by Shara Thepsenavong

Created on: October 30, 2008

Huntress of the Night. Crescent moon in the sky. Protectress of young girls and the swift ill-bearer also. The virgin twin of Apollo, the god of the sun and medicine, music, and protector and ill-bearer of young boys. Artemis, also known to the Romans as Diana, is usually portrayed always with her bow and arrows as well as wearing sandals that strap around the leg, maybe a head-dress, a tunic and a short skirt compared to the long skirts women wore in those days when she hunts, otherwise it is long. Artemis is the goddess associated with Hecate and Selene and the daughter of Zeus and Leto, a titaness.

When Leto was pregnant, Hera forbade her to give birth on any land and made the Python to chase her forcing Leto to run. Eventually, she came upon the floating island of Delos, the transformed sister of hers who did that to escape Zeus's love. It was there she gave birth to Apollo and Artemis. The goddess of childbirth, Ilithyia, was bribed with a necklace and made the birth possible. As soon as Artemis came out, she took over Ilithyia's role. Her brother set out to slay the Python. Later, Poseidon sunk Delos to meet Hera's conditions.

Like the other Olympians, an immortal goddess must have a myth. For example, while Artemis was bathing, a man fell upon her pond seeing her and the nymphs. She turned a man, Actaeon, into a stag so that his own hunting dogs attacked him in the woods. In another, a giant tried to rape Leto. Artemis and Apollo immediately shot him down with their arrows. In all of them, she punishes men who look upon her nakedness or hurts women, worse is when it's her own mother. There was only one man besides the Olympians that she befriended. His name was Orion.

Orion was a giant, son of Poseidon, and could walk on water. He was also a master huntsman. There are more than one version of this tale. Some say Orion tried to rape Artemis or dared boast he was a better hunter and she killed him. Others say Apollo got jealous of their friendship or she stopped shining as the moon and he tricked her to shooting him. As for Orion himself, he either loved Artemis or he lost his wife for rivaling Hera, Zeus's wife, got blinded, asked a boy to lead him somewhere so he can get his sight back, got engaged to another girl except he tried to rape her before the wedding and got loved by Dawn ending up where Artemis was and she killed him. In the end of all of them, Orion dies and Artemis, for grief or acknowledgement of skill, makes a constellation for him in the

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