Artemis
ARTEMIS in Greek mythology is the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo. In Greek religion she is concerned with the transitions of birth and growing up of both genders, as well as with the death of women and with the spaces outside the cities and the human activities in them—especially hunting and warfare. In the Greek East she is also a city goddess. Her equivalents in Anatolia and the Near East were the Phrygian Cybele and the Persian Anahita. The Romans identified Artemis with Diana, whereas the Etruscans accepted her under her Greek name as "Artume(s)." She is known as "Artimus" in Lydia, and as "Ertemi" in Lycia; she had many local sanctuaries all over Anatolia. The Greek goddess entered both the Lycian and Lydian pantheon under her Greek name, and numerous local goddesses all over Anatolia were hellenized as Artemis.
Early Artemis
Her name defies etymology. She is most likely referred to in the inscriptions from the Bronze Age Pylus (Linear B), although her functions are unclear. She is also referenced in Hyampolis (Boeotia), a sanctuary that in the first millennium BCE belonged to Artemis and Apollo goes back to the later Bronze Age; however it is unclear whether this attests to her cult at this early age.
This is a free page. This page contains 201 words. This
article contains 2,385 words (approx. 8 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Article with our Artemis Access Pass.
