Artemis   AHR tuh mihs

The Virgin Goddess, twin sister of Apollon

The children of Zeus and Leto, Artemis and Apollon were born on the island of Delos. Both are associated with the bow. Apollon is said to use the curved bow and Artemis uses the silver bow. She is one of only three who are immune to the enchantments of Aphrodite... the other two are Hestia and Athene (Athena).

She is a friend to mortals, and dances through the countryside in her silver sandals giving her divine protection to the wild beasts, particularly the very young. She rides her silver chariot across the sky and shoots her arrows of silver Moonlight to the earth below.

She, like the other Olympians, has favorites among the mortals but she could not protect the fine huntsman, Skamandros (Scamandros), from the spear of Menelaos at the battle for Troy.

Unlike her brother Apollon, Artemis is not skilled in warcraft but she can punish and kill as the will of Zeus dictates. In The Iliad (book, 24, line 603), her mother, Leto, was insulted by a woman named Niobe. Niobe boasted that she had twelve children and Leto only had two. As punishment, Apollon killed Niobe’s six sons and Artemis killed her six daughters.

In The Odyssey (book 15, line 403), Odysseus was told the story of a wonderful island, Syria, where hunger and grim old age have no dominion. When the Fates determined that the noble inhabitants of this island were at the end of their lives, Artemis and Apollon would swoop down and painlessly kill them with their silver bows.

She is sometimes confused with the Roman goddess, Diana.

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Artemis in The Iliad (listed by book and line)

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Artemis in The Odyssey (listed by book and line)

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