Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, and the moon, one of the most popular and most revered of the Greek gods. She was the daughter of Zeus and the Titaness Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was a virgin goddess, who roamed the mountains and forests with a band of nymphs, hunting with her silver bow. She was a fierce protector of the young, the wild, and the marginal, and she was also a goddess of childbirth, a complex duality that reflects the Greek understanding of her power. The Romans identified her with Diana.
Artemis is the virginal twin sister of Apollo, the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, the moon, and childbirth, and one of the three virgin goddesses of the Greek pantheon (with Athena and Hestia). The most important ancient source is the Homeric Hymn to Artemis (third century BCE, probably Callimachus), and the standard scholarly treatment is in the Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology (2014). The cult of Artemis, with major centres at Ephesus, Brauron, and Sparta, was one of the most widespread in the Greek world.
The Birth of Artemis
Artemis was born on the floating island of Delos, along with her twin brother Apollo. Their mother was Leto, a Titaness who had been loved by Zeus. Hera, Zeus’s jealous wife, had forbidden any land to give Leto a place to give birth, but the floating island of Delos, having no fixed anchor, was not considered “earth” and so could receive her.
According to myth, Artemis was born first, and she immediately helped her mother deliver Apollo. From the moment of her birth, she was a goddess of the hunt, and she was said to have asked her father for eternal virginity, a bow and arrows, a huntress’s dress, and the mountains as her domain. Zeus granted all of her requests.
The Symbols of Artemis
Artemis was associated with many symbols of the hunt and the wilderness:
- The Bow and Arrow: Artemis’s primary weapon was her silver bow, and her arrows could bring sudden death to women as well as to animals.
- The Deer and Hind: The deer, particularly the female hind, was sacred to Artemis. The famous Ceryneian Hind, captured by Heracles as his third Labor, was sacred to her.
- The Hunting Dog: The hunting dog, particularly the hound, was Artemis’s constant companion.
- The Cypress Tree: The cypress, sacred to Hades and Artemis, was associated with mourning and was often planted in her sanctuaries.
- The Moon: In later mythology, Artemis was identified with the moon, in contrast to her brother Apollo, who was associated with the sun.
- The Bear: The bear, particularly the she-bear, was associated with Artemis, and young girls in some parts of Greece were called “little bears” in her service.
The Domains of Artemis
As goddess of the hunt, Artemis presided over many domains:
- The Hunt: She was the patroness of hunters and the protector of wild animals.
- The Wilderness: She was the goddess of mountains, forests, and the uncultivated world.
- Wild Animals: She was the protector of all wild creatures.
- The Moon: In later mythology, she was identified with the moon, in contrast to her brother Apollo, who was the sun.
- Childbirth: She was the protector of women in childbirth, a complex role given her virginity. The Greeks explained this by saying that she was born before Apollo and so had helped her mother give birth.
- Young Girls: She was the protector of young girls and unmarried women.
- Vengeance: She was a fierce avenger of crimes against her worshippers, particularly offenses against virginity.
The Major Myths of Artemis
Actaeon
The most famous myth of Artemis is the story of Actaeon, a hunter who accidentally saw the goddess bathing in a forest pool. According to the myth, Actaeon was out hunting with his dogs when he came upon a hidden valley where Artemis was bathing with her nymphs. The goddess was furious, and she splashed him with water from the pool, transforming him into a stag. His own hounds, no longer recognizing him, tore him apart. The myth is a classic cautionary tale about the dangers of seeing what should not be seen.
The Slaughter of the Niobids
When Niobe, the queen of Thebes, boasted that she was superior to Leto because she had fourteen children while Leto had only two, Apollo and Artemis shot all of Niobe’s children with their arrows. Niobe wept until she was turned to stone.
The Sacrifice of Iphigenia
In one of the most troubling of the Greek myths, Artemis demanded the sacrifice of Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, before the Greek fleet could sail to Troy. The Greek army was stuck at Aulis, with no wind to carry the ships, and the seer Calchas revealed that the goddess demanded this human sacrifice to appease her anger. In some versions, Iphigenia was actually sacrificed, and her death was the price of Troy’s fall. In other versions, Artemis substituted a deer at the last moment and carried Iphigenia off to Tauris to serve as her priestess. The story was the subject of plays by Euripides, including Iphigenia in Aulis and Iphigenia in Tauris.
The Trojan War
During the Trojan War, Artemis supported the Trojans, along with her brother Apollo. She was particularly associated with the death of the Amazon queen Penthesilea, who came to Troy to fight and was killed by Achilles. In some versions, Achilles, on seeing her body, fell in love with her. The myth is told in the lost epic Aethiopis.
Orion
Artemis was associated with the giant hunter Orion, who was either her lover or her hunting companion. According to the myth, Artemis killed Orion, either accidentally (with a stray arrow, in some versions) or deliberately (after he boasted that he would kill every animal on earth). After his death, Artemis placed him among the stars as the constellation Orion.
The Aloadae
The giants Otus and Ephialtes, the Aloadae, attempted to storm Olympus. They tried to pile Mount Pelion on Mount Ossa, and they threatened to kidnap Artemis and Hera as wives. According to the myth, Artemis tricked them by changing into a deer and darting between them, and they killed each other with their javelins. Alternatively, Apollo killed them before they could reach Olympus.
The Worship of Artemis
The worship of Artemis was widespread, with major centers in:
- Ephesus: One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, a massive structure with 127 columns. The goddess worshipped there, however, was not the Greek Artemis of the hunt but a much older mother-goddess with many breasts.
- Brauron in Attica: A major cult center where young girls served as “little bears” (arktoi) in honor of the goddess.
- Sparta: Artemis was worshipped as Artemis Orthia, with brutal initiation rites for Spartan youth.
- Delos: The island of her birth, with a great temple.
- Tauris (Crimea): The cult of Artemis Tauropolos, a fierce goddess, was practiced there. In some versions, this is where Iphigenia became her priestess.
The Romans identified Artemis with Diana, the goddess of the hunt and the moon. Diana was gods of Roman religion, and her temple at Nemi, in the Alban hills, was the setting for J.G. Frazer’s The Golden Bough.
The Legacy of Artemis
Artemis is a central character in the Percy Jackson series, a recurring figure in the God of War franchise, and the namesake of NASA’s Artemis program (2017–), which is sending humans back to the moon. The lunar program’s choice of name is a deliberate echo of the goddess as the Greek personification of the moon. For the broader modern reception, see our guide to Greek mythology in modern culture.
A Note on Reading This Profile
A note on reading this profile. The cult of Artemis is one of the most widespread in the Greek world, and the regional variations are large. The Artemis of Ephesus is a different goddess from the Artemis of Brauron, and both are different from the Artemis of Sparta, who is the goddess who presides over the savage life of the military camp. The Artemis of the Iliad is a third goddess again, the sister of Apollo and the goddess of the bow. The page above tries to give the central literary version first and to note the regional versions where they matter.