Artemis: The Goddess Of The Gods In Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is known for having worshiped many gods. Gods in Ancient Greece represented many factors in everyday life, such as love, harvest, wisdom, sea, etc. Among all of them, there was the goddess Artemis. Artemis was the goddess of the chastity, virginity, hunt, forests, hills, the moon, and archery. Homer refers to her as “Artemis Agroteca, Potnia Theron:”, "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals". She was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, although Arcadians believe she was the daughter of Demeter. She was also the twin sister of Apollo, having been born first and helped her mother deliver Apollo. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that her name and the goddess herself were originally pre-Greek. Ancient Greek writers

Artemis had different names and definitions in different places. As Agrotera, she was associated as the patron goddess of hunters. In Athens, she was associated with the local Aeginian goddess, Aphaea. As Potnia Theron, she was the patron of wild animals. As Kourotrophos, she was the nurse of youths. As Lochiea, she was the goddess of childbirth and midwives. Sometimes, she was known as Cynthia or Amarynthia, from a festival in her honor. Identified sometimes as Phoebe, the feminine form of Apollo’s solar epithet Phoebus. The Artemis Lygidesma was worshipped in Sparta, it means “willow bound” from the Gr. Iygos. Alphaea, Alpheaea, or Alpheiusa was an epithet that Artemis derived from Alpheius, the river god. It was under this name she was worshipped at Letrini and Ortygia. Artemis Alphaea was associated with the wearing of masks, because of the legend that while fleeing the advances of Alpheius, she and her nymphs escaped him by covering their faces. Also, her roman equivalent, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and the moon and giving birth, just like Artemis. She was also a virgin goddess with Minerva and Vesta, which their greek equivalents, Athena and