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Greek Mythology > Immortals >
Artemis
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)
- 05.051 ...Artemis taught the Trojan, Skamandrios (Scamander), how to strike down all wild things in the mountain forest
- 05.053 ...Artemis of the showering arrows could not help Skamandrios (Scamander) when he was killed at Troy
- 05.447 ...Artemis and Leto heal Aineias (Aeneas)
- 06.205 ...Glaukos (Glaucus) related the story of how Artemis killed Laodameia, the daughter of Bellerophontes (Bellerophon)
- 06.427 ...Artemis killed Andromakhe’s (Andromache) mother after Akhilleus (Achilles) had released her for ransom
- 09.532 ...Artemis, of the golden chair, was angered at Oineus (Oeneus) for neglecting her in sacrifice and sent a boar to ravage the countryside
- 09.536 ...Artemis, the daughter of great Zeus, was denied the first fruits by Oineus (Oeneus)
- 09.538 ...Artemis is called ‘Lady of Arrows’
- 09.547 ...Artemis caused great anger when the boar was dead and the hunters argued over possession of the boar’s head
- 16.183 ...Hermes fell in love with Polymele when he saw her dancing in the choir of clamorous Artemis
- 19.059 ...Akhilleus (Achilles) wishes that Artemis had killed Briseis instead of letting her become a point of dissention between himself and Agamemnon
- 20.040 ...Apollon, Artemis, Aphrodite, Leto and Xanthos (Xanthus) fought on the side of the Trojans
- 20.071 ...Artemis of the showering arrows stood against Hera when the Immortals entered the battle for Troy
- 21.470 ...Apollon’s sister, Artemis, scolds him for not fighting Poseidon
- 21.472 ...Artemis refers to Apollon as ‘striker from afar’
- 21.480 ...Hera says that Artemis is shameless and bold for daring to stand against her in battle
- 21.491 ...Hera grabs Artemis and knocks the bow and arrows from her shoulder; Artemis flees in tears
- 21.505 ...Artemis, the maiden, bowed at the feet of Zeus
- 21.509 ...Zeus speaks to Artemis and asks which of the gods has shamed her
- 21.511 ...Artemis answers Zeus and says that Hera hit her during the fighting at Troy
- 24.604 ...Akhilleus (Achilles) tells Priam about how Apollon had killed Niobe’s sons and Artemis had killed her daughters
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Artemis in The Odyssey (listed by book and line)
- 05.123 ...Kalypso (Calypso) reminds Hermes how chaste Artemis had killed Orion with her painless arrows because he was the lover of Eos (Dawn)
- 06.102 ...Nausikaa was dancing like Artemis
- 06.107 ...Artemis dances with the nymphs in the mountains
- 06.151 ...Odysseus compares Nausikaa with the goddess Artemis in beauty and stature
- 11.172 ...Odysseus encounters the ghost of his mother, Antikleia (Anticleia), in the Underworld and asks her if she died of illness or by the painless arrows of Artemis
- 11.324 ...Artemis killed Ariadne on the island if Dia when Dionysus testified against her
- 15.410 ...Apollon and Artemis come to the island of Syria and kill the aged painlessly with silver arrows
- 15.478 ...When the swineherd, Eumaios (Eumaeus), was a child, he was kidnapped by Phoenicians with the help of his wicked nurse; Artemis killed her because of her betrayal
- 17.037 ...Penelope was as lovely as Artemis or golden Aphrodite
- 18.202 ...Penelope wishes that chaste Artemis would give her the peace of death
- 19.054 ...Penelope was as lovely as Artemis or golden Aphrodite
- 20.060 ...Penelope prays first to Artemis
- 20.061 ...Penelope calls upon Artemis, daughter of Zeus, to pierce her heart and ease her pain
- 20.071 ...Penelope thinks of the daughters of Pandareos (Pandareus) and how Hera gave them beauty, chaste Artemis gave them stature and Athene (Athena) gave them skill
- 20.080 ...Penelope wishes that the gods would make her vanish or that lovely haired Artemis would kill her so she could be with Odysseus in the Underworld
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