Artemis

Artemis was a goddess who played an exciting part in Greek mythology. She was known as the “Mistress of Animals” and the protector of children. She was also a huntress and could kill someone with her arrows. Myths show Artemis as a powerful goddess and a woman who could punish crime very harshly.

Artemis was the daughter of Leto and Zeus. She had a twin brother, Apollo. In myth it is said she was born one day before Apollo was even born and helped her mother deliver him. She enjoyed the advantage of being an Olympian. Artemis was free to do whatever she pleased. She was sometimes in the forests with a lot of nymphs, which are spirits.

She was a free-spirited goddess and cold-hearted and unfriendly. She was an eternal virgin. In one tale, it is said that a mortal man, Actaeon, had seen her nude, and she turned him into a stag, which is a reindeer. After she turned him into a stag a pack of hounds came and killed him. She was quite over-protective of her body.

Artemis loved all wild animals, but most of all she loved bears and deer the most. Though she was cruel, she was never mean to animals. She enjoyed being in the forest and she adored the nighttime, which is why she is also the goddess of the Moon. Her tree was the cypress and the deer was her animal.

Artemis killed any of her companions that lost their virginity. One of her companions, Callisto had lost her virginity to Zeus. Artemis was furious and turned Callisto into a bear. Callisto’s son almost killed Callisto after she was turned into a bear. Artemis stopped him and put him into the sky Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

Artemis killed and punished a lot of people and gods for stupid reasons. She killed Chione for her pride and vanity. In another myth, a Queen of Thebes, Niobe bragged to Artemis’ mother, Leto, that she had fourteen children. Artemis and her brother, Apollo, decided to kill the children. Apollo killed the boys and Artemis the girls. They used poisoned arrows to kill.

Orion and Artemis were engaged. Her brother, Apollo didn't think it was okay for her to marry a mortal. Apollo asked Orion to walk out into the water and then dared Artemis to try to hit the barely visible dot, that was Orion’s head, with an arrow from the shore. She ended up accidentally killing Orion.

In the end, even though she cruel so often, she was still a goddess. She was so powerful that it didn’t matter that she killed so many people. Her brother certainly didn’t care, for he did the same. Many Gods and Goddesses killed for ridiculous reasons. Artemis did too.