templekhrysenios

[templekhrysenios]

modernizing your practice is cool and you should do it too!!

Artemis Apalákhia

Apalákhia, the Wild Huntress of the Appalachians, is Artemis reborn in the hills, the guardian of mist-draped valleys and wooded foot-paths, the untamed spirit of the mountain folk. She is the rifle slung over the shoulder, the hound baying at dawn, the fiddle wailing in the night.

She is the crunch of leaves beneath a hunter’s step, the sharp tang of iron in fresh-spilled blood, the shiver in your bones when you hear a coyote’s scream deep in the woods. Her altars are found in the hidden places— a deer skull left at the base of an ancient oak, a jar of moonshine tucked into a crag, a quiet prayer whispered before the shot is loosed.

She does not dwell in high temples of marble but in the caves, the gorges, the endless winding trails where only the knowing feet dare tread. She is untamed, unyielding, unbroken. And her justice is swift—those who take more than their share, who harm the land, who disrespect the balance of hunter and hunted—will know Her wrath.

And yet, She is also mercy—the hand that steadies the fawn taking its first steps, the voice that whispers through the canopy, urging the lost traveler home. She is the patron of those who live by the land and with the land, who respect the sacred laws of life and death.

At night, when the fireflies dance and the whip-poor-wills call, She dances too—boots clapping against the old wooden porch, skirts twirling, eyes gleaming with laughter. Her brother, Apóllon, plays the fiddle for Her, and no man may join Her dance, lest he wishes to be lost forever in the wildwood.

She is the Huntress, the Guardian, the untamed heart of Appalachia. And those who call Her name best do so with reverence—lest they find themselves running with Her hounds instead of watching from the safety of their hearth.

[templekhrysenios]

my experiences with artemis

reviving this blog because even though i'm not fully mentally there with my practice right now i thought some retrospection could help get me back in the mood! this is basically just a list of little moments and some UPG/SPG i have with the goddess, who ive been worshipping for somewhere around 7 years now

in the beginning i worshipped Artemis as Diana, the roman goddess of the moon. at this time i wasn't as cognizant of the differences between hellenic and roman polytheism so although they were overlapped a lot in my head, in practice the two deities behave very differently. Diana has always been a motherly figure to me, and I still say my well wishes to her every time I see the moon, but once I started worshipping her as Artemis she became much more of an older sister figure and now I see her in the woods and wild animals around me

when I was more active with meditation, Artemis was almost always the person I would turn to for guidance and support, she never turned me away. to do this most effectively I often smoked weed and/or mugwort, a mild psychoactive herb. if it is safe and legal for you to do so, I recommend this!

I like to veil for Artemis and Diana out of reverence for their virginal aspects, even though I myself am not staying chaste

I worship Orion (casually) for his connection to Artemis in her mythology

my relationship with Diana (because that's who I addressed her as at that time) improved greatly once I moved out of my internalized misogyny, transmed phase (i was like 14 okay i was just dumb) and started identifying as a he/they nonbinary person instead of transmasc. it felt somewhat like there was a wall between us before then. this isn't to say that she didn't like that i was a man, she just didn't like that i was in denial of wanting to be more "feminine"

I prayed for love (tough times, okay) and Artemis sent me (or I like to think so, at least) a kitten literally to my doorstep

I feel nothing but positive energy between Artemis and Aphrodite, despite their opposing domains and how they're written in mythology

I was actually once devoted to Hermes, but I felt like he and I just didn't click the way I needed so after a goodbye ritual I took Artemis on as a matron (which to me just means we are in contact more often and we've built up a lot of kharis)

Diana was one of the first goddesses I made an altar to, alongside Hades and Persephone

I was always obsessed with Artemis' Hunters from the Percy Jackson series

I've received warning omens from Diana/Artemis through deer that were on a road towards a forest that ended up having, just, so much negative energy

I didn't include anything other than crystals and candles on my altars until maybe last year? I was really inspired by how my brother made his altars so now I have drawings, a statue, moon charms, and little animal figurines (on top of the crystals and a candle ofc)

I have the most poetry written about Diana/Artemis, at about 4 pieces

Artemis really likes lavender and rosemary, in my experience

although I associate fungus with plenty of other deities too (Freyja and Freyr, Persephone, and Dionysus), mushrooms are my top imagery to use for Artemis, right after lavender. I associate her with it because I find that, as a nature goddess, Artemis often times presides over the cycle of life and death. as animals in the wild die, as they tend to do, they must be returned to the earth so that more organisms can rise up in their place, and mushrooms are a part of that

my brother built an altar to Artemis without me knowing at first and I felt so happy to see them connected without me even having to step in. I feel like he is in such good hands with her

I feel like being a devotee of Artemis makes it so I get along with animals better, and I'm more amiable to children. not to any superhuman degree, and maybe these are just innate parts of me that have always existed, but it is comforting to have something tangible to connect me with my goddess

Artemis is also associated with bears because of a myth where she turns one of her attendant nymphs into a one for getting pregnant, and "bear" or "little bear" has been my nickname since very early childhood. just another one of those things that makes me feel like it was fated for us to connect at some point in my life (I'm not saying that I'm special because of that, just that I think we get along very well because of the small things in my life. I chose her, she didn't exactly choose me, specifically, out of all people, to worship her)

[templekhrysenios]

read the original tags for even more depth into his story !

I know everyone knows the story of Actaeon and how he met a terrible fate by stumbling upon Artemis bathing in her forest but did you know that Actaeon was Apollo's grandson? That his father was Aristaeus, lord of the bees and the rustic arts and his mother was Autonoe, daughter of Cadmus and princess of Thebes?

Did you know he was trained by Chiron? That he was considered a hunter so skilled his talent was considered divine, that he was his parents' only child and that he was loved?

Did you know the grief that consumed the household when word of Actaeon's fate reached them? That Cadmus cut his hair, that Harmonia wept and was disconsolate and that his parents... well, Autonoe walked the length of the forest, keeping a sharp eye out for her son, but all she saw were the scattered bones of a fawn. Aristaeus too, had heard his son was torn apart and so fruitlessly, foolishly searched for the bones of a man. (There was none to be found)

Did you know that it was Actaeon's ghost, unhappy and unburied, trapped on the earth, who leaned over his sleeping father and told him of his fate? "You will not find me as you knew me, gather me as a stag." And Aristaeus immediately woke his wife and told her the truth, and together they grieved all the night long.

(Did you know that this is why Aristaeus abandons Boeotia? He could not stand the sight of it and so he went to Ceos. And there he slayed the dog-star. And there he became a healing wind. All in the name of his only son, that foolish, beloved Actaeon.)

[templekhrysenios]

Artemis as undersea huntress.

In doing research for my siren piece and delving into depictions of merpeople in Ancient Greek art, I found an article that briefly mentioned a cult image in Arcadia that depicted Artemis with the lower half of a fish. Needless to say, curiosity took hold. I’m always interested in the different ways in which the Greek gods were represented in various regions, but there was no accompanying image or source for such a bold and unusual claim.

The cult image in question belonged to an ancient sanctuary of the Oceanid Eurynome. The ancient geographer Pausanias wrote about the image (though he had never seen it himself). He said that the people of Phigalia believed Eurynome was an epithet of Artemis, but he states in his writings that there is no probable connection between a fish-tailed goddess and Artemis. 

 Nevertheless the image of Artemis as an underwater huntress took hold! She wears a fish scale alopekis and has seals as her companions, as they are the dogs of the sea. 

[templekhrysenios]

this and the linked posts in it have some great images of Artemis Potnia Theron !!

Artemis as Mistress of Animals

An Etruscan terracotta antefix of Artemis, as the Mistress of Animals or Potnia Theron. About 2nd century BCE.

I've written about Artemis as Mistress of Animals here.

[templekhrysenios]

One of my favorite depictions of Artemis is Artemis of Ephesus, the statue that was once venerated in the Temple of Artemis, an ancient world wonder. It’s a particularly ancient interpretation of Artemis, with several aspects from places outside of Greece, such as Mesopotamia & Persia. Her cult was far reaching, & quite popular, even amongst foreigners.

She’s a very striking figure, with a unique artistic style representing what is usually interpreted as the mother of the forest. The breast-like shapes on her chest are debated. It’s possible that they do indeed represent breasts, but possible interpretations also include severed bull testicles which may have been put on the original statue, which was destroyed in a fire, or a part of her clothes or armor, since they were colored differently to the rest of her skin.

Apart from her beauty, I find her interesting partially because Artemis’ aspect as a mother figure is something easy to forget about, considering her lack of male lovers, & her maidenhood, is a key part of her characterization, especially during the Hellenistic era. However, to me at least, her caring aspects are very important. She is said to care for children, & pregnant mothers, as well as animals & nature. She is a very empathetic goddess, & I feel like her depiction in Ephesus is evidence of that.

[templekhrysenios]

i wanted to do a little section in my last post about this epithet but honestly it was super niche, so im really glad to see someone else did it!!

unexpected epithet of artemis: artemis apachomene

ἀπαγχομένη

─── ⋆⋅ ☾⋅⋆ ───

trigger warning for discussions of death by suicide, hanging, and strangulation.

the strangled goddess / she who hangs herself

the description of the origin of this epithet comes from pausinias: (definition) (source)

"some children, the number of whom is not recorded, while playing about the sanctuary [of artemis] found a rope, and tying it round the neck of the image said that artemis was being strangled. the caphyans, detecting what the children had done, stoned them to death. when they had done this, a malady befell their women, whose babies were stillborn, until the pythian priestess bade them bury the children, and sacrifice to them every year as sacrifice is made to heroes, because they had been wrongly put to death. the caphyans still obey this oracle, and call the goddess at condyleae, as they say the oracle also bade them, the strangled lady [apachomene] from that day to this."

i've been pondering the meaning of this myth and epithet. it seems to point to her as a protector of children and their innocence, to understand the importance of play in their lives and to not stifle it in the name of tradition and order. i appreciate this interpretation from sarah iles johnson, in chapter six of restless dead:

“... the children died because, in the perception of the inhabitants, they had been blaspheming artemis. that the children’s behavior was, on the contrary, proper — that is, correct behavior within the local cult of artemis — is indicated by the fact that the oracle not only told the inhabitants to make amends to the ghosts of the children but also told them to worship artemis as apanchomene.”

however, what sarah iles johnston hypothesizes earlier in the same chapter adds a layer of detail:

“i would suggest that this story began as two separate myths, which later became entangled with one another... [as for] the original form of the second story... i would hypothesize that it involved a girl whose tragic suicide, like those of erigone and aspalis, led to widespread disasters, and thereafter to the institution of a cult, in which she was worshipped as 'she who hangs herself.'"

despite a potential sympathy on the part of artemis for the girls, i can't seem to find ways to connect artemis to hanging. helen king, who wrote the chapter "bound to bleed: artemis and greek women", has this to say:

"artemis, who herself has never given birth, can give or withhold a successful labor; here she chooses to prevent birth because the kaphyan women will not call her 'strangled'. why should artemis be 'strangled'? strangulation, for the greeks, meant shedding no blood... normal' greek sacrifices shed blood and so ensured communication between men and gods. as a form of human death, strangulation or hanging evoked horror... but as a means of suicide it can be again related to shedding no blood. to avoid the bloodshed of rape or unwanted defloration a bloodless suicide is appropriate. the chorus in aeschylus's suppliants threaten to hang themselves rather than sleeping with men who they hate... strangulation can therefore be culturally opposed to unwanted sex..."

on one layer, artemis can be seen as a protector of those who have been raped. she granted immortality to women who escaped rape - such as aspalis and britomartis. this epithet could be a nod to her care for rape victims.

edit: appreciate the reblog that pointed out that mythology also has several examples of artemis being unkind to rape victims (callisto being the first that comes to mind). there seems to be a distinction in her sympathies between those who escaped it and those who suffered it. as a rape victim worshipping artemis, i kind of just want to ignore that element as a function of patriarchy and not as one that coincides with the goddess' intentions. however, i do think it would be unfair to just sidestep this element as we are discussing her mythology.

"artemis does not bleed, but she does shed the blood of others, both as a huntress and as protector of the process by which a parthenos [virgin] becomes a gynē [woman]... those in the peri partheniōn [hippocratic writings] are on the contrary 'ready for marriage', ready to bleed and thus to enter the gradual transition which will make them gynaikes (women). the gynē is the opposite pole to the parthenos; she should bleed, in menstruation, defloration and childbirth, as part of her role of reproducing society... but she should not shed blood... pausinias's story reflects artemis as both the goddess who sheds no blood and the goddess who makes others bleed." (helen king, "bound to bleed: artemis and greek women")

in another layer, artemis' function is to control the flow of blood for those who have uteruses, and that's what makes 'the strangled one' - as a reference to blood - a fitting epithet for artemis.

there's a lot of layers to this epithet that i'll be sitting with for a bit. i expected to look into this for a few minutes, and i've been searching this for hours now. i'm fascinated with the layers of meaning, the interpretations, the regional differences.

for another perspective and more information, here's a post about the epithet.

─── ⋆⋅ ☾⋅⋆ ───

[templekhrysenios]

for those that are interested in veiling out of devotion to artemis or leto (or both!)

Hellenic Methods of Veiling

This will be an on-going post where I’ll add more information as I come across it, but the point of this post is to try and define as many styles (and their names) of Hellenic veiling as possible. It’s as much for my own reference as for others. Because I’ll be adding, updating, and changing it over time.

The format will be:

Name of the veiling style

Description of the veiling style

Pictures

Himation

The himation is a large, rectangular piece of cloth that is worn as an outer garment and can be used to cover the head and hair. Men and women both would wear himations.

Kekryphalos

The kekryphalos is a type of caul worn by women. It’s secured around the front of the head, and then has a looser “pouch” type area near the back where the majority of hair is tucked inside the cap. It could be made of a wide-woven material giving it a net like appearance, or more tightly woven material. The material was most likely slightly elastic in nature, having some stretch to it.

Kredemnos

The kredemnos is a wide band of fabric, leather, or metal worn across the forehead. It may also have been called stlengis.

Krobylos and Korymbos

Krobylos and korymbos were popular Athenian methods of hair binding used by men and women, respectively. Hair was rolled into a knot atop the crown of the head and fastened with clasps. Some scholars believe the style may have been closer to a chignon which was secured with clasps.

(I can’t find a good image, either historical examples or modern recreations, the closest example I have is a chignon)

Mitra

The mitra is a broad band, often colored and patterned, which can be wrapped around the hair in many ways. It could be wrapped to completely cover the hair, or left open at the crown of the head with hair hanging out.

Sakkos

The sakkos is a tightly woven material worn over the head, covering the majority of hair. It’s constructed similarly to a bag or sack, and secured around the hairline. It can be decorated with a tassel at the back. The sakkos most likely had some stretch to the material.

Examples of Men

Bust of Pythagoras wearing what appears to be a mitra

Headband style of binding hair for men

[templekhrysenios]

About Artemis Parthenia

In my short time learning about Lady Artemis, I have encountered a lot of discussion and reiteration regarding Her virginal aspect. Since Her cult revolved significantly around this commitment to chastity, it is a topic that must be addressed by anyone interested in an in-depth worship of Her. Still, I have made my own reflections and would like to share these here.

(Please note that I am in no way an expert—just a single worshiper writing down her personal perspective on a vast topic.)

It is a lot to unpack since it is one of the main things that distinguish Her as a deity, so I'll go through the following points:

Virginity and Maidenhood

Artemis as Protector of Girls and Women

Artemis and Childbirth

Patriarchal Views on Chastity

1. Virginity and Maidenhood

Homer describes Artemis as "one of the three" who cannot be swayed by Aphrodite's power. This is how we learn that Artemis has no romantic or sexual interest. (While I acknowledge that many of Her myths and their possible reinterpretations can be read through a sapphic lens, that is not the focus of this discussion.)

What is particularly interesting about Artemis’s detachment from romantic love is that She not only rejects marriage but also actively chooses not to marry. From an idealistic, romantic, and modern perspective, we might imagine Lady Artemis declaring that love will never keep Her from the wild and that no man will ever take that from Her. However, we still get to read myths that describe the moment in which Her father, King Zeus, grants Her the wish to stay an eternal Maiden.

Virginity, in this context, does not mean actual chastity but rather a rejection of marriage to a man.

In contrast to other married goddesses, one can only imagine how offensive it would have been to lust after a maiden goddess—something reflected in the many myths where Artemis punishes those who violate Her privacy. Thus, "virgin" or "maiden" became a title that imposed limits on how men perceived girls and women.

This leads me to my second point.

2. Artemis Soteira, Hêmerasia, Philomeirax & Paidotrophos.

When we look at other virginal goddesses like Hestia and Athene, we could go through their cults and analyse why their aspects as maidens are relevant to their domains, but what about Artemis?

Lady Artemis is not only, along with Lord Apollon, the protector of Lady Leto (their mother, who was abandoned in Her time of need); She is also the protector of girls—their untamed nature, their growth through puberty, and their well-being once they are married off and considered women.

Artemis, as the protector of girls and women, remains a maiden because She transcends the control that men have over girls. Her independence and fierceness as the Lady of Beasts is a power no man can overcome, and for that reason, She is a threat to those who would seek to violate what She most fiercely protects: the innocence and autonomy of young girls.

Artemis must be depicted as a maiden not because She must be pure and chaste but because She is an adult, powerful goddess who represents the right of little girls to choose their own futures.

Taking my own perspective, I can imagine Lady Artemis choosing not to marry because of Her love for the freedom found in the wild. As if She wants to share the gift of choice with all, She calls women to Her sanctuaries, offering them a refuge from forced marriages.

"Come with me and be free."

3. Artemis Orsilokhia

So, how can a virgin goddess also be the protector of mothers?

Just imagine being married to a man your father chose for you, being forced into sexual intercourse because it is your duty to bear an heir, and suddenly, you have this little baby—yours to carry, yours to nurture, yours to bring into a world that has wronged you.

Artemis understands the love of a mother, whether it comes from choice or coercion. She knows this because Her own mother suffered while bringing the godly twins into the world. One could say that She held Leto’s hand as Apollon was born.

Here is where I could go on and on into an in-depth analysis of the myth of Kallisto—since, in my opinion, Lady Artemis would never kill a pregnant woman out of rage—but I will save that for another post.

All I want to say, since this post is already long, is that if we examine how earlier civilizations viewed sex, we see that it was often directly tied to procreation. Sex frequently meant childbirth. In this sense, one could argue that Artemis is also a goddess of sex—not as an act of pleasure but as a force of nature. She is a protector against rape and sexual violence, a judge of those who mistreat their partners in intimacy, and a caretaker of those who bear the fruits of fertility.

Once again, Lady Artemis is not against sex or pregnancy. She is a goddess of freedom, and because of that, She is a goddess of choice—of the ability to decide whether to be a mother, a wife, or neither.

4. Chastity Culture and Artemis’s Priestesses

What I dislike most about the modern interpretation of Artemis as a virgin goddess is how it has been used as an excuse to police the sexual behavior of women.

Yes, Artemis’s priestesses were once required to be virgins. Yes, a vow of chastity was demanded. But based on everything I have discussed so far, doesn’t it make more sense for Her priestesses to be free with their bodies as they choose? Why do I still see people asking Artemis’s priestesses if they have taken a vow of chastity? Why does it matter?

Let me put it this way: as the Lady of the Wild and the Mistress of Beasts, how can we even begin to imagine the untamed forces of life without sex?

This may be a controversial opinion, and I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, but continuing to demand chastity vows from women as a condition to validate their devotion to a goddess who protects girls and women is an insult to much of what She stands for.

Do not let chastity culture corrupt Her worship. Teach children how to say "no." Teach them to recognize manipulation, grooming, and abuse. Teach teenagers how to have safe sex, how to ask for and give consent. Teach people to respect their bodies and that "No" is a complete sentence. Discuss sexual violence in relationships, peer pressure, and healthy understandings of sex and love.

Worship Lady Artemis by giving people all the tools they need to choose for themselves. And if their choice is to have sex, let it be in the healthiest way possible.

[templekhrysenios]

who was artemis?

first post on the new blog!! i've done posts like these on my other accounts for dionysus, hekate, and ganymede, so now i'm doing artemis! this by far has taken me the longest, since i thought devoting more time to my matron would be appropriate (also seeing as the dionysus and hekate posts were for my friend who's a beginner anyways).

i will definitely be leaving out some stories/details in favor of succinctness, but if you want more detail check out my cited sources.

IM SO SORRY FOR HOW LONG THIS IS

Domain and Worship: hunting, the wild, nature, fertility, domesticated and wild animals, marshes/springs/wetlands/coves, transitions, adolescence, girls and women, boundaries, plague (and healing plague), nymphs, and freeing slaves (especially female). she was a virgin goddess and often appeared as a teenage girl

she was described as loving dance, which translated over into her worship and paralleled her brother Apollo's domain over music. she was also seen as the caretaker of young children and animals, although the kourotrophos ("child nurturer") aspect is likely from syncretism with Hekate. she was also invoked to preside over birth, which is another syncretism with the goddess Eileithyia

early syncretism with pre-hellenic goddesses solidified her as Potnia Theron ("mistress of animals"), which was also itself an image/votive of a (often) winged, nude woman

later syncretism resulted in her elevation to a war goddess (mostly in Sparta), and, most notably, the moon (from Roman Diana). in some cases Artemis/Diana outright replaces Selene/Luna as goddess of the moon. in others, Artemis/Diana is just the one who carries the moon across the night sky, and Selene/Luna remains personification of the moon

my personal worship honors the later syncretism, and Artemis' role as a moon and nature goddess are most often called upon by me. in the beginning of my practice i honored specifically Diana, but recently I began using the name Artemis and combined the two

she was also considered goddess of boundaries due to the fact that her temples were most often places on the very edges of a nation's territory; thus representing the country's borders

notably, Artemis' virginity is not maintained in the way that Athena's and Hestia's, who are almost always portrayed as adult women that rebuke men. in Artemis' case, she is seen as being between the ages of childhood and adulthood, so she is not "ready" (so to speak) to lose her virginity. her virginity was important to solidify her power, as it was one thing to be a woman in patriarchal ancient greece, and another entirely to be a married woman/mother (who was entirely beholden to her husband/father/etc.)

for Artemis' priestesses it was not uncommon for those that swore life-long devotion to take on husbands and bear children. this was largely believed to be acceptable to Artemis and priestesses often did not have to worry about being struck down

Parentage: Zeus, king of the gods, and Leto, a titaness who presided over motherhood and modesty. other stories have other parents, but they were largely to syncretise her with existing deities

Important Imagery:

-bow and arrows or hunting spears

-torches

-chiton (a knee length maiden's dress)

-animal pelt cap and cape

-bears

-birds, often small birds that are commonly hunted like quail or guinea-fowl, and large water birds like herons or swans

-deer (young and adult, male and female)

-hunting dogs

-Potnia Theron votives

-Ephesian Artemis was associated with bees

Ancient Offerings: cypress leaves/wood, palm leaves/wood, jewelry, a girl's finest clothes (at times of transition from girl to woman to even mother), animal parts (pelts/bones/meat), dance, dressing up as a bear/other animals. also as period typical generic offerings like water, wine, honey, milk, frankincense/myrrh, barley

Other Offerings: forgeables (like nuts/seeds, berries, herbs, etc.), mugwort and wormwood (scientific name artemisia), jasmine (associated with the moon), lavender (personal UPG, used to promote calm/sleep), cedar (she has an epithet meaning cedar), willow (associated with marshes and the moon), moon water (duh), laurel/bay leaves (associated with Apollo and winning athletic competitions), amaranth (personal UPG and she has a similar sounding epithet)

Crystals: black or regular moonstone, selenite, smokey quartz, amethyst, black tourmaline, labradorite, angelite, flower/moss/tree agate, aventurine, various jaspers (but bumblebee or star jasper would be cool), opal, blue calcite, celestite

Associated Holidays: Artemisia, Elaphebolia, Artemis' birthday on the 6th of Thargelion (Thargelia, which also celebrates Apollo's birthday on the following day), Mounykhia

Some Lore:

-During her pregnancy Leto was relentlessly pursued by Hera out of jealousy, making it impossible to find somewhere to give birth. In the end, she settled in Delos just in time to have twins Artemis and Apollo. In some versions, Artemis came first in Ortygia, and in some Artemis actually assisted in the birth of her brother, defining her domain over childbirth (this story may come before or after her syncretism with Eileithyia, I'm not sure)

-Artemis may have taken on the hunter Orion as a lover, who was then killed by a scorpion sent by Apollo before her virginity was lost. Out of grief, Orion and the scorpion (Scorpius) were immortalized as constellations. Other versions have Orion trying to compete with/rape Artemis and then being punished by her, or Gaia punishing the hunter for proclaiming he would/could kill all wild beasts on Earth

-Artemis' companion Kallisto was either assaulted by/seduced by Zeus (in some versions, he takes on the appearance of Artemis), and became pregnant. Artemis punished her by transforming her into a bear, said to be the most maternal of all animals

-When the hunter Actaeon peeked at Artemis and her nymphs bathing, she turned him into a stag and had him ripped apart by her hounds

-Artemis sent the Calydonian Boar to punish the King Oineus for lacking in his offerings to the gods

-This boar was then killed by the great hero Atalanta (from Jason and the Argonauts), whom Artemis had found abandoned as a baby and gave to a bear to be raised into adolescence. Upon becoming a teenager, Atalanta was allowed to join Artemis' group of virgin huntresses

-It is said that King Agamemnon angered the goddess Artemis, who calmed the waters upon the Greeks departure towards Troy. To appease her, Agamemnon sacrificed his young daughter Iphigeneia

-One of Artemis' most devoted, Hippolytus, was a man who had fiercely declared himself never to marry and to always be free and wild. When he visited his father Theseus and step-mother Phaedra, the woman became enamored with the young man. Upon declaring her love, however, she was rebuked whereupon she accused Hippolytus of raping her and hung herself. Theseus, in his grief and rage, called upon his father Poseidon, who summoned a bull to frighten Hippolytus' horse into trampling him to death

-When Kore/Persephone is kidnapped by Hades while she is with Athena and Artemis, Artemis (alongside Hekate) assists Demeter in searching for Kore/Persephone. This gives her the epithets Phosphoros (light-bearer) and Amphipyron (with a torch in both hands), which she shares with Hekate

-The theory that Artemis could be queer is not so unfounded, considering cultural norms of the time. I'll let my source speak for itself:

Epithets:

-Aeginaea: wielder of the javelin

-Agrotera: the huntress

-Apanchomene: the strangled (goddess), related to a worship tradition where a votive/statue was hung or "strangled." strangulation was weirdly synonymous with virginity

-Aristo: the greatest

-Chitone: related to Artemis' depiction of wearing a chiton

-Chrysaor: the god(dess) with the golden sword/arms

-Daphnaea: derived from daphne, or laurel

-Delios/Delia: from Delos (Apollo and Artemis' birthplace)

-Gamelioi: presiding over marriage (as goddess of transitions)

-Genetullis: protectress of births

-Hegemone: leader/ruler

-Hemeresia: the soothing goddess

-Heurippe: finder of horses

-Limenia: protector of the harbor

-Phoebe: goddess of the moon

-Phosphoros/Selasphoros: bringer of light

-Soteira: savior

-Diktynnaia: of the hunting nets

-Pheraia: of the beasts

-Elaphiaia: of the deer

-Kedreatis: derived from the cedar tree

-Karyai/Karyatis: derived from the walnut tree

-Limnaie/Limnatis: of the lake

-Heleia: of the marshes

-Eurynome: of broad pastures

-Lykeia: of the wolves

-Paidotrophos: nurse of children

-Philomeirax: friend of young girls

-Orsilokhia: helper of childbirth

-Hegemone: leader of dance/choir

-Ariste: the best/excellent

-Kalliste: the very beautiful

-Basileis: the princess

-Hiereia: the priestess

-Lygodesme: willow-bound (like offerings can be for her)

-Potnia Theron: queen of beasts

-Potnia Thea: goddess queen

-Letois/Latoia/Letoias: daughter of Leto

-Hekate/Hekatebolos: the far-shooting

-Iokheaira: of showering arrows

-Khryselakatos: of the golden distaff

-Theroscopus: hunter of wild beasts

-Elaphebolos: the deer-shooting

-Khrysenios: of the golden reins (namesake of this blog!! can be relating to her domination over animals or (UPG) relating to her chariot that pulls the moon across the sky)

-Khrysothronos: of the golden throne

-Keladeinos: the strong-voiced

-Hagne: the chaste/pure

-Parthenus: the virgin/maiden

-Aidoios Parthenos: the revered virgin

-Prostateria: the guardian

Sources:

theoi.com

artemis by stephanie budin (from the series "gods and heroes of the ancient world")

wikipedia (briefly)

[templekhrysenios]

welcome to the temple

MY NAME: ryan

PRONOUNS: he/they

quick disclaimer i do NOT consider myself a priest, and this blog will not be anything close to a formal arrangement. i'm a simple worshipper, and although i consider artemis my matron, that does not make me better/more informed than anyone else

now that that's out of the way, welcome, i hope you enjoy your stay! feel free to send me an ask for any questions, requests, or prayer/hymn submissions

dividers by @sisterlucifergraphics

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who was artemis?