a virginal life with Artemis to the conventional life of marriage and children favoured by Aphrodite. As a punishment Aphrodite cursed her, causing her to have children by a bear. The resulting offspring, Agrius and Oreius, were wild cannibals who incurred the hatred of Zeus. Ultimately the entire family were transformed into birds and more specifically ill portents for humankind.

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 worshipped 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, who was widely worshipped 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 that promise. Other sources^[which?] 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,^[which?] Artemis made Iphigenia her attendant or turned her into Hecate, 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.

Worship

Artemis, the goddess of forests and hills, was worshipped throughout ancient Greece. Her best known cults were on the island of Delos (her birthplace), in Attica at Brauron and Mounikhia (near Piraeus), and in Sparta. She was often depicted in paintings and statues in a forest setting, carrying a bow and arrows and accompanied by a deer.
The ancient Spartans used to sacrifice to her as one of their patron goddesses before starting a new military campaign.
Athenian festivals in honor of Artemis included Elaphebolia, Mounikhia, Kharisteria, and Brauronia. The festival of Artemis Orthia was observed in Sparta.
Pre-pubescent and adolescent Athenian girls were sent to the sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron to serve the Goddess for one year. During this time, the girls were known as arktoi, or little she-bears. A myth explaining this servitude states that a bear had formed the habit of regularly visiting the town of Brauron, and the people there fed it, so that, over time, the bear became tame. A girl teased the bear, and, in some versions of the myth, it killed her, while, in other versions, it clawed out her eyes. Either way, the girl's brothers killed the bear, and Artemis was enraged. She demanded that young girls "act the bear" at her sanctuary in atonement for the bear's death.
Virginal Artemis was worshipped as a fertility/childbirth goddess in some places, assimilating Ilithyia, since, according to some myths, she assisted her mother in the delivery of her twin. During the Classical period in Athens, she was identified with Hecate. Artemis also assimilated Caryatis (Carya).

Epithets

As Aeginaea, she was worshipped in Sparta; the name means either huntress of chamois, or the wielder of the javelin (αἰγανέα). Also in Sparta, Artemis Lygodesma was worshipped. This epithet means "willow-bound" from the Gr. lygos (λυγός, willow) and desmos (δεσμός, bond). The willow tree appears in several ancient Greek myths and rituals.
She was worshipped at Naupactus as Aetole; in her temple in that town there was a statue of white marble representing her throwing a javelin. This "Aetolian Artemis" would not have been introduced at Naupactus, anciently a place of Ozolian Locris, until it was awarded to the Aetolians by Philip II of Macedon. Strabo records another precinct of "Aetolian Artemos" at the head of the Adriatic. As Agoraea she was the protector of the agora.
As Agrotera, she was especially associated as the patron goddess of hunters. In Athens Artemis was often associated with the local Aeginian goddess, Aphaea. As Potnia Theron, she was the patron of wild animals; Homer used this title. As Kourotrophos, she was the nurse of youths. As Locheia, she was the goddess of childbirth and midwives.
She was sometimes known as Cynthia, from her birthplace on Mount Cynthus on Delos, or Amarynthia from a festival in her honor originally held at Amarynthus in Euboea.
She was sometimes identified by the name Phoebe, the feminine form of her brother Apollo's solar epithet Phoebus.
Alphaea, Alpheaea, or Alpheiusa (Gr. Ἀλφαῖα, Ἀλφεαία, or Ἀλφειοῦσα) was an epithet that Artemis derived from the river god Alpheius, who was said to have been in love with her. It was under this name that she was worshipped at Letrini in Elis, and in Ortygia. Artemis Alphaea was associated with the wearing of masks, largely because of the legend that while fleeing the advances of Alpheius, she and her nymphs escaped him by covering their faces.
As Artemis Anaitis, the 'Persian Artemis' was identified with Anahita. As Apanchomene, she was worshipped as a hanged goddess.

Festivals

Artemis was born on the sixth day, which made it sacred for her.

• Festival of Artemis in Brauron, where girls, aged between five and ten, dressed in saffron robes and played at being bears, or "act the bear" to appease the goddess after she sent the plague when her bear was killed.
• Festival of Amarysia is a celebration to worship Artemis Amarysia in Attica. In 2007, a team of Swiss and Greek archaeologists found the ruin of Artemis Amarysia Temple, at Euboea, Greece.
• Festival of Artemis Saronia, a festival to celebrate Artemis in Trozeinos, a town in Argolis. A king named Saron built a sanctuary for the goddess after the goddess saved his life when he went hunting and was swept away by a wave. He held a festival in her honor.
• On the 16th day of Metageitnio (second month on the Athenian calendar), people sacrificed to Artemis and Hecate at Deme in Erchia.
• Kharisteria Festival on 6th day of Boidromion (third month) celebrates the victory of the Battle of Marathon, also known as the Athenian "Thanksgiving".
• Day six of Elaphobolia (ninth month) festival of Artemis the Deer Huntress where she was offered cakes shaped like stags, made from dough, honey and sesame seeds.
• Day 6 or 16 of Mounikhion (tenth month) is a celebration of her as the goddess of nature and animals. A goat was sacrificed to her.
• Day 6 of Thargelion (eleventh month), is the Goddess's birthday, while the seventh was Apollo's.
• A festival for Artemis Diktynna (of the net) was held in Hypsous.
• Laphria, a festival for Artemis in Patrai. The procession starts by setting logs of wood around the altar, each of them 16 cubits long. On the altar, within the circle, the driest wood is placed. Just before the festival, a smooth ascent to the altar is built by piling earth upon the altar steps. The festival begins with a splendid procession in honor of Artemis, and the maiden officiating as priestess rides last in the procession upon a chariot yoked to four deer, Artemis' traditional mode of transport (see below). However, the sacrifice is not offered until the next day.
• In Orchomenus, a sanctuary was built for Artemis Hymnia where her festival was celebrated every year.

Modern

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 moon goddess, 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.
Artemis was sometimes represented in Classical art with the crown of the crescent moon, such as also found on Luna and others.
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 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 lyre

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,^[where?] 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 of catching the Cerynitian 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 and Cypress were issued^{[clarification needed]} to be her birthplace. Other plants sacred to Artemis are Amaranth and Asphodel.

As the Lady of Ephesus

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 worshipped 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 pendulous, breast-like protuberances on her torso, 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 cult image or 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..

Astronomy

105 Artemis, the Artemis (crater), the Artemis Chasma and the Artemis Corona have all been named after the goddess.
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.

In modern taxonomy

The taxonomic genus Artemia, which entirely comprises the family Artemiidae, derives from Artemis. Artemia are aquatic crustaceans known as brine shrimp, the best known species of which, Artemia salina, or Sea Monkeys, was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758. Artemia live in salt lakes, and although they are almost never found in an open sea, they do appear along the Aegean coast near Ephesus, where the Temple of Artemis once stood.

Apollo (left) and Artemis (right). Brygos (potter, signed), Briseis Painter, Tondo of an Attic red-figure cup, ca. 470 BC, Louvre.

Marie-Lan Nguyen and one more author - Own work

Diana (Classical Latin: [dɪˈaːna]) was the goddess of the hunt, the moon, and nature in Roman mythology, associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy.
Diana was known as the virgin goddess of childbirth and women. She was one of the three maiden goddesses, along with Minerva and Vesta, who swore never to marry. Oak groves and deer were especially sacred to her. Diana was born with her twin brother, Apollo, on the island of Delos, daughter of Jupiter and Latona. She made up a triad with two other Roman deities; Egeria the water nymph, her servant and assistant midwife; and Virbius, the woodland god.
Diana is revered in Roman Neopaganism and Stregheria.

Etymology

Diana (pronounced with long 'ī' and 'ā') is an adjectival form developed from an ancient *divios, corresponding to later 'divus', 'dius', as in Dius Fidius, Dea Dia and in the neuter form dium meaning the sky. It is derived from Proto-Indo-European *d(e)y(e)w, meaning "bright sky" or "daylight"; the same word is also the root behind the name of the Aryan Vedic sky god Dyaus, as well as the Latin words deus (god), dies (day, daylight), and "diurnal" (daytime).
On the Tablets of Pylos a theonym διϝια (diwia) is supposed as referring to a deity precursor of Artemis. Modern scholars mostly accept the identification.^{[need quotation to verify]}
The ancient Latin writers Varro and Cicero considered the etymology of Dīāna as allied to that of dies and connected to the shine of the Moon.

... people regard Diana and the moon as one and the same. ... the moon (luna) is so called from the verb to shine (lucere). Lucina is identified with it, which is why in our country they invoke Juno Lucina in childbirth, just as the Greeks call on Diana the Light-bearer. Diana also has the name Omnivaga ("wandering everywhere"), not because of her hunting but because she is numbered as one of the seven planets; her name Diana derives from the fact that she turns darkness into daylight (dies). She is invoked at childbirth because children are born occasionally after seven, or usually after nine, lunar revolutions ...

Quintus Lucilius Balbus as recorded by Marcus Tullius Cicero and translated by P.G. Walsh, De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods), Book II, Part ii, Section c 

Mythology

The persona of Diana is complex and contains a number of archaic features. According to Georges Dumézil it falls into a particular subset of celestial gods, referred to in histories of religion as frame gods. Such gods, while keeping the original features of celestial divinities, i.e. transcendent heavenly power and abstention from direct rule in worldly matters, did not share the fate of other celestial gods in Indoeuropean religions—that of becoming dei otiosi or gods without practical purpose, since they did retain a particular sort of influence over the world and mankind.
The celestial character of Diana is reflected in her connection with inaccessibility, virginity, light, and her preference for dwelling on high mountains and in sacred woods. Diana, therefore, reflects the heavenly world (diuum means sky or open air) in its sovereignty, supremacy, impassibility, and indifference towards such secular matters as the fates of mortals and states. At the same time, however, she is seen as active in ensuring the succession of kings and in the preservation of humankind through the protection of childbirth.
These functions are apparent in the traditional institutions and cults related to the goddess.

1. The institution of the rex Nemorensis, Diana's sacerdos (priest) in the Arician wood, who held the position until someone else challenged and killed him in a duel, after breaking a branch from a certain tree of the wood. This ever open succession reveals the character and mission of the goddess as a guarantor of kingly status through successive generations. Her function as bestower of authority to rule is also attested in the story related by Livy in which a Sabine man who sacrifices a heifer to Diana wins for his country the seat of the Roman empire.
2. Diana was also worshiped by women who wanted to be pregnant or who, once pregnant, prayed for an easy delivery. This form of worship is attested in archaeological finds of votive statuettes in her sanctuary in the nemus Aricinum as well as in ancient sources, e.g. Ovid.

According to Dumezil the forerunner of all frame gods is an Indian epic hero who was the image (avatar) of the Vedic god Dyaus. Having renounced the world, in his roles of father and king, he attained the status of an immortal being while retaining the duty of ensuring that his dynasty is preserved and that there is always a new king for each generation.
The Scandinavian god Heimdallr performs an analogous function: he is born first and will die last. He too gives origin to kingship and the first king, bestowing on him regal prerogatives. Diana, although a female deity, has exactly the same functions, preserving mankind through childbirth and royal succession.
F. H. Pairault in her essay on Diana qualifies Dumézil's theory as "impossible to verify".
Dumezil's interpretation appears deliberately to ignore that of James G. Frazer, who links Diana with the male god Janus as a divine couple. This looks odd as Dumézil's definition of the concept of frame god would fit well the figure of Janus. Frazer identifies the two with the supreme heavenly couple Jupiter-Juno and additionally ties in these figures to the overarching Indoeuropean religious complex. This regality is also linked to the cult of trees, particularly oaks. In this interpretative schema, the institution of the Rex Nemorensis and related ritual should be seen as related to the theme of the dying god and the kings of May.

Physical description

As a goddess of hunting, Diana often wears a short tunic and hunting boots. She is often portrayed holding a bow, and carrying a quiver on her shoulder, accompanied by a deer or hunting dogs. Like Venus, she was portrayed as beautiful and youthful. The crescent moon, sometimes worn as a diadem, is a major attribute of the goddess.

Worship

Diana was initially just the hunting goddess, associated with wild animals and woodlands. She also later became a moon goddess, supplanting Titan goddess Luna. She also became the goddess of childbirth and ruled over the countryside. Catullus wrote a poem to Diana in which she has more than one alias: Latonia, Lucina, Iuno, Trivia, Luna.
In Rome, the cult of Diana should have been almost as old as the city itself as Varro mentions her in the list of deities to whom king Titus Tatius vowed a shrine. It is noteworthy that the list includes Luna and Diana Lucina as separate entities. Another testimony to the high antiquity of her cult is to be found in the lex regia of King Tullus Hostilius that condemns those guilty of incest to the sacratio to the goddess.
Diana was worshipped at a festival on August 13, when King Servius Tullius, himself born a slave, dedicated her temple on the Aventine Hill in the mid-6th century BC. Being placed on the Aventine, and thus outside the pomerium, meant that Diana's cult essentially remained a foreign one, like that of Bacchus; she was never officially transferred to Rome as Juno was after the sack of Veii. It seems that her cult originated in Aricia, where her priest, the Rex Nemorensis remained. There the simple open-air fane was held in common by the Latin tribes, which Rome aspired to weld into a league and direct. Diana of the wood was soon thoroughly Hellenized, "a process which culminated with the appearance of Diana beside Apollo in the first lectisternium at Rome". Diana was regarded with great reverence and was a patroness of lower-class citizens, called plebeians, and slaves; slaves could receive asylum in her temples. This fact is of difficult interpretation. Georg Wissowa proposed the explanation that it might be because the first slaves of the Romans must have been Latins of the neighbouring tribes. However, in Ephesus too there was the same custom of the asylum (ασυλιον).
According to Françoise Hélène Pairault's study, historical and archaeological evidence point to the fact that both Diana of the Aventine and Diana Nemorensis were the product of the direct or indirect influence of the cult of Artemis spread by the Phoceans among the Greek towns of Campania Cuma and Capua, which in turn passed it over to the Etruscans and the Latins by the 6th and 5th centuries BC.
The origin of the ritual of the rex Nemorensis should have to be traced to the legend of Orestes and Iphigenia more than that of Hippolitos. The formation of the Latin League led by Laevius (or Baebius) Egerius happened under the influence of an alliance with the tyrant of Cuma Aristodemos and is probably connected to the political events at end of the 6th century narrated by Livy and Dionysius, such as the siege of Aricia by Porsenna's son Arruns. It is remarkable that the composition of this league does not reflect that of the Latin people who took part in the Latiar or Feriae Latinae given by Pliny and it has not as its leader the rex Nemorensis but a dictator Latinus. It should thence be considered a political formation and not a traditional society founded on links of blood.
It looks as if the confrontation happened between two groups of Etruscans who fought for supremacy, those from Tarquinia, Vulci and Caere (allied with the Greeks of Capua) and those of Clusium. This is reflected in the legend of the coming of Orestes to Nemi and of the inhumation of his bones in the Roman Forum near the temple of Saturn. The cult introduced by Orestes at Nemi is apparently that of the Artemis Tauropolos. The literary amplification reveals a confused religious background: different Artemis were conflated under the epithet. As far as Nemi's Diana is concerned there are two different versions, by Strabo and Servius Honoratus. Strabo's version looks to be the most authoritative as he had access to first-hand primary sources on the sanctuaries of Artemis, i.e. the priest of Artemis Artemidoros of Ephesus. The meaning of Tauropolos denotes an Asiatic goddess with lunar attributes, lady of the herds. The only possible interpretatio graeca of high antiquity concerning Diana Nemorensis could have been the one based on this ancient aspect of a deity of light, master of wildlife. Tauropolos is an ancient epithet attached to Hecate, Artemis and even Athena. According to the legend Orestes founded Nemi together with Iphigenia. At Cuma the Sybil is the priestess of both Phoibos and Trivia Hesiod and Stesichorus tell the story according to which after her death Iphigenia was divinised under the name of Hecate, fact which would support the assumption that Artemis Tauropolos had a real ancient alliance with the heroine, who was her priestess in Taurid and her human paragon. This religious complex is in turn supported by the triple statue of Artemis-Hecate. A coin minted by P. Accoleius Lariscolus in 43 BC has been acknowledged as representing the archaic statue of Diana Nemorensis. It represents Artemis with the bow at one extremity, Luna-Selene with flowers at the other and a central deity not immediately identifiable, all united by a horizontal bar.
The iconographical analysis allows the dating of this image to the 6th century at which time there are Etruscan models. Two heads found in the sanctuary and the Roman theatre at Nemi, which have a hollow on their back, lend support to this interpretation of an archaic Diana Trivia, in whom three different elements are associated. The presence of a Hellenised Diana at Nemi should be related to the presence of the cult in Campania, as Diana Tifatina was called Trivia in an imperial age inscription which mentions a flamen Virbialis dedicated by eques C. Octavius Verus. Cuma too had a cult of a chthonic Hecate and certainly had strict contacts with Latium. The theological complex present in Diana looks very elaborated and certainly Hellenic, while an analogous Latin concept of Diana Trivia seems uncertain, as Latin sources reflect a Hellenised character of the goddess.
Diana was one of the triple goddess, the same goddess being called Luna in heaven, Diana on earth, and Proserpina in hell. Michael Drayton praises the Triple Diana in poem The Man in the Moone (1606): "So these great three most powerful of the rest, Phoebe, Diana, Hecate, do tell. Her sovereignty in Heaven, in Earth and Hell".
Though some Roman patrons ordered marble replicas of the specifically Anatolian "Diana" of Ephesus, where the Temple of Artemis stood, Diana was usually depicted for educated Romans in her Greek guise. If she is accompanied by a deer, as in the Diana of Versailles  this is because Diana was the patroness of hunting. The deer may also offer a covert reference to the myth of Acteon (or Actaeon), who saw her bathing naked. Diana transformed Acteon into a stag and set his own hunting dogs to kill him.

Sanctuaries

Diana was an ancient goddess common to all Latin tribes. Therefore, many sanctuaries were dedicated to her in the lands inhabited by Latins. The first one is supposed to have been near Alba Longa before the town was destroyed by the Romans.
The Arician wood sanctuary near the lake of Nemi was Latin confederal as testified by the dedicatory epigraph quoted by Cato.
She had a shrine in Rome on the Aventine hill, according to tradition dedicated by king Servius Tullius. Its location is remarkable as the Aventine is situated outside the pomerium, i.e. original territory of the city, in order to comply with the tradition that Diana was a goddess common to all Latins and not exclusively of the Romans.
Other sanctuaries we know about are listed below:

• Colle di Corne near Tusculum. where she is referred to with the archaic Latin name of deva Cornisca and where existed a collegium of worshippers.
• At Évora, Portugal.
• Mount Algidus, also near Tusculum.
• At Lavinium.
• At Tibur (Tivoli), where she is referred to as Diana Opifera Nemorensis.
• A sacred wood mentioned by Livy ad compitum Anagninum (near Anagni).
• On Mount Tifata, near Capua in Campania.
• In Ephesus, where she was worshipped as Diana of Ephesus and the temple Artemision used to be one of world's seven wonders.

Legacy

In religion

Diana's cult has been related in Early Modern Europe to the cult of Nicevenn (a.k.a. Dame Habond, Perchta, Herodiana, etc.). She was related to myths of a female Wild Hunt.

Wicca

Today there is a branch of Wicca named for her, which is characterized by an exclusive focus on the feminine aspect of the Divine. Diana's name is also used as the third divine name in a Wiccan energy chant- "Isis Astarte Diana Hecate Demeter Kali Inanna".

Stregheria

In Italy the old religion of Stregheria embraced the goddess Diana as Queen of the Witches; witches being the wise women healers of the time. Diana was said to have created the world of her own being having in herself the seeds of all creation yet to come. It was said that out of herself she divided the darkness and the light, keeping for herself the darkness of creation and creating her brother Apollo, the light. Diana was believed to have loved and ruled with her brother Apollo, the god of the Sun.

In language

Both the Romanian words for "fairy" Zână and Sânziană, the Leonese and Portuguese word for "water nymph" xana, and the Spanish word for "shooting target" and "morning call" (diana) seem to come from the name of Diana.

In the arts

Since the Renaissance the myth of Diana has often been represented in the visual and dramatic arts, including the opera L'arbore di Diana. In the 16th century, Diana's image figured prominently at the châteaus of Fontainebleau, Chenonceau, & at Anet, in deference to Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henri of France. At Versailles she was incorporated into the Olympian iconography with which Louis XIV, the Apollo-like "Sun King" liked to surround himself. Diana is also a character in the 1876 Léo Delibes ballet Sylvia. The plot deals with Sylvia, one of Diana's nymphs and sworn to chastity, and Diana's assault on Sylvia's affections for the shepherd Amyntas.

In literature

• In "The Knight's Tale" in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Emily prays to Diana to be spared from marriage to either Palamon or Arcite.
• In "Ode" by John Keats, he writes 'Browsed by none but Dian's fawns' (line 12)
• In the sonnet "To Science" by Edgar Allan Poe, science is said to have "dragged Diana from her car".
• Diana Soren, the main character in Carlos Fuentes' novel Diana o la cazadora soltera (Diana, or The Lone Huntress), is described as having the same personality as the goddess.
• In "Castaway" by Augusta Webster, women who claim they are virtuous despite never having been tempted are referred to as "Dianas." (Line 128)
• In Jonathan Swift's poem: "The Progress of Beauty", as goddess of the moon, Diana is used in comparison to the 17th/early 18th century everyday woman Swift satirically writes about. Starts: 'When first Diana leaves her bed...'
• In Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae ("History of the Kings of Britain"), Diana leads the Trojan Brutus to Britain, where he and his people settle.

In Shakespeare

• In Shakespeare's Pericles, Prince of Tyre Diana appears to Pericles in a vision, telling him to go to her temple and tell his story to her followers.
• Diana is referenced in As You Like It to describe how Rosalind feels about marriage.
• Diana is referred to in Twelfth Night when Orsino compares Viola (in the guise of Cesario) to Diana. "Diana's lip is not more smooth and rubious"
• Speaking of his wife, Desdemona, Othello the Moor says, "Her name, that was as fresh as Dian's visage, is now begrimed and black as my own face."
• There is a reference to Diana in Much Ado About Nothing where Hero is said to seem like 'Dian in her orb', in terms of her chastity.
• In Henry IV, Part 1, Falstaff styles himself and his highway-robbing friends as "Diana's foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon" who are governed by their "noble and chase mistress the moon under whose countenance [they] steal".
• In All's Well That Ends Well Diana appears as a figure in the play and Helena makes multiple allusions to her, such as, "Now, Dian, from thy altar do I fly..." and "...wish chastely and love dearly, that your Dian/was both herself and love..." The Steward also says, "...; Dian no queen of virgins,/ that would suffer her poor knight surprised, without/ rescue in the first assault or ransom afterward." It can be assumed that 'Dian' is simply a shortening of 'Diana' since later in the play when Parolles' letter to Diana is read aloud it reads 'Dian'.
• The goddess is also referenced indirectly in A Midsummer Night's Dream. The character Hippolyta states "And then the moon, like to a silver bow new bent in Heaven". She refers to Diana, goddess of the moon, who is often depicted with a silver hunting bow. In the same play the character Hermia is told by the Duke Theseus that she must either wed the character Demetrius "Or on Diana's alter to protest for aye austerity and single life". He refers to her becoming a nun, with the goddesse Diana having connotations of chastity.
• In The Merchant of Venice Portia states "I will die as chaste as Diana, unless I be obtained by the manner of my father's will". (I.ii)
• In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo describes Rosaline, saying that "She hath Dian's wit".

In painting and sculpture

Diana has been one of the most popular themes in art. Painters like Titian, Peter Paul Rubens, François Boucher, Nicholas Poussin made use of her myth as a major theme. Most depictions of Diana in art featured the stories of Diana and Actaeon, or Callisto, or depicted her resting after hunting. Some famous work of arts with a Diana theme are :

• Diana and Actaeon, Diana and Callisto, and Death of Actaeon by Titian.
• Diana and Callisto, Diana Resting After Bath, and Diana Getting Out of Bath by François Boucher.
• Diana Bathing With Her Nymphs by Rembrandt.
• Diana and Endymion by Poussin.
• Diana and Callisto, Diana and Her Nymph Departing From Hunt, Diana and Her Nymphs Surprised By A Faun by Rubens.
• Diana and Endymion by Johann Michael Rottmayr.
• The famous fountain at Palace of Caserta, Italy, created by Paolo Persico, Brunelli, Pietro Solari, depicting Diana being surprised by Acteon.
• A sculpture by Christophe-Gabriel Allegrain can be seen at the Musée du Louvre.
• "Diana of the Tower" a copper statue by Augustus Saint-Gaudens was created as the weather vane for the second Madison Square Garden in 1893. It now is on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
• A sculpture by French sculptor François-Léon Sicard in the Archibald Fountain, Sydney NSW Australia
• In Parma at the convent of San Paolo, Antonio Allegri da Correggio painted the chamber of the Abbess Giovanna Piacenza's apartment. He was commissioned in 1519 to paint the ceiling and mantel of the fireplace. On the mantel he painted an image of Diana riding in a chariot possibly pulled by a stag.
• Fuente de la Diana Cazador [Fountain of the Huntress Diana], a fountain sculpture of huntress Diana with arrow pointing skyward, stands in the roundabout at Paseo de la Reforma, Zona Rosa, Mexico City's Mexican Federal District.

In beaux arts

Beaux Arts architecture and garden design (late 19th and early 20th centuries) used classic references in a modernized form. Two of the most popular of the period were of Pomona (goddess of orchards) as a metaphor for Agriculture, and Diana, representing Commerce, which is a perpetual hunt for advantage and profits.


In film

• In Jean Cocteau's 1946 film La Belle et la Bête, it is Diana's power which has transformed and imprisoned the beast.
• Diana/Artemis appears at the end of the 'Pastoral Symphony' segment of Fantasia.
• In his 1968 film La Mariée était en noir François Truffaut plays on this mythological symbol. Julie Kohler, played by Jeanne Moreau, poses as Diana/Artemis for the artist Fergus. This choice seems fitting for Julie, a character beset by revenge, of which Fergus becomes the fourth victim. She poses with a bow and arrow, while wearing white.
• In the 1995 comedy Four Rooms, a coven of witches resurrects a petrified Diana on New Year's Eve.
• French based collective LFKs and his film/theatre director, writer and visual artist Jean Michel Bruyere produced a series of 600 shorts and "medium" film, an interactive audiovisual 360° installation (Si poteris narrare licet ("if you are able to speak of it, then you may do so" ...... ) in 2002, and a 3D 360° audiovisual installation La Dispersion du Fils (http://www.newmediaart.eu/str10.html) from 2008 to 2016 as well as an outdoor performance, "Une Brutalité pastorale" (2000), all about the myth of Diana and Actaeon.

In opera

• Diana is a character in Hippolytus and Aricia, an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau.

In music

• Diana is mentioned along with two other goddesses, Luna and Lucina, in Mike Oldfield's 1978 album, Incantations.

Other

• In the funeral oration of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, her brother drew an analogy between the ancient goddess of hunting and his sister - "the most hunted person of the modern age".
• William Moulton Marston drew from the Diana archetype in creating Wonder Woman of Themyscira, Paradise Island, and even gave her the proper name "Diana".
• For the album art of progressive metal band Protest the Hero's second studio album Fortress, Diana is depicted protected by rams and other animals. The theme of Diana is carried throughout the album.
• DIANA Mayer & Grammelspacher GmbH & Co.KG, an airgun company, is named after Diana, the goddess of hunting.
• The Royal Netherlands Air Force 323rd Squadron is named Diana and uses a depiction of Diana with her bow in its badge.
• The character of Diana from the video game League of Legends is largely based on the goddess.
• In DC Comics, most versions of Wonder Woman's origins state she is given the name Diana out of tribute to the goddess.
• She also is one of the main gods in the popular video game Ryse, who help Marius Titus, the main character, fulfill his duty to Rome.
• The character of Diana is the principal character in the children's novel The Moon Stallion by Brian Hayles (1978) and the BBC Television series of the same name Diana is played by the actress Sarah Sutton.
• In the manga and anime series Sailor Moon, Diana is the feline companion to Chibiusa, Usagi's daughter. Diana is the daughter of Artemis and Luna. All of these characters are advisers to rulers of the kingdom of the moon and therefore have moon-associated names.
• In Ciudad Juárez in Mexico a woman calling herself "Diana Huntress of Bus Drivers" was responsible for the shooting of two bus drivers in 2013 in what may have been vigilante attacks.
• Diana is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of coral snake, Micrurus diana.

Mosaic of Diana and her nymph being surprised by Actaeon, from the ruins of Volubilis.

Prioryman - Own work

Mosaic of Diana and her nymph

 Artemis (on the left, with a deer) and Apollo (on the right, holding a lyre) from Myrina, dating to approximately 25 BC

Gallo-Roman bronze statuette of Diana (latter 1st century)

Marie-Lan Nguyen (11 April 2008)

Statuette of Diana the Huntress. Gallo-Roman bronze, second half of the 1st century AD.

 Roman marble Bust of Artemis after Kephisodotos (Musei Capitolini), Rome.

Marie-Lan Nguyen (2006)

Female statue, probably a Roman copy of the statue of Artemis by Kephisodotos.

An ancient Fourth-Pompeian-Style Roman wall painting depicting a scene of sacrifice in honor of the goddess Diana; she is seen here accompanied by a deer. The fresco was discovered in the triclinium of House of the Vettii in Pompeii, Italy.

Ancient Roman painter(s) - PBS.twimg.com

An ancient Fourth-Pompeian-Style Roman wall painting depicting a scene of sacrifice in honor of the goddess Diana; she is seen here accompanied by a deer. The fresco was discovered in the triclinium of House of the Vettii in Pompeii, Italy. As with the other frescoes in this house, the painting dates between the time of the earthquake of Pompeii in 62 AD and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD that destroyed Pompeii, killing its inhabitants, but preserved many ancient works of art.

 The Death of Adonis, by Giuseppe Mazzuoli, 1709 – Hermitage Museum.

 Diana (1892–93), Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Bronze, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

Postdlf

Diana, 1892 - 93, 1928 cast. Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848 - 1907). Bronze. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

 Diana and Callisto by Titian
circa 1556-1559

National Gallery, London

Diana Reposing by Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry. The nude goddess, identified by the crescent moon in her hair and the bow and quiver at her side, reclines on a blue drapery.

Walters Art Museum

The nude goddess, identified by the crescent moon in her hair and the bow and quiver at her side, reclines on a blue drapery in front of a recumbent stag in a wooded glade. An early inscription identifies this painting as a variant sketch for an overdoor in the hôtel of Achille Fould, the Minister of State. The hôtel, on the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, was acquired by the Duc d'Aumale in 1872, and its decor was transferred to the Château of Chantilly six years later. The overdoor, "Diane au repos," and another, "Venus jouant avec l'Amour," were both mounted in the Galerie des Cerfs. The actual overdoor is painted in "grisaille" unlike our sketch which is in naturalistic colors. In the overdoor the majestic stag is an integral part of the composition, whereas in this sketch he is barely discernible in the right background. This composition illustrates the artist's practice of imparting to his traditional subjects an air of modishness or coquetry, that may have resulted from his occasional use of professional beauties as models. The figure of Diana reposing in the sketch and the overdoor bears a striking resemblance to Blanche D'Antigny, an actress who at the age of eighteen modeled for Baudry's famous "The Penitent Madeleine," painted about the same time and acquired by the State at the 1859 Salon for the Nantes Museum.

 Artemis pouring a libation, c. 460-450 BC.

Manner of the Bowdoin Painter - Jastrow (2006)

Artemis pouring a libation. Attic white-ground lekythos, ca. 460–450 BC. From Eretria.

Diana as the Huntress, by Giampietrino.after 1526

 Metropolitan Museum of Art 

 Roman Temple of Artemis in Jerash, Jordan, built during the reign of Antoninus Pius.

David Bjorgen - Own work

The Roman Temple of Artemis in Jerash, Jordan, was built around the middle of the 2nd century A.D. during the reign of Antonine the Pius.

Pomona (left, symbolizing agriculture), and Diana (symbolizing commerce) as building decoration.

Leonard G. - Originally uploaded to en:File:DianaAndPomona.jpg

Images of the Goddesses Pomona (left) and Diana (right) together decorate the entrance to The Peninsula Hotel, occupying a Beaux-Arts building (originally The Gotham hotel, Hiss and Weekes, architects) at Fifth Ave. and 55th St., New York City. Here, Pomona (Goddess of Orchards) carries a cornucopia; in other images she is represented carrying a platter of fruit. Diana, as Goddess of the Hunt, carries her usual bow and arrows In the context of commercial buildings of the late 19th and early 20th century these decorations may be thought of as symbols representing respectively agriculture and commerce, for agriculture formed the foundation for much of the wealth of the time and commerce (as is industry) is a perpetual hunt for profits and advantage. The Gotham was one of the first hotels in New York to use steel-frame construction and was for a short time time the city's tallest skyscraper. The entire façade appeared to have been recently cleaned and so the sculptures were doubly beautiful. Of special note (and characteristic of Beaux Arts) is the naturalism of the images; note that Diana is resting her hand upon the more formal building decorations - in much the same way as would a person sitting at that location. Rather than being a mere decoration, the images are characteristically sculptural in their representation of life. The clinging draperies of the figures can also be seen in classic Greek sculptures such as the Elgin marbles removed from the Parthenon, but here are rendered in a more abstract and less detailed manner, which may be considered to be more suitable to the scale and viewpoint and hence more modern than the classic sculptural prototypes.

Color reconstruction of a first-century AD statue of Artemis found in Pompeii, reconstructed using analysis of trace pigments - imitation of Greek statues of the sixth century BC (part of Gods in Color)

Alaskanspaceship - Own work

Artemis First century AD. Cast of marble figure, painted with pigments in egg tempera. Found in Pompeii (VII.6.3) The statue is a Roman creation imitating Greek statues of the sixt century BC. Numerous colour traces on the skin and clothes were visible at the time of the statue's discovery. The exact colours were identified scientifically and have been used in the reconstruction. Part of the Gods in Colour exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum 2015.

 Lucas Cranach il Vecchio, Diana in riposo, primo quarto del XVI secolo, Besançon, Musée des Beaux-Arts.

1537 circa

 Sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron.

Nefasdicere at English Wikipedia

J. M. Harrington

Houdon: Diana cacciatrice, Louvre
Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828) - Ricardo André Frantz (User:Tetraktys), 2005
Diana. Bronze, 1790. Background removed 

Fourth century Praxitelean bronze head of a goddess wearing a lunate crown, found at Issa (Vis, Croatia).

Minestrone - Own work

Bronze Greek bust of Artemis (300 BC), Vis museum, Island of Vis, Croatia

Titian - Diana and Actaeon

from 1556 until 1569

The site of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

Adam Carr at the English Wikipedia

Temple of Artemis, Ephesus, Turkey

  

 The Death of Actaeon  c. 1559–1575

  Titian

 National Gallery, London

Didrachm from Ephesus, Ionia, representing the goddess Artemis

cgb.fr - http://vso.numishop.eu/fiche-v51_0191-vso_mo-1-IONIE_EPHESE_Didrachme_c_258_202_AC_.html

Français: Nom de l'atelier : Ionie, Éphèse Métal : argent Diamètre : 20,5mm Axe des coins : 12h. Poids : 6,57g. Titulature avers : Anépigraphe. Description avers : Buste diadémé et drapé d’Artémis à droite, l’arc et le carquois sur l’épaule. Description revers : Protomé de cerf à droite, agenouillé, tournant la tête à gauche ; dans le champ à droite, une petite abeille. Légende revers : E-F/ SWSIS Traduction revers : (d’Éphèse/ Sosis).

 Rembrandt, Harmenszoon van Rijn - Diana mit Aktäon und Kallisto - c.1634-1635

 Silver tetradrachm of the Indo-Greek king Artemidoros (whose name means "gift of Artemis"), c. 85 BC, featuring Artemis with a drawn bow and a quiver on her back on the reverse of the coin

Rani nurmai - Own photograph Previously published: http://coinindia.com/galleries-artemidoros.html

Silver tetradrachm (Indian standard) of the Indo-Greek king Artemidoros, who ruled in what is now Punjab (Pakistan and India), c. 85 BCE.

 'Diana' - RAHS-Osborne Collection c. 1930s 

 Royal Australian Historical Society

The Artemis of Ephesus, 1st century AD (Ephesus Archaeological Museum)

 Identifier: aeneidbooki01virg (find matches) Title: Aeneid, Book I; Year: 1886 (1880s) Authors: Virgil Henderson, John, 1845-1932 Subjects: Publisher: Toronto, Copp Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: inc glomerantur Oreades ; illa pharetram 500fert umero, gradiensque deas supereminet omnes ;Latonae tacitum pertemptant gaudia pectus :talis erat Dido, talem se laeta ferebatper medios, instans operi regnisque futuris.tum foribus divae, media testudine templi, 505 saepta armis, solioque alte subnixa resedit.iura dabat legesque viris, operumque laborempartibus aequabat iustis aut sorte trahebat; The shipwrecked companions of Aeneas suddenly appear on thescene and ask protection of Dido. cum subito Aeneas concursu accedere magno Anthea Sergestumque videt fortemque Cloanthum, . 510 Teucrorumque alios, ater quos aequore turbo dispulerat penitusque alias avexerat oras^^ obstupuit simul ipse, simul percussus Achates laetitiaque metuque : avidi coniungere dextras ardebant, sed res animos incognita turbat. 515 dissimulant et nube cava speculantur amicti, quae fortuna viris, classem quo litore linquant, quid veniant : cunctis nam lecti navibus ibant orartes veniam, et templum clamore petebant. Text Appearing After Image: Diana of the Hind. P. VERGILI MARONIS AENEIDOS LIB. I. 17 postquam introgressi et coram data copia fandi, 520 maximus Ilioneus placido sic pectore coepit :* o regina, novam cui condere Iuppiter urbemiustitiaque dedit gentes frenare superbas,Troes te miseri, ventis maria omnia vecti,oramus : prohibe infandos a navibus ignes, 525 parce pio generi, et propius res aspice nostras.non nos aut ferro Libycos populare penatesvenimus, aut raptas ad litora vertere praedas ;non ea vis animo nec tanta superbia victis.est locus—Hesperiam Grai cognomine dicunt— 530 terra antiqua, potens armis atque ubere glaebae ;Oenotri coluere viri ; nunc fama minoresItaliam dixisse ducis de nomine gentem ;hic cursus fuit, cum subito adsurgens fluctu nimbosus Orion 535 in vada caeca tulit, penitusque procacibus Austrisperque undas superante salo perque invia saxadispulit: huc pauci vestris adnavimus oris.quod genus hoc hominum? quaeve hunc tam barbara morempermittit patria? hospitio prohibemur harenae ; 540 be Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.

 Marcantonio Franceschini, Nascita di Apollo e Artemide, Liechtenstein Palace Vienna

1692-1709 circa

 The martyrdom of St Lucy, stabbed with a dagger; around her, people and soldiers, and a statue of Diana holding an oil-lamp; antique buildings, obelisk and fortified city in the background. 1613/6 Etching with stipple Inscriptions Inscription Content: Signed on plate. Dimensions Height: 447 millimetres (trimmed) Width: 347 millimetres (trimmed)

Jacques Bellange - British Museum

 Statua di Artemide, copia romana di originale ellenistico, Museo del Louvre

Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany - Artemis (Diana) from the "Rospigliosi type", Roman copy of the 1st–2nd centuries AD after a Hellenistic original, Louvre Museum Uploaded by Marcus Cyron

Artemis of the Rospigliosi type. Marble, Roman copy of the 1st–2nd centuries CE after a Hellenistic original, maybe the bronze group mentioned by Pausanias (I, 25, 2), which represented a gigantomachia. Dimension: H. 1.63 m (5 ft. 4 in.) Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Sully wing, ground floor, room 17

Religious tablet from Aquincum, 2-4th Century Hungary

Bjoertvedt - Own work

Arthur B. Davies's painting Artemis, photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 2012. In a forested landscape, a woman, nude save for a near-transparent robe, is accompanied by a pair of deer.1909

Arthur Bowen Davies - Own work

Rilievo votivo rappresentante Apollo seduto sul Tripode di Delfi tra la sorella Artemide e la loro madre Leto. Da Atene, secolo V a.C. Esposto nella stanza 19-20 del Museo archeologico nazionale di Atene. Foto di Giovanni Dall'Orto, 10 novembre 2009.

Giovanni Dall'Orto - Opera propria

 Astronomy: Diana, as Moon goddess, an angel above looking heavenward. Engraving by N. Dorigny, 1695, after a mosaic panel by Raphael in the Chigi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, 1516. Iconographic Collections Keywords: Diana; Raphael; Nicolas Dorigny

Faliscan red-figure kylix; Tondo: Artemis riding a deer, holding her bow in her left hand, in front of her kneeles a blin folded Eros with a cup in his hands, sites: groups of talking people; about 375/50 BC; former Collection Preuß, now Antikensammlung Würzburg, inventory number L 818.

Picture: Marcus Cyron - Picture taken by Uploader

Diana, A book of images, 1898, by W.T. Horton (1864-1919), preface by W.B. Yeats (1865-1939).

Artémis dite Diane de Gabies

Œuvre romaine de l'époque de l'empereur Tibère (14 - 37 après J.-C. ?),

Mathilde Hospital  

 C.sf., castelli, francesco saverio grue, mattonella con riposo di diana, 1740-1745

I, Sailko

Artémis by Auguste Donnay, lithographic print for L'Estampe moderne, vol. 1, 1897, F. Champenois.

Spiessens - Opera propria

 Cappella_dello_zodiaco_agostino_di_duccio_segni_e_pianeti_02.1_diana

Further authorizations required by the Italian "Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape" (Codice Urbani), under Legislative Decree No. 42, dated January 22, 2004, and its subsequent amendments, regarding the reuse of the picture. This image reproduces a property belonging to the Italian cultural heritage as entrusted to the Italian government. Such images are regulated by Articles 106 et seq. of the Italian Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape under Legislative Decree No. 42, dated January 22, 2004, and its subsequent amendments. These regulations, unrelated to copyright regulations, establish a system for the protection of Italy’s historic and artistic heritage and its standards of dignity. Among other things, these regulations provide for the payment of a concession fee by those who intend to benefit economically from reproductions of property belonging to the Italian cultural heritage. Reproduction of this image is permitted for personal use or study. A further authorization by the Italian Ministry of Heritage and Culture is required for reproduction for any other purpose, and particularly for commercial use. Such commercial use includes, but is not limited to, use in (a) any form of advertising, and (b) any company name, logo, trademark, image, activity, or product.

Diosa Artemis. Pecio Isabella

Gpdelasinfantas - Opera propria

 portrait of Diana with light brown curly hair in an updo with some loose curls in front, wearing a gold and silver headdress, earrings with clear drops and an armlet with a large green gem and pearls; figure is bare-breasted and wears a pinkish-red garment and holds a spear on a staff with a pinkish-red tassel 1607

Cornelis van Haarlem - Minneapolis Institute of Arts

 Dee di Siracusa, Kore, Demetra, Artemide. Stella - Opera propria

 autel érigé en l’honneur de diane

Élisée Reclus - Extrait de "L’Homme et la Terre"

 Diana [Artemis] and Actaeon. Engraving by J.B. Beauvarlet after J. Rottenhammer. Iconographic Collections

Detalj fäste Diana, värja - Livrustkammaren

Fäste av mörkanlöpt stål med yttäckande ornering av påslaget guld. Knapp sexsidig, bukig, tryckt från ut- och insidan. Hand-, kryssbygel och bakre parerstång platta; kryssbygeln utgående från utsidan av handbygelns nederdel och baktill bågformigt anslutande till parerstångens inre del, parerstången med nedåtböjd, vidgad ytterände. Kavellindning av tvinnad, mycket tunn, förgylld silvertråd, omväxlande med åtta varv av tvinnad, grov tråd av samma material Ornering bestående av klassicistiska gestalter omgivna av täta blandrankor, med sistnämnda ornament är även kryssbygelns insida smyckad. Utmed samtliga kanter en prickerad bård. Krysset nedtill avslutad med en något utstående, låg krage, ornerad med äggstavsbård. Utmed kragens undersida inskription (svärdfejarsignering) i versaler: "A LA CHASSE ROYALLE". Klinga rak, tvåeggad, slipad med jämnbreda, något konkava skär; högglanspolerad. Klingan är avbruten.

  Diana [Artemis]. Engraving by D. Sornique after J. Boulogne. Iconographic Collections

 I. Lorser Feitelson (American, 1898-1978). Diana at the Bath, 1922. Oil on canvas, 98 1/2 x 69 3/8 in. (250.2 x 176.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the artist, 24.96 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 24.96_PS2.jpg)I. Lorser Feitelson - Brooklyn Museum

 Diana [Artemis]. Engraving by P. Pontius and W. Hollar after P. van Avont. Iconographic Collections

Headpiece by Adolphe Giraldon featuring Diana, patron of the month of November

Adolphe Giraldon - Larousse mensuel illustré, 1911

 Diana [Artemis]. Etching. Iconographic Collections

Johann Michael Rottmayr (1654–1730): Diana und Endymion, 1690/95, Öl auf Leinwand, 81,3 x 125,2 cm. Art Institute of Chicago.

Maróti - Artemis

Design by Géza Maróti (1875-1941), Budapest - Opera propria; Photo by Szilas in the Budapest Museum

  Small jewellery cabinet, detail, by Johann Zignah ebeniste, Paul Soyer enamel, Paris, 1877-1878, ebony-veneer on oak, enamel plates, silver, ivory - Germanisches Nationalmuseum - Nuremberg, Germany 

 Artemis by JaniceDuke 

Artemis (Diana) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by Michael C Hayes

1280 × 720Images may be subject to copyright. Find out more

Artemis Greek Goddess of The Hunt (Mythology) - YouTube

YouTube

Artemis Greek Goddess of The Hunt (Mythology)

Artemis

 Vintage engraving of Diana

 Greek Goddess Artemis | Cristian Baitg Photographer

Diana, Goddess of the Hunt
Willem van Mieris (Leiden 1662 – 1747 Leiden)

 date     1686

 oil on panel

Donato Giancola  - Artemis

 Eric Armusik; Drawing, “Diana - Goddess of the Hunt”

 Legendary Artemis

 ARTEMIS/DIANA, GODDESS OF THE MOON

Painting by Sandra M. Stanton

Used by Permission 

 DIANA

 ARTEMIS

Picture of the hunting Goddess Diana and the crescent of the moon above her forehead

  Goddess Artemis | by Davien Orion Goddess

Diana Goddess of the Hunt & Moon:Moonlight Run by REG

Artemis the goddess of hunting architecture details

Roman Goddess Diana of hunt

Goddess of the Moon and Hunt, this Artemis statue with horned buck is also a favorite for Wiccan Altars.

  Emile Levy
(French, 1826–1890)

The goddess Diana, the huntress