The Gods of the Neokoroi - Artemis
Image of altar to Artemis, Agrotereion Temple, NH (modern temple)
This page maintained by Thista Minai, Exegete of Artemis for Neokoroi
Blessings:
Artemis can teach us wildness, independence, and a love of nature. She protects women, children, and anyone who exhibits exceptional self-sufficience or who defies cultural gender roles. As a goddess of transitions she helps us pass from one state to another, and as a bringer of light she can illuminate our lives and help us find our way. In ancient Greece, cities prayed to Artemis before battle when the situation was a matter of life and death: when the options were be victorious or be destroyed, they prayed to Artemis for survival. Artemis can help us face whatever life throws at us. Always the expert huntress, she teaches us how to adapt, survive, and thrive.
Epithets:
Agreia, Agrotera: Synonymous epithets meaning "of the wild" or "huntress"
Brauronia: An epithet of Artemis at Brauron and at the connected cult in Athens, where She was honored as a protector and caretaker of girls. At both locations, as well as elsewhere all over Attica girls performed the arkteia, a dance in which the girls mimicked the actions of bears.
Orthia, Ortheia: Epithet of Artemis at Sparta. The ancients guessed the epithet may have come from the word for "upright" but modern scholars agree the true meaning of the epithet is lost.
Parthenos: Generally translated to "virgin"; see The Virgin Goddess for further explanation.
Phosphoros: "bringing light" or "shining", an epithet generally connected with Artemis as a torchbearer.
Mounykhia: Epithet of Artemis at Mounykhia, a port town near Athens, where She was connected with the moon.
Potnia Theron: "mistress of animals"
Hegemone: "leader" or "ruler", associated with Artemis as a leader of dances, or as a leader or ruler of nymphs.
Delia, Kynthia, Phoebe: Epithets related to Artemis's brother, Apollo, meaning "of Delos" (their birth place), "of mount Kynthos" (a mountain on the island of Delos), and "light bringing". Apollo has the matching epithets Delios, Kynthios, and Phoebos. Daphnaia and Daphnaios are another pair of epithets shared between Artemis and Apollo respectively, these meaning "of the bay laurel", a plant traditionally sacred to Apollo.
Karytis: Epithet of Artemis at Karyai, a town in Laconia, at which a special dance was performed in Her honor. Karyatis is probably etymologically related to karya, "walnut", and sometimes translated as "of the walnut trees".
Keladeine: "noisy" or "sounding", referring to the noises associated with a hunt, such as shouts, hunting horns, and dogs barking.
Leukophryne: "white brow", an epithet of Artemis derived from Leucophrys in Phrygia. She was also worshipped under this name at Magnesia on the Maeander, and the epithet may also be connected with Ephesos.
Limenia: Epithet of Artemis as a protector of harbors.
Limnatis: "of the marsh". Limenia and Limnatis both point to Artemis's role as a Goddess of transitions and liminal spaces.
Lokheia: Epithet of Artemis as a protector of women in childbirth.
Soteira: "savior"
Symbols:
bow, arrows, torch, deer
Plants:
In ancient Greece cypress, asphodel, and amaranth were sacred to Artemis. The palm tree was also sacred to her and Apollo through their mother, Leto. Today many people also consider mugwort, birch, and wildfowers sacred to Artemis.
Animal(s):
All animals are sacred to Artemis, but she is especially fond of the deer, bear, goat, boar, buteo hawk, and dog. Artemis also had somewhat more obscure connections to horses, fresh water fish, and ground dwelling birds.
Offerings and Sacrifices:
The animal most often sacrificed to Artemis was the female goat. Deer were also a popular offering but were not so easily available. Girls offered their toys to Artemis just before their wedding, and women would offer items of clothing to her. Men and women alike offered garlands to Artemis. Parents would dedicate statuettes of their children to Artemis when asking for the child's protection. Many votive gifts in the shape of soldiers were found in her sanctuary at Sparta, presumably offered in return for protection. Also found in the Spartan sanctuary were votive gifts in the shape of horses, and a number of grotesque clay masks which probably represented larger wooden masks used during rites of passage. Today common offerings also include moonstone, mugwort, frankincense, port, or any kind of game meat.
Primary Cult Center(s):
Artemis worship was extraordinarily widespread, present not only all over mainland Greece but also in most of the Greek colonies. Her most well known cult centers were at Delos, Brauron, Sparta, and Ephesos.
Ancient Athenian Festivals:
Elaphebolia: 6 Elaphebolion (March-April) - Festival of Artemis the deer hunter.
Kharisteria: 6 Boedromion (September-October) - Festival of thanks to Artemis for Athens' survival of the Persian assault at Marathon.
Mounykhia: 16 Mounykhion (April-May) - Festival of Artemis the light bringer.
Thargelia: 6-7 Thargelion (May-June) - Joint festival of Artemis and Apollo; Artemis presided over the first day which was concerned with purification, and Apollo presided over the second day which was concerned with benedition. The Thargelia was probably tied to the festival celebrating Artemis' and Apollo's birthdays on Delos, and it's likely that festivals similar to the Thargeia were celebrated all over Greece.
The above mentioned arkteia may also have been part of a festival celebrated yearly in Athens and Brauron.
In the Athenian calendar, the 6th day of each month was sacred to Artemis.
Modern Festivals:
Artemisia: 6th of June - Festival of Artemis where anything goes, celebrating freedom and modern inspiration.
Philokhoria: summer solstice - a joint festival of Artemis and Apollo based on an obscure passage in Callimachus' hymn to Artemis.
Ways to honor:
The best way to honor Artemis is to care for the natural world. Clean up pollution, protect wildlife, donate time and money to ecological concerns. Get out into the wild, and experience the natural world. Go on nature walks, go for picnics, camp, hunt - get outside! If you eat meat, respect the animal that it came from. Be mindful of what the animal went through, and the intimate connection that exists between its death and your life. Hunt, if you can. Be respectful of personal space and privacy. Be supportive of people who don't live according to culturally established norms.
For more information:
Apollodorus' Library 1.4.2-5, 1.6.2, 1.7.4-5, 1.9.16, 2.5.4, 3.14.4, 3.5.1, 3.5.7, 3.9.1
Callimachus' Hymn to Artemis
Euripides' Hippolytus
Euripides' Iphigeneia in Aulis
Euripides' Iphigenia in Tauris
Hesiod's Theogony 920
Homer's Iliad 6.4.14, 9.533-536, 20.30-39, 20.70-71, 21.468-513, 24.605-607
Homer's Odyessey 15.475, 20.60
Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 5.1
Homeric Hymn to Apollo 3a.1
Homeric Hymn to Artemis 9, 27
Papyri Graeci Magicae 7.686-702
Pausanias' Description of Greece 2.7.7-8, 2.26.6, 3.18.15, 8.27.17, 8.53.1-3, 9.19.1, 9.19.7
Pindar's Olympian Odes 3.25-30
Pindar's Pythian Odes 3.31-37, 4.90-92
Modern books on Artemis:
Minai, Thista; Dancing in Moonlight: Understanding Artemis Through Celebration
Unbound: A Devotional Anthology for Artemis. ed. Thista Minai
Articles:
The Virgin Goddess and Artemisian UPGs by Thista Minai, Exegete of Artemis
Links
The Catalean Temples of Artemis
Artemis at Encyclopedia Mythica
Artemis - page on Theoi.com