The Shrine of Artemis
Detail of Diana and Acteaon
by Giovanni Battista Pittoni, c. 1722
“Pray give me eternal virginity; as many names as my brother Apollo; a bow and arrows like his; the office of bringing light; a saffron hunting tunic with a red hem reaching to my knees; sixty young ocean nymphs, all of the same age, as my maids of honour; twenty river nymphs from Amnius in Crete, to take care of my buskins and feed my hounds when I am not out shooting; all the mountains of the world; and, lastly, any city you care to choose for me, but one will be enough because I intend to live on mountains most of the time.”
——Artemis addressing Zeus in The Greek Myths by Robert Graves
Muse, sing of Artemis,
sister of the Far-shooter,
the virgin who delights in arrows,
who was fostered with Apollo.
She waters her horses from Meles deep in reeds,
and swiftly drives her all-golden chariot
through Smyrna to vine-clad Claros
where Apollo, god of the silver bow,
sits waiting for the far-shooting goddess
who delights in arrows.
And so hail to you, Artemis…
——from The Homeric Hymns
The Bath of Diana
Boucher, 1742.
Once I felt this thrill of pain in my womb.
I cried out for Artemis in heaven, who loves the hunt
and whose care relieves those giving birth.
She came to me then and eased me.
——from Hippolytus by Euripides
I sing of Artemis, whose shafts are of gold,
who cheers on the hounds, the pure maiden,
shooter of stags, who delights in archery,
own sister to Apollo with the golden sword.
Over the shadowy hills and windy peaks
she draws her golden bow, rejoicing in the chase,
and sends out grievous shafts.
——from The Homeric Hymns
Diana as Huntress
School of Fountainebleau, ca. 1550
“Lovely you are
To the tender young and ravening lions.
For sucklings of all the savage
Beasts that lurk in the lonely places [she has] sympathy.”
——from Agamemnon by Aeschylus
Let me sing of the maiden of contradictions, goddess of
The wild chase and the busy spindle. An archer, a hunter,
She races through the mountain shadows and the windy
Hills, drawing her bow and loosing her arrows of sadness
.
The mountains tremble, and the forest resounds with the
Agony of animals. Earth and sea both shudder as the
Strong-hearted one delights in her hunt. And then, when
She has had enough, she leaves the forest, hanging up
Her bow and quiver, she robes herself in splendor and
Goes forth to lead her maidens in dance, smiling as
They sing of her mother Leto, of how she bore such
A wondrous daughter.
——from The Homeric Hymns
Here is the virgin goddess, Artemis
running across the mountains of Taygetos
or up the steep hills of Erymanthos,
running with her maidens, running
with the deer, accompanied by birds,
ranging widely in the wilderness, playful
and strong and free and beautiful:
and the heart of her mother is glad.
--from The Odyssey by Homer
