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ARTEMIS "GODDESS OF THE HUNT"

Some say that Artemis's origins lie in Artemis Ephesus, as a Great Mother Goddess. As Artemis Ephesus she is not a virgin, but is instead featured in a sculpture with many breasts, thus, signifying that she is mother of all life. Leeming speculates that Artemis probably once had a lover attendant as Artemis Ephesus, but never as a Greek goddess. He continues to say that the change from the Mother Goddess to the virginal and masculine Pallas Athena "suggests a defeminization of the Great Goddess." Leeming contributes this "defeminization" to the undermining of her powerful matriarchal cult by patriarchal Homeric/Olympian religion. The final product of this "defeminization" is the Artemis that most are familiar with today: the virgin goddess of the hunt and childbirth and the protector of the young, both animals and humans.

Of all the major Olympian goddesses, Artemis is the only one who had a mother. Artemis is usually considered to be the daughter of Leto and Zeus. Hera, Zeus's wife, was furious upon learning of her husband's infidelity and forbade anyone to give refuge to Leto in order to give birth to her twins. Leto wandered around and finally settled to the island of Delos to deliver her children. Apollo became god of the sun and Artemis became goddess of the moon and of the hunt.

Artemis can easily be identified wearing her short tunic with flat-heeled sandals with a bags of arrows on her back. She is associated with many of the animals of the wild including the bear, the boar, the stag, the goat and packs of dogs. She is the goddess of the hunt and is thus associated with death, bows and arrows and youth. Her arrows, often used in the hunt, serve several other purposes as well. Artemis is said to have the power to infect people with a plague with her arrows as well as use them to punish those who have wronged her. She is associated with childbirth and may use her arrows to relieve those in labor. Artemis is also associated with the crescent moon, which she sometimes wears upon her head. Artemis, like Athena, is a chaste goddess and her many followers take vows of chastity while under the service of Artemis.

Feminists such as Ginette Paris praise Artemis because she is "an archetype of femininity that is pure and primitive." She clarifies this statement by pointing out that Artemis does not exist in relation to any males. She is not identified as a wife (Hera to Zeus), lover (Aphrodite to Mars), child (Athena to Zeus) or as mother (Demeter to Persephone). However, Downing states in her book that Artemis is linked to men by being she who shuns men. Her example illustrates man's inability to look at a woman as a whole being for fear of being overwhelmed. Aphrodite is only the goddess of love and Artemis is only the goddess of the hunt . While many claim that Artemis was as beautiful as Aphrodite, it is essential to distinguish the two beauties. Artemis's beauty is not for the benefit of sexual relations or reproduction as is Aphrodite's. As the tale of Actaeon will prove, her beauty is not to be revealed to human sight. "The femininity of Artemis is sealed by an inviolable and unnegotiable virginity."

When associated with childbirth, Artemis has the power to bring new life into the world and to take life away. Artemis helps female animals while in labor as well as humans. Women in childbirth call on Artemis while in labor and the goddess assists them or brings them quick death by means of her swift arrows in order to end their suffering. Ginette Paris points out that since Artemis witnessed the immense pain that her mother suffered while giving birth to Apollo she was compelled to dedicate herself to relieving women in labor. Artemis was born first and immediately took on the role of midwife for her mother, who was giving birth to Apollo. Paris speculates that perhaps she remained a virgin in order to avoid the pain involved in childbirth. The clothes of the women who died in childbirth were taken to Artemis because their deaths were attributed to her.

Artemis was responsible for the gruesome death of a young hunter by the name of Actaeon who made the mistake of discovering Artemis while bathing nude with her nymphs. He had finished a long day of hunting and was wandering around in the woods when he stumbled across Artemis. She feared that he would boast of seeing her in the nude and, for lack of having her arrows available, splashed water on him. Suddenly Actaeon was transformed into a stag and he fled in fear. Actaeon's own pack of dogs spotted him running and did not recognize him. Actaeon, despite his attempts, was not able to identify himself. After a long chase, the dogs caught their master and tore him to shreds and devoured his flesh.