►Greek Mythology: “Artemis, The Goddess of Hunting” / Poem: “Ode to Artemis”, by Irina Dimitric.-

“Diana the Huntress”, by Luca Penni (16th Century).

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Artemis (Roman Equivalent: Diana) was the greek goddess of hunting, wilderness and wild animals.

She was also a goddess of childbirth, and the protectress of Virginity and the girl child up to the age of marriage.

According to the Homeric account and also to Hesiod she was the daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was the sister of Apollo. According to Pausanias, Artemis was a daughter of Demeter, and not of Leto.

Artemis as the sister of Apollo, is a kind of female Apollo.

Artemis is moreover, like Apollo, unmarried; she is a maiden divinity never conquered by love. The priests and priestesses devoted to her service were bound to live pure and chaste, and trangressions of their vows of chastity were severely punished. 

When Apollo was regarded as identical with the sun or Helios, nothing was more natural than that his sister should be regarded as Selene or the moon, and accordingly the Greek Artemis is, at least in later times, the goddess of the moon. Phoebe was one of the many names she was called. The name Phoebe means the “light one” or “bright one”.

Another earlier version of the Goddess is the Arcadian. According to it, Artemis  is a goddess of the nymphs.

There was no connexion between the Arcadian Artemis and Apollo. Her epithets in Arcadia are nearly all derived from the mountains, rivers, and lakes. Thus she was the representative of some part or power of nature. Also according to the Arcadian version, Artemis hunted with her twenty nymphs, who accompanied her during the chase, and with sixty others, daughters of Oceanus, with whom she held her dances in the forests of the mountains.

The representations of the Greek Artemis in works of art are different accordingly as she is represented either as a huntress, or as the goddess of the moon; yet in either case she appears as a youthful and vigorous divinity.

~As the huntress, her attributes are the bow, quiver, and arrows, or a spear, stags, and dogs.

~As the goddess of the moon, she wears a long robe which reaches down to her feet, a veil covers her head, and above her forehead rises the crescent of the moon. In her hand she often appears holding a torch.

On one of her birthdays Artemis asked for Six wishes from Zeus, his father. These wishes were.

1. To be able to live life chaste.
2. To be able to be a lifelong bachelorette and never marry.
3. A bow and arrow like that of Apollo’s
4. Hunting dogs to assist her hunting.
5. Stags to lead her chariot.
6. And 80 virgin nymphs to be her hunting companions.

Zeus was amused by Artemis’ wishes, and being her good father, he granted her each wish she asked for.

Artemis would never marry, and would be chaste for all eternity. She roamed with her hunting dogs, nymphs, and her stags, hunting all throughout the mountains, where she resided.

Appearances of Artemis in other myths and in Homer’s “Iliad”:

•In the myth of Actaeon, he was a hunting companion of Artemis ; at some point, he saw the goddess naked bathing in a spring and tried to rape her. As a punishment, Artemis transformed him into a stag and his hounds killed him.

•In the myth of Orion which has various versions, Orion was also a hunting companion of Artemis  and the only person to have won her heart. However, he was accidentally killed either by the goddess or by a scorpion which was sent by Gaia.

In another myth, Zeus, changing his form to resemble Artemis, managed to seduce Callisto, one of Artemis’ hunting attendants. As a companion of Artemis, she took a vow of chastity. Zeus appeared to her disguised as Artemis and they had sexual relationships. As a result of this encounter she conceived a son, Arcas.

•In some versions of the story of Adonis, Artemis sent a wild boar to kill him because he was a better hunter than she. In another version, Adonis was not killed by Artemis, but by Ares, as punishment for being with Aphrodite.

In Homer’s “Iliad”, Artemis may have been represented as a supporter of Troy because her brother Apollo was the patron god of the city. At the Greek’s journey to Troy, Artemis becalmed the sea and stopped the journey until an oracle came and said they could win the goddess’ heart by sacrificing Iphigenia, Agamemnon’s daughter.

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►Gallery: “Artemis” (Ancient Greek Vases):

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” Diana’s Maidens” by Edward Robert Hughes (19th Century).

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►Gallery: “Artemis or Diana” (Paintings):

“Diana Leaving her Bath” by François Boucher (1742).

“Diana and her Nymphs” Domenichino (1617).

“Diana” by Joseph Duch (19th Century).

“Diana” by James Carroll Beckwith (19th Century).

“Diana” by Francois Lafon (19th Century).

“Diana the Huntress” by Giampietrino (1526).

“Diana” by Jules Joseph Lefebvre (19th Century).

“Diana the Huntress” by Pelagio Palagi (1830).

“Diana” by Domenico Guidobono (1720).

“Diana at her bath” by Alexandre Jacques Chantron (19th Century).

“Henriette von Nassau as Diana” by Willem van Honthorst (1640).

“Diana the Huntress” by Nikolaus Baur (1870).

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O Artemis!

Steadfast virgin for all eternity

Out of wedlock born to Leto

Fathered by Zeus the mighty

Baby midwife to Apollo

Her twin brother;

She helped her mother

And thus became the patron saint

Of birthing mothers and their babes

~~~

The virgin Goddess of Hunting

Roamed throughout the mountains

With a hunting bow and arrow like Apollo’s

With her eighty virgin nymphs

With hunting dogs, and sacred stags

To lead her chariot

Hunting chaste in lush wilderness;

Six desired gifts from father received

The mighty ruler of Mount Olympus

~~~

The most cherished gift Virginity

Thus she turned Callisto into a small bear

Punishment for loss of chastity;

Her jealous arrow

Condemned the bear to die

But cunning Zeus, the nymph’s seducer

Turned Callisto into sparkling stars

To shine for us forever in the sky

As Callisto Bear or Ursa Minor

~~~

The Virgin Goddess for all eternity

Never loved but one, Orion, a mortal son;

Apollo, jealous, tricked his sister

Through a wager, to shoot

The “floating object” far on the horizon

It was Orion, her one and only love;

In her grief she turned him

Into brilliant stars

Forevermore to shine for her and us

~~~

O Artemis!

Goddess of Hunting

Protector of animals, trees and flowers

Goddess of Virginity, Goddess of Light

As silvery moon you joined Orion;

In the darkness, your love

Forever will shine bright

Lend us your strength, allay our fears

Lead us safely through the night.

©Copyright 2015 Irina Dimitric

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Irina Dimitric. http://irinadim.com/

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►About Irina Dimitric:

Irina dixit: “I’m a blogger. My recent passions are writing poetry and photography. Now and then I write a story… The ups and downs of my life are reflected in my poems and short stories, and the mood of the poems ranges from dark to bright and from serious to downright silly. Laughter is to me like the air I breathe. I’m a fighter and don’t give in easily to misfortune’s impact”. 

•~~~• ⭐ •~~~ • ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~•

•Make sure to visit Irina’s Blog, Irina’s Poetry Corner.

•Feel Free to connect with Irina at: Twitter and Google Plus.

•Irina has recently published a poetry book, “Dreams on my Pillow”. 

You can purchase Irina’s book at Amazon or Xlibris.

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Click on the book cover.

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“Haz de Luz”. ©Amalia Pedemonte. 2015. Fotografía publicada en “La Poesía No Muerde: Imagen encontró poemas”: http://wp.me/p3U19M-10C

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►Links Post:

http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Artemis.html

http://www.theoi.com/Summary/Artemis.html

http://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Artemis/artemis.html

http://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/artemis/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis

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It is great to get these three new awards. Premio Dardos (x2) coming from Jagxs and  Sonrisas de Camaleón.

Plus, a Creative Bloggers Award, from Living a Beautiful Life.  

I want to thank these three bloggers and suggest you to please make sure to check out their blogs and follow them if you haven´t still done so.  

Note: For the three awards, I will nominate blogs I have recently came across and like, recent followers and/or plussers. Also, I am changing the logos so that way I can include new awards among mine… And, finally, I will follow the nomination process without answering questions or mentioning facts about me…. 

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►Rules for these Three Awards:

♠ Thank the person who nominated you for the award. Agradecer a la persona que te ha nominado.

♠ Add the logo to your post. Agregar el logo del premio en tu blog. 

♠Nominate ten (10) bloggers you admire and inform your nominees by commenting on their blogs. Nominar otros diez (10) bloggers, informándoles en sus respectivos blogs.

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►I) Nominees~Premio Dardos~Focal White & Black Version:

1. Iridediluce 2. K’ Cadences 3. A Joyful Creation 4. Alex Kiaw 5. Living a Beautiful Life 6. Writing Stories Rocks 7. Ruido Claro 8. Utopian Fragments 9. Le Rimenaute 10. RV John.

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►II) Nominees~Premio Dardos~Chameleon Version:

1. Le Trouvaille 2. Free Spirit Mystic 3. People Forward 4. Claudia Moss 5. Margie in Italy 6. Territorio Escrito 7. The Faerie Embassy 8. Presupuesto Zero 9. Your Bones & Their Lies 10. Mina Barrado. 

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►III) Nominees~Creative Bloggers Award:

1. In Sapphic Sunshine 2. Jagxs 3. Sonrisas de Camaleón 4. Bundle Post 5. Mehflowers 6. MaryAnn’s World 7. Living in the Forest 8. Daphnedawn 9. Bojenn 10. Peaks and Valleys. 

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