Roman marble Bust of Artemis after Kephisodotos ( Musei Capitolini), Rome. "safe", "unharmed", "uninjured", "pure", "the stainless maiden". "butcher" or, like Plato did in Cratylus, to ἀρτεμής, artemḗs, i.e. Īncient Greek writers, by way of folk etymology, and some modern scholars, have linked Artemis (Doric Artamis) to ἄρταμος, artamos, i.e. Anton Goebel "suggests the root στρατ or ῥατ, "to shake", and makes Artemis mean the thrower of the dart or the shooter". 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 worshipped at Ephesus". Jablonski, the name is also Phrygian and could be "compared with the royal appellation Artemas of Xenophon. While connection with Anatolian names has been suggested, the earliest attested forms of the name Artemis are the Mycenaean Greek ????, a-te-mi-to /Artemitos/ ( gen.) and ????, a-ti-mi-te /Artimitei/ ( dat.), written in Linear B at Pylos. It is believed that a precursor of Artemis was worshipped in Minoan Crete as the goddess of mountains and hunting, Britomartis. The name may be possibly related to Greek árktos " bear" (from PIE * h₂ŕ̥tḱos), supported by 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). 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. Artemis was venerated in Lydia as Artimus. Beekes suggested that the e/ i interchange points to a Pre-Greek origin. The name Artemis ( noun, feminine) is of unknown or uncertain etymology, although various sources have been proposed. 2.12 Atalanta, Oeneus and the Meleagrids.Diana, her Roman equivalent, was especially worshipped on the Aventine Hill in Rome, near Lake Nemi in the Alban Hills, and in Campania. Artemis' symbols included a bow and arrow, a quiver, and hunting knives, and the deer and the cypress were sacred to her. Much like Athena and Hestia, Artemis preferred to remain a maiden and was sworn never to marry.Īrtemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities, and her temple at Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Artemis was worshipped as one of the primary goddesses of childbirth and midwifery along with Eileithyia. She was the patron and protector of young children and women, and was believed to both bring disease upon women and children and relieve them of it.
The goddess Diana is her Roman equivalent.Īrtemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. Antique fresco from Pompeii.Īrtemis ( / ˈ ɑːr t ɪ m ɪ s/ Greek: Ἄρτεμις Artemis, Attic Greek: ) is the Greek goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, the Moon, and chastity. Artemis (seated and wearing a radiate crown), the beautiful nymph Callisto (left), Eros and other nymphs.