Artemis

Roman name- **Diana**
 * Artemis **

**Artemis is the virgin goddess of the hunt. She is said to also have helped women in childbirth, but can bring sudden death with her arrows. She is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and sister of Apollo. A myth says that she was the first born and helped her mother deliver Apollo.** **She is depicted as a young woman wearing buckskins and carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows. When portrayed in things such as artwork, she is accompanied by wild creatures such as a stag or a she-bear. Also, the deer and cypress were sacred to her. Artemis is the associated with hunting, childbirth, virginity, and young girls.** **Niobe, queen of Thebes, bragged about how she was better than Artemis' mother, Leto, because she had more children than Leto's two. Artemis and her mother ended up killing most of Niobe's children with their powerful arrows. Niobe was then transferred to stone where she still continues to weep.** **Artemis spent a great deal of time with the giant Orion and hunted with him often. Her brother Apollo decided to end their relationship. He challenged Artemis to prove****her archery skills by shooting an object floating far out at sea. Being very skilled at archery, her shot was perfect. But, it turned out to be that the "floating object" was the head of Orion himself.**

__ **Symbol-** __ **Hunting, bows, and arrows**



__ **Artwork-** __