Greek Goddess Artemis: the goddess of the hunt, wild animals, and wilderness

Goddess Artemis with her bow and
arrows, and accompanied by a deer. 

Artemis is the Greek Goddess of the hunt, wild animals, and wilderness. She is residing in mount Olympus and she is include in the pantheon of 12 Olympian Gods. She is often connected with the childbirth, virginity and protector of young girls. Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. Symbols include the moon, deer, hound, and bow and arrow. The deer and the cypress were sacred to her.

Birth and youth

Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. Her mother, Lito, was experiencing the jealousy of Hera, wife of Zeus. As we discusses earlier, Lito  gave birth ia a place called Delos that was neither island neither mainland. Afterwards, Zeus protected Delos to the bottom of the ocean.

A Greek Myth, from a poem of the poet Callimachus, tells that the young Goddess Artemis, while sitting on the knee of her father, Zeus, asked him to grant her five divine privileges. The first was to to remain a virgin, the second to have many names, the third to be Light Bringer, fourth to have a bow and arrow that she could hunt, fifth to have eighty nymphs: twenty Amnisiades Nymphs to watch her dogs and bow while she rested, and  sixty 9-year old Oceanides Nyphs to be her choir. Moreover, she wished for no city dedicated to her, but to rule the mountains.

Personal Life

As a virgin, Artemis had interested many gods and men, but no one could do anything to win her heart. From all the gods and men interested, only Orion, a  giant huntsman, was able to won her heart. Orion was a giant huntsman and companion of Artemis, whom Zeus placed among the stars as the constellation of Orion after his death. However, in all myth variations Orion was killed, either accidentally or not killed either by Artemis or from a scorpion sent by Gaia.

Another divine being that interested on her, was the river god Alpheus. He decided to capture her. Goddess Artemis was able to avoid capturing by covering her face with mud. Another version of the myth says, that Alphaeus tried to rape Artemis' attendant Arethusa, but godess Artemis saved her by transforming Arethusa into a spring in Artemis' temple.

Trojan War

Goddess Artemis played a vital role during the Trojan War. The Greek Hero Agamemnom killed a sacred stag and he stated that he was better hunter than  the goddess Artemis. Artemis furious punished him by making the wind blowing strong before leaving to Tory for starting the Trojan war. To calm the winds down, Agamemnom had to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia. The second involvement was by healing the wounds of the Trojan hero Aeneas. She and her brother God Apollo rescued Aeneas from combat with Diomedes of Argos, who nearly kills him, and carry him away to Pergamos for healing. Finally, during the Trojan war, Zeus allowed the Gods to support their favorites. During the battle she was beaten by Hera. Hera struck Artemis, causing the arrows to fall out. As Artemis fled crying to Zeus, Leto gathered up the bow and arrows.