Artemis
Artemis was born of Leto and Zeus, on the island of Delos, later helping with the delivery of her twin brother, Apollo. Some sources state that her actual birthplace is not Delos, but an island called Ortygia. Although the two islands could be one and the same, it is not clear. In helping with the birth of her brother Artemis fulfilled her role as a goddess of childbirth (which she shares with Eileithyia and Hera). She is the goddess of chastity, the hunt and the moon, too. But I'll get more into those later.
Artemis was closely linked with her brother. For example, sudden death, particularly of the young, was often attributed to them (Artemis killing the girls and Apollo the boys). In fact, a rather famous legend involves both Artemis and Apollo. The story is told at length by the poet Ovid, in his Metamorphoses. The women of Thebes gave Leto great honor, often offering generous gifts and hymns to her which upset Niobe. After all, She had seven daughters......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 1271
Approximate Pages: 5 (260 words per double-spaced page) |