artemis

pencil on paper 35 cm x 50 cm

Artemis (pronunciation in Ancient Greek: [ártemis]) was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Some scholars believe that the name, and indeed the goddess herself, was originally pre-Greek.[1] Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron < Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals".[2] In the classical period of Greek mythology, Artemis (Greek: (nominative) Ἄρτεμις, (genitive) Ἀρτέμιδος) 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 young girls, bringing and relieving disease in women; she often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.[3] The deer and the cypress were sacred to her. In later Hellenistic times, she even assumed the ancient role of Eileithyia in aiding childbirth.

Artemis later became identified with Selene,[4] a Titaness who was a Greek moon goddess, sometimes depicted with a crescent moon above her head. She was also identified with the Roman goddess Diana,[5] with the Etruscan goddess Artume, and with the Greek or Carian goddess Hecate and Egyptian goddess Bastet due to the myth of battle against Typhon where she ran to Egypt and transform herself to be a cat.[6]