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Mythos Atlas

Greek Pantheon

Artemis

Also known as Diana

Illustration of Artemis, a deity of the Greek Pantheon
Illustrative imageIllustration of Artemis. Generated with an AI image model; not a historical artifact. About our images
  • hunt
  • wilderness
  • moon
  • childbirth
  • virginity

Goddess of the hunt, wilderness, and the moon. Twin sister of Apollo, protector of young women and animals.

About Artemis

Mistress of Beasts

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.

The Virgin Huntress

She swore an oath of eternal maidenhood to Zeus. Actaeon, a hunter who accidentally saw her bathing, was transformed into a stag and devoured by his own hounds. She also punished Niobe for boasting that she was superior to Leto (Artemis's mother).

Protector Of Threshold Lives

Artemis also governs transitions that seem far removed from the hunt: childbirth, adolescence, and the dangerous boundary between girlhood and adulthood. Greek communities honored her in rites that prepared the young for civic and family life, so her myths join wilderness freedom with social discipline in a way that is easy to miss if she is reduced to a moon-and-bow archetype.

Across traditions

Parallel figures

Figures who play a role like Artemis's in other traditions.

Worship and cult

Temples, festivals, and practices recorded for Artemis

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.

Sacred sites

  • Artemision at Ephesus
  • Brauron in Attica
  • Sanctuary at Aulis

Festivals

  • Brauronia
  • Elaphebolia
  • Ephesian Artemisia

Family

Parents
Zeus
Artemis
Siblings
Apollo

Relationship sources

  1. Theogony — Zeus parent of Artemis

    Hesiod · Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns and Homerica (1914), Project Gutenberg #348 · Theogony 918–920

  2. Theogony — Apollo sibling of Artemis: Twin siblings

    Hesiod · Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns and Homerica (1914), Project Gutenberg #348 · Theogony 918–920

Questions about Artemis's family
Who are Artemis's parents?
The atlas's kinship records name one parent of Artemis: Zeus. Ancient accounts do not always agree on divine parentage.
Who are Artemis's siblings?
Siblings of Artemis recorded in the atlas: Apollo.

In the atlas

Where Artemis appears

In the museums

Artemis in art

Real objects in public collections, released into the public domain by the museums that hold them. Dates refer to when each object was made. Objects made within the tradition come first, later depictions after.

  • Bronze statuette of the goddess Artemis. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (opens the museum record)

    Ancient object

    Bronze statuette of Artemis (opens the museum record)

    Greek · 3rd–1st century BCE · Bronze

    A Hellenistic bronze statuette the museum catalogs as Artemis, goddess of the hunt and wilderness. Figures of this type were common temple and household dedications.

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art · 1980.303.3 · Public Domain (museum record)

  • Bronze bust of the goddess Artemis. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (opens the museum record)

    Ancient object

    Bronze bust of Artemis (opens the museum record)

    Roman · 1st half of the 1st century CE · Bronze

    A Roman bronze bust the museum identifies as Artemis. Portrait-style busts of deities were used as decorative fittings as well as objects of devotion.

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art · 49.21.2 · Public Domain (museum record)

Sources and further reading

Source notes

These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.

  • Homeric Hymn XXVII, To Artemis (trans. Evelyn-White)

    Catalog date: c. 6th century BCE

About this entry

By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. . Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.

Parallels are editorial comparisons across traditions: a shared role does not, by itself, establish a shared origin.

Family relationships come from the atlas's kinship records. Ancient sources often disagree on divine genealogy.

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Genealogy

Family tree

Artemis's parents, consorts, children and rivals, as recorded in the atlas.

Open the full tree