ARTEMIS (AR-ti-mis; Roman name
Diana) was the virgin goddess of the hunt.
She helped women in childbirth but also
brought sudden death with her arrows.
Artemis and her brother Apollo were the
children of Zeus and Leto. In some
versions of their myth, Artemis was born
first and helped her mother to deliver
Apollo.
Niobe, queen of Thebes, once boasted
that she was better than Leto because she
had many children while the goddess had
but two. Artemis and Apollo avenged his
insult to their mother by killing all or most
of Niobe's children with their arrows. The
weeping Niobe was transformed into
stone, in which form she continued to
weep.
When Apollo noticed that Artemis was
spending a great deal of time hunting with
the giant Orion, he decided to put an end
to the relationship. He challenged Artemis
to prove her skill at archery by shooting at
an object floating far out at sea. Her shot
was perfect. The target turned out to be
the head of Orion.
Artemis is generally depicted as a young
woman clad in buckskins, carrying a bow
and a quiver of arrows. She is often
accompanied by wild creatures such as a
stag or she-bear.
