Side by sideParallel across traditions
Both are moon goddesses associated with femininity.
| Artemis | Hina | |
|---|---|---|
| Tradition | Greek Pantheon | Polynesian Pantheon |
| Domains | hunt, wilderness, moon, childbirth, virginity | moon, tapa cloth, women's work, beauty, fertility |
| Symbols | bow and arrow, deer, moon, cypress | moon, tapa beater, coconut, white flowers |
| Also called | Diana | Hina-i-ka-malama (Hawaiian), Sina (Samoan), Hine (Maori form) |
Both are associated with moon.
They share a symbol: moon.
Associated with hunt, wilderness, childbirth, and virginity.
Associated with tapa cloth, women's work, beauty, and fertility.
Wild animals, childbirth, and girls leaving childhood are hers. Brauron kept the arktoi, the 'bears.' Ephesus housed a many-breasted civic image that is not a Greek huntress in a short chiton. Both are Artemis.
Bark-cloth, the moon, and a woman who is not one biography. Hawai'i, Tahiti, and Aotearoa do not share a single parish. Name the work: cloth and night sky.
Greek Pantheon
Goddess of the hunt, wilderness, and the moon. Twin sister of Apollo, protector of young women and animals.
Artemis is the fierce virgin goddess of the hunt and the wilderness ("*Potnia Theron*"). She roams the forests with her band of nymphs, protecting the natural world and punishing those who disrespect it.
Polynesian Pantheon
The goddess of the moon and women's arts, particularly the making of tapa cloth. Hina appears in many forms across Polynesia, sometimes as the mother of Maui, sometimes as a goddess who fled to the moon.
Hina's origins vary by tradition. In some stories she was always a goddess; in others, she was a mortal woman who achieved divine status. Most commonly, she was a beautiful woman who fled to the moon to escape earthly troubles, where she can still be seen beating tapa cloth.
Hina is one of the most widely distributed goddess figures in Polynesian mythology, appearing in virtually every island group though with different specific stories. She represents femininity, the moon, and the domestic arts that sustain community life.
Comparisons pair figures that play a similar role across traditions, or that the myths connect within one. A shared role does not, by itself, establish a shared origin.