Artemis was the Greek goddess of hunting, wild nature, and chastity. Daughter of Zeus and sister of Apollo, Artemis was a patron of girls and young women and a protectress during childbirth. She was widely worshipped but her most famous cult site was the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
In Greek mythology, Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto. Born either on Delos or Ortygia (near Ephesus in Western Turkey), she is the twin sister of the god Apollo. When she was three years old her father sat her on his lap and asked her what gifts she would like.
Given such gifts as a silver bow made by the Cyclopes and a pack of dogs as a hunting companion from Pan, Artemis was, then, regarded as a patron goddess of hunting and wild nature and a mistress of the animals. For this reason, she is associated with wild animals like the deer and boar (especially young ones), forests, and the moon. As a goddess of chastity, childbirth, and fertility, Artemis Kourotrophos was the patron of young women, particularly brides-to-be, who dedicated their toys to her as symbolic of the transition to full adulthood and the assumption of a wife’s responsibilities. Finally, the goddess, as a dweller of wild nature, was linked to boundaries and transition, both in physical terms and the abstract. For this reason, perhaps, the temples dedicated to Artemis were often built either on the margins of human settlements or at places where the land changes such as marshes or at water junctions.
Artemis plays only a minor role in the Trojan War of Homer’s Iliad and is described most often as ‘the archer goddess’ but also on occasion as the ‘goddess of the loud hunt’ and ‘of the wild, mistress of wild creatures’. Supporting the Trojans, she notably heals Aeneas after he is wounded by Diomedes. Hesiod in his Theogony most often describes her as ‘arrow-shooting Artemis.’
A notable episode at the start of the Trojan War which involves the goddess is the saving of Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon. The king had displeased the goddess by killing one of her deer in a sacred grove. As punishment, Artemis becalmed the Achaean fleet and only the sacrifice of Iphigenia would appease the goddess into granting a fair wind to Troy. Agamemnon duly offered his daughter in sacrifice, but in pity and at the last moment, the goddess substituted a deer for the girl and made Iphigenia a priestess at her sanctuary at Tauris.
Credit : World History Encyclopedia
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