She's cruel, she's single, she's a virgin, she's a hunter. One of the most brutal goddesses ever known to men kind, if you're a guy and look at her once, watch out or she'll turn you into a deer. One of my heros, I love her with all of my heart and I don't blame myself for it. For me, she's absolutely perfect. I give you, the first lady of nature, the mistress of the wild... the queen of the moon, I give you

• She's the goddess of hunting and chastity
• She's the daughter of Zeus and Leto.
• She's the twin sister of Apollo, the sun god.
• She's a virgin, always have, always will. (I think it has something to do with the fact that she kills the people who DARE to set eyes on her and fall in love with her...)
• Her sacred tree is the Cypress and all wild animals are sacred to her, especially the deer.
• The moon was given as a gift to her by Zeus, and it's been told that whenever she says "No", the moon doesn't come out that night.
• Her temple is set in Delphi, Greece (which I think is quite obvious since she's a Greek goddess...)
• She presides childbirth (even though it sounds weird since she's a virgin) and it is known that when she was born, she didn't cause her mother any pain.

• Never fall in love with her:

Orion, as punishment, became Apollo's helper. He fell in love with Artemis, and to prove his love to her, he decided to show her how well he can hunt. So one day, when he saw that Artemis is in the field, hunting, he came there and started bragging. Artemis that felt like playing sent him a wild wolf. Orion pulled out his dagger and started fighting with the wolf. After finally killing the wolf, Artemis took his dagger and threw it to the sky. Orion thought to himself, "Alright... she's playing hard to get. Fine." and started searching for another animal to kill. He came across a deer, took out his bow and arrow and aimed for the poor deer. He hit him, the deer died, and then again, Artemis took his bow and arrow, and threw it to the sky. Without any weapons, Orion felt like he had to impress his love, no matter what. Again, he went to the woods and this time came across a wild bore. He took off his belt and started battling with the pig. When he finally won, Artemis thought to tease him all the way, and threw his belt into the sky. Orion was almost without nothing, but didn't give up, he decided to give it one more try, he has to have Artemis, even if it kills him. Morning after, Orion took off his clothes and decided to make a trap to a tiger he saw coming. He climbed tree and as the tiger is busy exploring Orion's clothes, Orion jumped on him and started strangling him. He finally won, and Artemis who took this whole thing as a huge joke, thought it would be even funnier if she threw Orion's clothes to the sky. And so she did!

Orion was deeply hurt. He didn't want to have Artemis anymore, all he wanted was his life and dignity back. He went to his father, Poseidon - God of the ocean, and asked him to raise a huge wave that will reach to the sky, so he can take his clothes and weapons back. Poseidon did as he asked and as he rose Orion to the sky on a wave, Artemis who got totally sick of Orion and his playing, called Apollo and told him there's a big wave that is about to wash off the land, he has to come there and dry it off before it's too late! Apollo came there, and dried the wave and while Orion was taking back his clothes and weapons. Orion is now stuck in the sky forever, and he watches us from there every night.

• Never see her naked:

Actaeon was a hunter. Once, after a long exhausting day he took his dogs and himself to take a little shower in a stream. Alas, Artemis was there bathing with her maids and poor Actaeon caught a glimpse of Artemis' naked body. Artemis, which hates men and even more when they see her naked, turned him to a stag and his dogs which were well trained to kill a stag when they see one, killed him. Poor Actaeon... ("The summits of the high mountains tremble, and the shady forest holds the frightened cries of the beasts of the woods; the earth trembles, as well as the seas, filled with fish. The goddess of the valiant heart springs forth on all sides, and sows death among the race of wild animals." -- "To Artemis (II)," The Homeric Hymns, translation by Apostolos N. Athannassakis)

However, it is known that another man saw Artemis' naked body, but he was smart enough to disguise himself as a woman before...

• Never forget about her:

The king of Calydon once sacrificed the first fruits of the annual crops of the country to all the gods except for... Artemis. She didn't let him out of it and sent a huge, strong bore which destroyed the cattle and the land in general and even killed some people...

• Never try to make her angry by sacrificing a virgin:

Before the Trojan war was about to start, Achaean fleet had not yet sailed because it was wind bound at Aulis. So in order to make up for this shameful inconvenience the Achaeans decided to sacrifice Iphigenia. But when Iphigenia was about to be sacrificed, Artemis took her and replaced her with a deer on the alter, and transported her to Tauris (a mystic island of women, who sacrificed all men who came upon its shores) and lived out her life there...

• Never blame things on her (and never lie too):

Callisto and Artemis were the best of friends, always going hunting together and such. Callisto even promised Artemis that she'll stay a virgin forever, but one day Callisto got pregnant by Zeus who seduced her (because he thought it was Artemis...), and when Artemis asked her how come she's pregnant, Callisto said it was Artemis' fault. Artemis got really angry and turned poor Callisto to a bear.

It's also known that she wanted her huntresses to be virgins too, so she turned into a beast any huntress who was no longer a virgin, even if she was raped. ("Virginal maidens such as Maira and Callisto may have taken part in Artemis' chaste band of huntresses, but once they explored their sexuality, willingly or unwillingly, they became the targets of Artemis' arrows in the manner of young animals old enough to be hunted....Once any of her virginal companions indulged in sexuality, however, Artemis immediately regarded them as prey...." -- Pandora: Women in Classical Greece, Ellen D. Reeder.)

• Never make fun of Artemis and her brother:

Niobe married Ampheon and gave him 7 sons and 7 daughters, and dared to laugh at Leto because of her kids - Artemis who wore man's wear and Apollo who had long hair and a woman's gown, in appose to her kids. And not only that, she also bragged in front of Leto that she killed more children that her... Apollo and Artemis got really pissed and Apollo killed all of Niobe's sons in the woods while they were hunting and Artemis killed her daughters in the palace.

All of the information here came from my mind, the Dark Godesses page and the Greek Mythology Link.

If some of the information is wrong or you have more information to add, please Email me.

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