Artemis-Related Myths

Actaeon

Artemis, as a virgin goddess, is so pure that She allows no man to see her. One day, however, a hunter named Actaeon came upon Artemis as She was bathing in a stream near Orchomenus. It is unknown whether Actaeon was actually looking for Artemis, or was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Artemis was furious at Actaeon, and turned him into a stag. She then had his own fifty hounds tear him to pieces to ensure that he couldn't tell anyone about what he had seen. (This is illustrated here.)

Arethusa

Arethusa was a follower of Artemis, and was from the island of Ortygia (in Sicily). One day, as Arethusa was hunting, she became tired and stopped at a beautiful river. She began to bathe, then she swam, but she felt something beneath her and jumped out of the river. A voice asked her: "Why such haste, fairest maiden?" Arethusa ran away in fear, but Alpheus, the god of the river, chased her, claiming that he loved her. Arethusa kept running, and when she became tired, she asked Artemis for help. As Artemis always protects Her loyal, young huntresses, She turned Arethusa into water and opened the ground, connecting Greece and Ortygia. Arethusa went through this tunnel, and the place in which she landed is land sacred to Artemis.

Callisto

Callisto, the daughter of Lycaon, was a follower of Artemis. One day, however, Zeus seduced Callisto, and Callisto became pregnant with His child. As Artemis requires the same chastity of Her followers that she maintains herself, she punished Callisto by changing her into a bear. Zeus then prevented Callisto from being hunted to death by setting her image in the stars. Callisto's child, Arcus, was saved.

Calydonian Boar

Kind Oeneus of Calydon made quite an error when he neglected to sacrifice the first fruits of the harvest to the gods. Because of this, Artemis sent a boar to Calydon to ravage the country.

The boar was killed by the huntress/warrioress Atalanta, with whom Oeneus' son, Meleager, fell in love. Two men, Meleager's uncles, were angry that the credit for killing the boar went to a woman, so Meleager killed them. Meleager's mother then caused his death, and then killed herself.

The boar caused tragedy to many, but Atalanta's adventures were only beginning...

Orion

Orion was a hunter, the handsomest of all men, and the son of Poseidon and Euryale. When searching for his father-in-law, he met Artemis, whom he joined in hunting. Apollo worried about Artemis, and sent a giant scorpion to attack Orion. Orion was unable to kill the scorpion, but did manage to escape it by swimming into the sea. Apollo became angry, and tricked Artemis into shooting him with one of Her silver arrows. Orion could not be saved, so Artemis put him into the stars, set in the opposite side of the sky as the scorpion. Just before Scorpius rises in the sky, Orion sets, as he avoids the creature.

You can look for Orion in the sky yourself--he's easy to find. If you live in the northern hemisphere, you'll see him in the evenings when you face south. (You can also find Orion in the spring, again facing south, if you look very early in the morning before the sun rises.) Here's what you'll see if you live in an area (like I do) where industrialization and pollution has taken its toll and you can't see entirely too many stars.

The star at the lower left of the picture (It's not a part of Orion, but it's always at this location in reference to the constellation) is a star called Sirius, and it's the brightest star in the sky. From Sirius, if you look up and to the right a little, you should see three stars in a row---these form Orion's belt. You'll also see a bright red star representing one of Orion's shoulders--that's Betelguese. The other bright star in the constellation is a white star called Rigel, which forms one of Orion's feet. On a really clear day, you might be able to see three faint stars hanging down from Orion's belt, forming his sword. There should also be a mediumish red star to the right of the constellation Orion---that's part of the constellation Taurus. (Orion is located between Taurus and Gemini. This places it far away from Scorpius.) Note: These stars are much more spread out than in the picture, and Orion's a rather large constellation. Also remember that you can't see Orion at all in the summer, or if you live in the southern hemisphere.

Otus and Ephialtes

Otus and Ephialtes, twin brothers, were handsome, human-like Giants. As the sons of Poseidon and Iphimedia, (by some accounts, Canace) they even had the ability to walk on water.These brothers were very arrogant, and believed themselves to be superior to even the gods. They captured Ares, the god of war, and thus angered Zeus, who was about to zap Otus and Ephialtes with his thunderbolt. However, as the twins were his sons, Posiedon had Zeus spare them, and the twins stopped fighting with heaven.

EXCEPT
Otus became interested in Hera and Ephialtes in Artemis. How stupid could the two men be---the King of the Gods shows mercy upon them, and then they plot to capture His wife and daughter! The twins decided that Artemis would be seized first. They looked for Her everywhere, and finally found Her on the seashore. However, Artemis is as clever as these twins are stupid, and had a plan for punishing them. She ran across the sea, with the twins chasing after Her, and came upon Naxos and stayed in Her domain, the forest. She turned into an animal, and the twins split apart to hunt Her. Each found Her at the same time, but not knowing this, they threw their spears at Her. Artemis disappeared, and the spear of each brother hit the other, so each twin died by the other.

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