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84-733: The river gods were the 3000 sons of the great earth-encircling river Oceanus and his wife Tethys and the brothers of the Oceanids . They were also the fathers of the Naiads and Potamides . The river gods were depicted in one of three forms: a man-headed bull, a bull-headed man with the body of a serpent-like fish from the waist down, or as a reclining man with an arm resting upon an amphora jug pouring water. Notable river gods include: Ancient Greek poet Hesiod mentioned several river gods by name, along with their origin story, in Theogonia ("the birth of

168-823: A Minoan form whose history was lost in the myths. Artemis was one of the most popular goddesses in Ancient Greece. The most frequent name of a month in the Greek calendars was Artemision in Ionic , territories Artemisios or Artamitios in the Doric and Aeolic territories and in Macedonia . Also Elaphios in Elis , Elaphebolion in Athens, Iasos , Apollonia of Chalkidice and Munichion in Attica . In

252-560: A Titan (being the brother of Cronus and Rhea), and the mythographer Apollodorus 's inclusion of Dione , the mother of Aphrodite by Zeus, as a thirteenth Titan, suggests an Orphic tradition in which the Titan offspring of Oceanus and Tethys consisted of Hesiod's twelve Titans, with Phorcys and Dione taking the place of Oceanus and Tethys. According to Epimenides , the first two beings, Night and Aer, produced Tartarus , who in turn produced two Titans (possibly Oceanus and Tethys) from whom came

336-467: A female deer (doe) and both disappear into the waters. In relation to these myths Artemis was worshipped as Saronia and Stymphalia . The myth of a goddess who is chased and then falls in the sea is related to the cults of Aphaea and Diktynna . Artemis carrying torches was identified with Hecate and she had the surnames Phosphoros and Selasphoros . In Athens and Tegea , she was worshipped as Artemis Kalliste , "the most beautiful". Sometimes

420-440: A figure thought to be Tethys: a part of a chiton below Oceanus' left arm and a hand clutching a large tree branch visible behind Oceanus' head. In Hellenistic and Roman mosaics, this Titan was often depicted as having the upper body of a muscular man with a long beard and horns (often represented as the claws of a crab) and the lower body of a serpent ( cfr. Typhon ). In Roman mosaics, such as that from Bardo , he might carry

504-454: A later Iliad passage, Hypnos also describes Oceanus as " genesis for all", which, according to Gantz, is hard to understand as meaning other than that, for Homer, Oceanus was the father of the Titans. Plato , in his Timaeus , provides a genealogy (probably Orphic) which perhaps reflected an attempt to reconcile this apparent divergence between Homer and Hesiod, in which Uranus and Gaia are

588-536: A legend, Carya, the female lover of Dionysos was transformed into a nut tree and the dancers into nuts. The city is considered to be the place of the origin of the bucolic (pastoral) songs. Cedreatis , near Orchomenus in Arcadia. A xoanon was mounted on the holy cedar (kedros). Chesias , from the name of a river at Samos. Chitonia , wearing a loose tunic, at Syracuse in Sicily, as goddess of hunting. The festival

672-476: A loanword from the Aegean Pre-Greek non- Indo-European substrate . Nevertheless, Michael Janda sees possible Indo-European connections. Oceanus was the eldest of the Titan offspring of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). Hesiod lists his Titan siblings as Coeus , Crius , Hyperion , Iapetus , Theia , Rhea , Themis , Mnemosyne , Phoebe , Tethys , and Cronus . Oceanus married his sister Tethys, and

756-476: A person (such as Oceanus visiting Prometheus in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound , see above) Oceanus is more usually considered to be a place, that is, as the great world-encircling river. Twice Hesiod calls Oceanus "the perfect river" ( τελήεντος ποταμοῖο ), and Homer refers to the "stream of the river Oceanus" ( ποταμοῖο λίπεν ῥόον Ὠκεανοῖο ). Both Hesiod and Homer call Oceanus "backflowing" ( ἀψορρόου ), since, as

840-509: A poem (probably Orphic) which has an angry Oceanus brooding aloud as to whether he should join Cronus and the other Titans in the attack on Uranus. And, according to Proclus, Oceanus did not in fact take part in the attack. Oceanus seemingly also did not join the Titans in the Titanomachy , the great war between the Cronus and his fellow Titans, and Zeus and his fellow Olympians , for control of

924-526: A rare epithet of Artemis. Aphaea is identified with Britomartis. In the legend Britomartis (the sweet young woman) escaped from Minos, who fell in love with her. She travelled to Aegina on a wooden boat and then she disappeared. The myth indicates an identity in nature with Diktynna . Aricina , derived from the town Aricia in Latium , or from Aricia, the wife of the Roman forest god Virbius ( Hippolytus ). The goddess

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1008-563: A section of the Iliad called the Deception of Zeus , suggest the possibility that Homer knew a tradition in which Oceanus and Tethys (rather than Uranus and Gaia, as in Hesiod) were the primeval parents of the gods. Twice Homer has Hera describe the pair as "Oceanus, from whom the gods are sprung, and mother Tethys". According to M. L. West , these lines suggests a myth in which Oceanus and Tethys are

1092-464: A steering-oar and cradle a ship. Oceanus appears in Hellenic cosmography as well as myth . Cartographers continued to represent the encircling equatorial stream much as it had appeared on Achilles ' shield. Herodotus was skeptical about the physical existence of Oceanus and rejected the reasoning—proposed by some of his coevals—according to which the uncommon phenomenon of the summerly Nile flood

1176-601: A torch in either hand. Sophocles calls her, " Elaphebolos , (deer slayer) Amphipyros", reminding the annual fire of the festival Laphria The adjective refers also to the twin fires of the two peaks of the Mount Parnassus above Delphi ( Phaedriades ). Anaitis , in Lydia . The fame of Tauria (the Tauric goddess) was very high, and the Lydians claimed that the image of the goddess

1260-527: A very similar procession of Peleus and Thetis' wedding guests, on another early sixth century BC Attic black-figure pot, the François Vase (Florence 4209). As in Sophilos' dinos, Oceanus appears at the end of the long procession, following after the last chariot, with Hephaestus on his mule bringing up the rear. Although little remains of Oceanus, he was apparently shown here with a bull's head. The similarity in

1344-597: Is believed that a precursor of Artemis was worshipped in Minoan Crete as the goddess of mountains and hunting, Britomartis . While connection with Anatolian names has been suggested, the earliest attested forms of the name Artemis are the Mycenaean Greek 𐀀𐀳𐀖𐀵 , a-te-mi-to /Artemitos/ ( gen. ) and 𐀀𐀴𐀖𐀳 , a-ti-mi-te /Artimitei/ ( dat. ), written in Linear B at Pylos . According to J.T. Jablonski ,

1428-591: Is led to the altar to be offered as a sacrifice, Artemis pities her and takes her away, leaving a deer in her place. In the war that followed, Artemis supported the Trojans against the Greeks, and she challenged Hera in battle. Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities; her worship spread throughout ancient Greece, with her multiple temples, altars, shrines, and local veneration found everywhere in

1512-544: Is of unknown or uncertain etymology, although various sources have been proposed. R.S.P. Beekes suggested that the e / i interchange points to a Pre-Greek origin. Artemis was venerated in Lydia as Artimus . Georgios Babiniotis , while accepting that the etymology is unknown, also states that the name is already attested in Mycenean Greek and is possibly of pre-Greek origin. The name may be related to Greek árktos " bear " (from PIE * h₂ŕ̥tḱos ), supported by

1596-487: Is presented as a goddess who delights in hunting and punishes harshly those who cross her. Artemis' wrath is proverbial, and represents the hostility of wild nature to humans. Homer calls her πότνια θηρῶν , "the mistress of animals", a title associated with representations in art going back as far as the Bronze Age , showing a woman between a pair of animals. Artemis carries with her certain functions and characteristics of

1680-400: Is related to the old traditions where icons and puppets of a vegetation goddess would be hung on a tree. It was believed that the plane tree near the spring at Caphyae, was planted by Menelaus , the husband of Helen of Troy . The tree was called "Menelais". The previous name of the goddess was most likely Kondyleatis . Aphaea , or Apha , unseen or disappeared, a goddess at Aegina and

1764-527: Is the goddess of the hunt , the wilderness , wild animals, nature , vegetation , childbirth , care of children , and chastity . In later times, she was identified with Selene , the personification of the Moon . She was often said to roam the forests and mountains, attended by her entourage of nymphs . The goddess Diana is her Roman equivalent. In Greek tradition, Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto , and twin sister of Apollo . In most accounts,

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1848-497: Is the patron and protector of young children, especially young girls. Artemis was worshipped as one of the primary goddesses of childbirth and midwifery along with Eileithyia and Hera. Artemis was also a patron of healing and disease, particularly among women and children, and believed to send both good health and illness upon women and children. Artemis was one of the three major virgin goddesses , alongside Athena and Hestia . Artemis preferred to remain an unmarried maiden and

1932-507: The Charites ; Doris , the wife of Nereus and mother of the Nereids ; Callirhoe , the wife of Chrysaor and mother of Geryon ; Clymene , the wife of Iapetus, and mother of Atlas , Menoetius , Prometheus , and Epimetheus ; Perseis , wife of Helios and mother of Circe and Aeetes ; Idyia , wife of Aeetes and mother of Medea ; and Styx , the great river of the underworld river, and

2016-565: The Cimmerians , the Aethiopians , and the Pygmies as living nearby Oceanus. In Homer, Helios the sun, rises from Oceanus in the east, and at the end of the day sinks back into Oceanus in the west, and the stars bathe in the "stream of Ocean". According to later sources, after setting, Helios sails back along Oceanus during the night from west to east. Just as Oceanus the god was the father of

2100-494: The Iliad and Odyssey to describe her is ἰοχέαιρα iocheaira , "she who shoots arrows", often translated as "she who delights in arrows" or "she who showers arrows". She is called Artemis Chrysilakatos , of the golden shafts, or Chrysinios , of the golden reins, as a goddess of hunting in her chariot. The Homeric Hymn 27 to Artemis paints this picture of the goddess: I sing of Artemis, whose shafts are of gold, who cheers on

2184-698: The Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean , the two largest bodies known to the ancient Greeks. However, as geography became more accurate, Oceanus came to represent the stranger, more unknown waters of the Atlantic Ocean (also called the " Ocean Sea "), while the newcomer of a later generation, Poseidon , ruled over the Mediterranean Sea. Late attestations for an equation with the Black Sea abound,

2268-467: The Olympians , but come from an old, less organized world–exorcisms, rituals to raise crops, gods and goddesses conceived not quite in human shape. Some cults of Artemis retained the pre-Greek features which were consecrated by immemorial practices and connected with daily tasks. Artemis shows sometimes the wild and darker side of her character and can bring immediate death with her arrows, however she embodies

2352-650: The Theogony , or near Elysium , in the Iliad , and in the Odyssey , has to be crossed in order to reach the "dank house of Hades ". And for both Hesiod and Homer, Oceanus seems to have marked a boundary beyond which the cosmos became more fantastical. The Theogony has such fabulous creatures as the Hesperides , with their golden apples, the three-headed giant Geryon , and the snake-haired Gorgons , all residing "beyond glorious Ocean". While Homer located such exotic tribes as

2436-458: The daimons and this differentiates her from the other Greek divinities. This is the reason that Artemis was later identified with Hecate , since the daimons were tutelary deities. Hecate was the goddess of crossroads and she was the queen of the witches. Laphria is the Pre-Greek "mistress of the animals" at Delphi and Patras . There was a custom to throw animals alive into the annual fire of

2520-640: The nymph Arethusa and pursued her to Syracuse where she was transformed into a spring by Artemis ; and Scamander who fought on the side of the Trojans during the Trojan War and got offended when Achilles polluted his waters with a large number of Trojan corpses, overflowed his banks nearly drowning Achilles. According to Hesiod, there were also three thousand Oceanids. These included: Metis , Zeus ' first wife, whom Zeus impregnated with Athena and then swallowed; Eurynome , Zeus' third wife, and mother of

2604-462: The world egg . When Cronus, the youngest of the Titans, overthrew his father Uranus , thereby becoming the ruler of the cosmos, according to Hesiod, none of the other Titans participated in the attack on Uranus. However, according to the mythographer Apollodorus , all the Titans—;except Oceanus—attacked Uranus. Proclus , in his commentary on Plato's Timaeus , quotes several lines of

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2688-507: The "arkteia", young girls who dressed with short saffron-yellow chitons and imitated bears (she-bears: arktoi). In the Acropolis of Athens, the Athenian girls before puberty should serve the goddess as "arktoi". Artemis was the goddess of marriage and childbirth. The name of the small "bears" indicate the theriomorphic form of Artemis in an old pre-Greek cult. In the cult of Baubronia, the myth of

2772-439: The "first parents of the whole race of gods." However, as Timothy Gantz points out, "mother" could simply refer to the fact that Tethys was Hera's foster mother for a time, as Hera tells us in the lines immediately following, while the reference to Oceanus as the genesis of the gods "might be simply a formulaic epithet indicating the numberless rivers and springs descended from Okeanos" (compare with Iliad 21.195–197 ). But, in

2856-659: The "immense sea" by Pomponius Mela and by Dionysius Periegetes , and which is named Mare majus on medieval geographic maps. Apollonius of Rhodes , similarly, calls the lower Danube the Kéras Okeanoío ("Gulf" or "Horn of Oceanus"). Hecataeus of Abdera also refers to a holy island, sacred to the Pelasgian (and later, Greek) Apollo , situated in the westernmost part of the Okeanós Potamós , and called in different times Leuke or Leukos, Alba, Fidonisi or Isle of Snakes . It

2940-595: The Mycenean religion. Artemis carries with her certain functions and characteristics of a Minoan form whose history was lost in the myths. According to the beliefs of the first Greeks in Arcadia , Artemis is the first nymph , a divinity of free nature. She was a great goddess and her temples were built near springs marshes and rivers where the nymphs live, and they are appealed by the pregnant women. In Greek religion we must see less tractable elements which have nothing to do with

3024-615: The Titan Tethys , and the father of the river gods and the Oceanids , as well as being the great river which encircled the entire world. According to M. L. West , the etymology of Oceanus is "obscure" and "cannot be explained from Greek". The use by Pherecydes of Syros of the form Ōgenós ( Ὠγενός ) for the name lends support for the name being a loanword . However, according to West, no "very convincing" foreign models have been found. A Semitic derivation has been suggested by several scholars, while R. S. P. Beekes has suggested

3108-767: The ancient world. Her great temple at Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , before it was burnt to the ground. Artemis' symbols included a bow and arrow, a quiver, and hunting knives, and the deer and the cypress were sacred to her. Diana, her Roman equivalent , was especially worshipped on the Aventine Hill in Rome , near Lake Nemi in the Alban Hills , and in Campania . The name "Artemis" ( n. , f. )

3192-438: The antiquity. The great popularity of Artemis corresponds to the Greek belief in freedom and she is mainly the goddess of women and children. The goddess of free nature is independent and celibate. Artemis is frequently depicted carrying a torch and she was occasionally identified with Hecate . Like other Greek deities, she had a number of other names applied to her, reflecting the variety of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to

3276-518: The bear cult the goddess had in Attica ( Brauronia ) and the Neolithic remains at the Arkoudiotissa Cave , as well as the story of Callisto, which was originally about Artemis ( Arcadian epithet kallisto ); this cult was a survival of very old totemic and shamanistic rituals and formed part of a larger bear cult found further afield in other Indo-European cultures (e.g., Gaulish Artio ). It

3360-464: The beliefs of the first Greeks in Arcadia Artemis is the first nymph , a goddess of free nature. She is an independent free woman, and she does not need any partner. She is hunting surrounded by her nymphs . This idea of freedom and women's skill is expressed in many Greek myths. In Peloponnese the temples of Artemis were built near springs, rivers and marshes. Artemis was closely related to

3444-449: The calendars of Aetolia , Phocis and Gytheion there was the month Laphrios and in Thebes , Corcyra , and Byzantion the month Eucleios . The goddess was venerated in festivals during spring. In some cults she retains the theriomorphic form of a Pre-Greek goddess who was conceived with the shape of a bear (άρκτος árktos : bear). Kallisto in Arcadia is a hypostasis of Artemis with

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3528-614: The cause being – as it appears – Odysseus' travel to the Cimmerians whose fatherland, lying beyond the Oceanus, is described as a country divested from sunlight. In the fourth century BC, Hecataeus of Abdera writes that the Oceanus of the Hyperboreans is neither the Arctic nor Western Ocean, but the sea located to the north of the ancient Greek world, namely the Black Sea , called "the most admirable of all seas" by Herodotus , labelled

3612-422: The city of Antioch, wrote that Ptolemy was smitten by the beauty of (the statue of) Artemis; whereas her mother Leto often took pride in her daughter's beauty. She has several stories surrounding her where men such as Actaeon, Orion, and Alpheus tried to couple with her forcibly, only to be thwarted or killed. Ancient poets note Artemis' height and imposing stature, as she stands taller and more impressive than all

3696-416: The common epithets Orthia , Korythalia and Dereatis . The female dancers wore masks and were famous in antiquity. The goddess of vegetation was also related to the tree-cult with temples near the holy trees and the surnames Apanchomene , Caryatis and Cedreatis . According to Greek beliefs the image of a god or a goddess gave signs or tokens and had divine and magic powers. With these conceptions she

3780-435: The cosmos; and following the war, although Cronus and the other Titans were imprisoned, Oceanus certainly seems to have remained free. In Hesiod, Oceanus sends his daughter Styx , with her children Zelus (Envy), Nike (Victory), Cratos (Power), and Bia (Force), to fight on Zeus' side against the Titans, And in the Iliad , Hera says that during the war she was sent to Oceanus and Tethys for safekeeping. Sometime after

3864-448: The end of a long procession of gods and goddesses arriving at the palace of Peleus for the wedding. Oceanus follows a chariot driven by Athena and containing Artemis . Oceanus has bull horns, holds a snake in his left hand and a fish in his right, and has the body of a fish from the waist down. He is closely followed by Tethys and Eileithyia , with Hephaestus following on his mule ending the procession. Oceanus also appears, as part of

3948-521: The fest. The festival at Patras was introduced from Calydon and this relates Artemis to the Greek heroine Atalanta who symbolizes freedom and independence. Other epithets that relate Artemis to the animals are Amarynthia and Kolainis . In the Homeric poems Artemis is mainly the goddess of hunting, because it was the most important sport in Mycenean Greece . An almost formulaic epithet used in

4032-411: The goddess before a battle. The deer always accompanies the goddess of hunting. Her epithet Agraea is similar with Agrotera . Alphaea , in the district of Elis . The goddess had an annual festival at Olympia and a temple at Letrinoi near the river Alpheus . At the festival of Letrinoi, the girls were dancing wearing masks. In the legend, Alphaea and her nymphs covered their faces with mud and

4116-507: The goddess had the name of an Amazon like Lyceia (with a helmet of a wolf-skin) and Molpadia . The female warriors Amazons embody the idea of freedom and women's independence. In spite of her status as a virgin who avoided potential lovers, there are multiple references to Artemis' beauty and erotic aspect; in the Odyssey , Odysseus compares Nausicaa to Artemis in terms of appearance when trying to win her favor, Libanius , when praising

4200-464: The goddess. Aeginaea , probably huntress of chamois or the wielder of the javelin, at Sparta However the word may mean "from the island Aegina ", that relates Artemis with Aphaia ( Britomartis ). Aetole , of Aetolia at Nafpaktos . A marble statue represented the goddess in the attitude of one hurling a javelin. Agoraea , guardian of popular assemblies in Athens . She was considered to be

4284-511: The gods"): And Tethys bare to Ocean eddying rivers, Nilus, and Alpheus, and deep-swirling Eridanus, Strymon, and Meander, and the fair stream of Ister, and Phasis, and Rhesus, and the silver eddies of Achelous, Nessus, and Rhodius, Haliacmon, and Heptaporus, Granicus, and Aesepus, and holy Simois, and Peneus, and Hermus, and Caicus fair stream, and great Sangarius, Ladon, Parthenius, Euenus, Ardescus, and divine Scamander. — Theogony, Hesiod. Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White (1914) The following are

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4368-469: The great stream encircles the earth, it flows back into itself. Hesiod also calls Oceanus "deep-swirling" ( βαθυδίνης ), while Homer calls him "deep-flowing" ( βαθυρρόου ). Homer says that Oceanus "bounds the Earth", and Oceanus was depicted on the shield of Achilles , encircling its rim, and so also on the shield of Heracles. Both Hesiod and Homer locate Oceanus at the ends of the earth, near Tartarus, in

4452-402: The hounds, the pure maiden, shooter of stags, who delights in archery, own sister to Apollo with the golden sword. Over the shadowy hills and windy peaks she draws her golden bow, rejoicing in the chase, and sends out grievous shafts. The tops of the high mountains tremble and the tangled wood echoes awesomely with the outcry of beasts: earthquakes and the sea also where fishes shoal. According to

4536-533: The idea of "the free nature" which was introduced by the first Greeks. The Dorians came later in the area, probably from Epirus and the goddess of nature was mostly interpreted as a vegetation goddess who was related to the ecstatic Minoan tree-cult. She was worshipped in orgiastic cults with lascivious and sometimes obscene dances, which have pure Greek elements introduced by the Dorians. The feminine (sometimes male) dancers wore usually masks, and they were famous in

4620-421: The marriage, and they are appealed by the pregnant women. Artemis became goddess of marriage and childbirth. She was worshipped with the surname Eucleia in several cities. Women consecrated clothes to Artemis for a happy childbirth and she had the epithets Lochia and Lecho . The Dorians interpreted Artemis mainly as goddess of vegetation who was worshipped in an orgiastic cult with lascivious dances, with

4704-453: The name is also Phrygian and could be "compared with the royal appellation Artemas of Xenophon ". Charles Anthon argued that the primitive root of the name is probably of Persian origin from * arta , * art , * arte , all meaning "great, excellent, holy", thus Artemis "becomes identical with the great mother of Nature, even as she was worshiped at Ephesus". Anton Goebel "suggests the root στρατ or ῥατ , 'to shake', and makes Artemis mean

4788-560: The new ruler Zeus, and so avoid making his situation any worse. But Prometheus replies: "I envy you because you have escaped blame for having dared to share with me in my troubles." According to Pherecydes , while Heracles was travelling in Helios 's golden cup, on his way to Erytheia to fetch the cattle of Geryon , Oceanus challenged Heracles by sending high waves rocking the cup, but Heracles threatened to shoot Oceanus with his bow, and Oceanus in fear stopped. Although sometimes treated as

4872-554: The nymphs accompanying her. Artemis is rooted to the less developed personality of the Mycenean goddess of nature. The goddess of nature was concerned with birth and vegetation and had certain chthonic aspects. The Mycenean goddess was related to the Minoan mistress of the animals, who can be traced later in local cults, however we do not know to what extent we can differentiate the Minoan from

4956-527: The order of the wedding guests on these two vases, as well as on the fragments a second Sophilos vase (Athens Akr 587), suggests the possibility of a literary source. Oceanus is depicted (labeled) as one of the gods fighting the Giants in the Gigantomachy frieze of the second century BC Pergamon Altar . Oceanus stands half nude, facing right, battling a giant falling to the right. Nearby Oceanus are fragments of

5040-412: The parents of Oceanus and Tethys, and Oceanus and Tethys are the parents of Cronus and Rhea and the other Titans, as well as Phorcys . In his Cratylus , Plato quotes Orpheus as saying that Oceanus and Tethys were "the first to marry", possibly also reflecting an Orphic theogony in which Oceanus and Tethys, rather than Uranus and Gaia, were the primeval parents. Plato's apparent inclusion of Phorcys as

5124-504: The personification of the sea. However elsewhere the distinction between fresh and salt water seems not to apply. For example, in Hesiod Nereus and Thaumus , both sons of Pontus, marry daughters of Oceanus, and in Homer (who makes no mention of Pontus), Thetis , the daughter of Nereus, and Eurynome the daughter of Oceanus, live together. In any case, Oceanus can also to be identified with

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5208-422: The protector of the assemblies of the people in the agora . At Olympia the cult of "Artemis Agoraea" was related to the cult of Despoinai . (The double named goddesses Demeter and Persephone). Agrotera , the huntress of wild wood, in the Iliad and many cults. It was believed that she first hunted at Agrae of Athens after her arrival from Delos . There was a custom of making a "slaughter sacrifice", to

5292-429: The river god Alpheus, who was in love with her, could not distinguish her from the others. This explains, somehow, the clay masks at Sparta. Amarynthia , or Amarysia , with a famous temple at Amarynthus near Eretria . The goddess was related to the animals, however she was also a healer goddess of women. She is identified with Kolainis . Amphipyros , with fire at each end, a rare epithet of Artemis as bearing

5376-461: The river gods, Oceanus the river was said to be the source of all other rivers, and in fact all sources of water, both salt and fresh. According to Homer, from Oceanus "all rivers flow and every sea, and all the springs and deep wells". Being the source of rivers and springs would seem logically to require that Oceanus was himself a freshwater river, and so different from the salt sea, and in fact Hesiod seems to distinguish between Oceanus and Pontus ,

5460-454: The sacrifice of Iphigenia was represented in the ritual. Boulaia , of the council, in Athens. Boulephoros , counselling, advising, at Miletus , probably a Greek form of the mother-goddess. Caryatis , the lady of the nut-tree, at Caryae on the borders between Laconia and Arcadia . Artemis was strongly related to the nymphs, and young girls were dancing the dance Caryatis . The dancers of Caryai were famous in antiquity. In

5544-621: The sea. The concept of the surrounding Ocean, as expressed by Homer and Hesiod, remained in common use throughout antiquity. The Roman geographer Pomponius Mela said that the inhabited earth ‘is entirely surrounded by the Ocean, from which it receives four seas’. These four seas were the Caspian Sea , the Persian Gulf , the Arabian Gulf , and the Mediterranean Sea . However increasing knowledge of

5628-602: The seas led to modifications in this view. The Greek geographer Ptolemy identified various different oceans. One of these, the Western Ocean (the Atlantic Ocean ) was often called simply ‘the Ocean’, for instance by Julius Caesar . Oceanus is represented, identified by inscription, as part of an illustration of the wedding of Peleus and Thetis on the early sixth century BC Attic black-figure "Erskine" dinos by Sophilos ( British Museum 1971.111–1.1). Oceanus appears near

5712-407: The shape of a bear, and her cults at Brauron and at Piraeus ( Munichia ) are remarkable for the arkteia where virgin girls before marriage were disguised as she-bears. The ancient Greeks called potnia theron the representation of the goddess between animals; on a Greek vase from circa 570 BCE, a winged Artemis stands between a spotted panther and a deer. "Potnia theron" is very close to

5796-403: The sons of Oceanus and Tethys: Oceanus Many Oceanids including: In Greek mythology , Oceanus ( / oʊ ˈ s iː ə n ə s / oh- SEE -ə-nəs ; Ancient Greek : Ὠκεανός [ɔːke.anós] , also Ὠγενός [ɔːɡenós] , Ὤγενος [ɔ̌ːɡenos] , or Ὠγήν [ɔːɡɛ̌ːn] ) was a Titan son of Uranus and Gaia , the husband of his sister

5880-522: The story of Callisto , the girl is driven away from Artemis' company after breaking her vow of virginity, having lain with and been impregnated by Zeus. In the Epic tradition , Artemis halted the winds blowing the Greek ships during the Trojan War , stranding the Greek fleet in Aulis , after King Agamemnon , the leader of the expedition, shot and killed her sacred deer. Artemis demanded the sacrifice of Iphigenia , Agamemnon's young daughter, as compensation for her slain deer. In most versions, when Iphigenia

5964-502: The thrower of the dart or the shooter". Ancient Greek writers, by way of folk etymology , and some modern scholars, have linked Artemis (Doric Artamis ) to ἄρταμος , artamos , i.e. "butcher" or, like Plato did in Cratylus , to ἀρτεμής , artemḗs , i.e. "safe", "unharmed", "uninjured", "pure", "the stainless maiden". A.J. van Windekens tried to explain both ἀρτεμής and Artemis from ἀτρεμής , atremḗs , meaning "unmoved, calm; stable, firm" via metathesis . Artemis

6048-401: The twins are the products of an extramarital liaison. For this, Zeus' wife Hera forbade Leto from giving birth anywhere on solid land. Only the island of Delos gave refuge to Leto, allowing her to give birth to her children. In one account, Artemis is born first and then proceeds to assist Leto in the birth of the second twin, Apollo. Artemis was a kourotrophic (child-nurturing) deity, that

6132-498: The war, Aeschylus ' Prometheus Bound , has Oceanus visit his nephew the enchained Prometheus , who is being punished by Zeus for his theft of fire. Oceanus arrives riding a winged steed, saying that he is sympathetic to Prometheus' plight and wishes to help him if he can. But Prometheus mocks Oceanus, asking him: "How did you summon courage to quit the stream that bears your name and the rock-roofed caves you yourself have made ..." Oceanus advises Prometheus to humble himself before

6216-405: The waters and especially to Poseidon , the god of the waters. Her common epithets are Limnnaia , Limnatis (relation to waters) and Potamia and Alphaea (relation to rivers). In some cults she is the healer goddess of women with the surnames Lousia and Thermia . Artemis is the leader of the nymphs ( Hegemone ) and she is hunting surrounded by them. The nymphs appear during the festival of

6300-539: The way to the academy of Athens and he believes that the names are surnames of the goddess Artemis, who is depicted carrying a torch. Kalliste is not related to Kalliste of Arcadia. Aristobule , the best advisor, at Athens . The politician and general Themistocles built a temple of Artemis Aristobule near his house in the deme of Melite , in which he dedicated his own statue. Astrateia , she that stops an invasion, at Pyrrichos in Laconia . A wooden image (xoanon),

6384-534: The wife of Pallas and mother of Zelus , Nike , Kratos , and Bia . According to Epimenides ' Theogony , Oceanus was the father, by Gaia , of the Harpies . Oceanus was also said to be the father, by Gaia, of Triptolemus . Nonnus , in his poem Dionysiaca , described "the lakes" as "liquid daughters cut off from Oceanos". He was said to have fathered the Cercopes on one of his daughters, Theia . Passages in

6468-575: Was among them. It was considered that the image had divine powers. The Athenians believed that the image became booty to the Persians and was carried from Brauron to Susa . Angelos , messenger, envoy, title of Artemis at Syracuse in Sicily . Apanchomene , the strangled goddess, at Caphyae in Arcadia. She was a vegetation goddess related to the ecstatic tree cult. The Minoan tree goddesses Helene, Dentritis, and Ariadne were also hanged. This epithet

6552-545: Was by her the father of numerous sons, the river gods and numerous daughters, the Oceanids . According to Hesiod, there were three thousand (i.e. innumerable) river gods. These included: Achelous , the god of the Achelous River , the largest river in Greece, who gave his daughter in marriage to Alcmaeon and was defeated by Heracles in a wrestling contest for the right to marry Deianira ; Alpheus , who fell in love with

6636-517: Was caused by the river's connection to the mighty Oceanus. Speaking about the Oceanus myth itself he declared: As for the writer who attributes the phenomenon to the ocean, his account is involved in such obscurity that it is impossible to disprove it by argument. For my part I know of no river called Ocean, and I think that Homer, or one of the earlier poets, invented the name, and introduced it into his poetry. Some scholars believe that Oceanus originally represented all bodies of salt water, including

6720-502: Was dedicated to the goddess, because she stopped the invasion of the Amazons in this area. Another xoanon represented "Apollo Amazonios". Basileie , at Thrace and Paeonia . The women offered wheat stalks to the goddess. In this cult, which reached Athens, Artemis is relative to the Thracian goddess Bendis . Brauronia , worshipped at Brauron in Attica . Her cult is remarkable for

6804-499: Was on Leuke, in one version of his legend, that the hero Achilles , in a hilly tumulus, was buried (which is erroneously connected to the modern town of Kiliya , at the Danube delta ). Accion ("ocean"), in the fourth century AD Gaulish Latin of Avienius ' Ora maritima , was applied to great lakes. Artemis In ancient Greek religion and mythology , Artemis ( / ˈ ɑːr t ɪ m ɪ s / ; Ancient Greek : Ἄρτεμις )

6888-405: Was one of the three Greek goddesses over whom Aphrodite had no power. In myth and literature, Artemis is presented as a hunting goddess of the woods, surrounded by her chaste band of nymphs. In the myth of Actaeon , when the young hunter sees her bathing naked, he is transformed into a deer by the angered goddess and is then devoured by his own hunting dogs, who do not recognize their master. In

6972-457: Was related with Artemis Tauria (the Tauric Artemis). Her statue was considered the same with the statue that Orestes brought from Tauris. Near the sanctuary of the goddess there was a combat between slaves who had run away from their masters and the prize was the priesthood of Artemis. Ariste , the best, a goddess of the women. Pausanias describes xoana of "Ariste" and "Kalliste" in

7056-450: Was worshipped as Tauria (the Tauric , goddess), Aricina ( Italy ) and Anaitis ( Lydia ). In the bucolic ( pastoral ) songs the image of the goddess was discovered in bundles of leaves or dry sticks and she had the surnames Lygodesma and Phakelitis . In the European folklore, a wild hunter is chasing an elfish woman who falls in the water. In the Greek myths the hunter is chasing

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