Diana and Artemis

[EclecticDream]

Hello!

I've always felt drawn to Diana, and I've certainly felt her presence with me for a long time.
However, all the information I can find relates to Artemis. I know that Diana is the Roman equivalent to the Grecian Artemis. I guess what I was just wondering was if Diana and Artemis have anything drastically different about the two of them. For example, I recently found out (from a website posted in one of the threads on this forum) that Artemis is the patroness of singers. Being a singer myself, this obviously is something I can relate to. Does Diana serve the same purpose?

Sorry if this post is a little rambly, just trying to get some thoughts and questions out there. Thanks in advance for any responses.

[SylverStar]

I've never heard that about singers. To me I would say no, because they in essence are not the same. They're are mythologies that are only greek not roman. I know very little about Diana but I'm sure their are others in that can maybe help you with some more info. To me it's kind of like if you have 2 people who are twins and you call them the same person. Though they may have similarities, they are not the same. That's just my opinion though.

[Wolffang]

Diana is most likely the mother aspect and artemis is the maiden aspect...But they both the goddesses of the hunt...but from my experience diana loves to dance though...

[Theres]

Diana is most likely the mother aspect and artemis is the maiden aspect...But they both the goddesses of the hunt...

probably not, as neither the ancient Greeks nor Romans saw their Goddesses that way.
with a very few ancient exceptions, the Maiden/Mother/Crone concept is a modern interpretation of the ancient Goddesses, and not always very accurate at that.

while similar, Diana and Artemis are not the same.
personally, i find Artemis to be much more complex (note, i didn't say "better"), even being closely associated with Hekate, an association Diana was never a part of.

[Wolffang]

probably not, as neither the ancient Greeks nor Romans saw their Goddesses that way.
with a very few ancient exceptions, the Maiden/Mother/Crone concept is a modern interpretation of the ancient Goddesses, and not always very accurate at that.

while similar, Diana and Artemis are not the same.
personally, i find Artemis to be much more complex (note, i didn't say "better"), even being closely associated with Hekate, an association Diana was never a part of.
hmm I thought that was...but thats true tho...and yes I completely know that diana and artemis are not the same though...thanks for correcting me on that...

[TYRRHENUS]

Hey Greenman!
personally, i find Artemis to be much more complex (note, i didn't say "better"), even being closely associated with Hekate, an association Diana was never a part of.You got that right...
----
Diana is much more clearly defined than Artemis I think. Take for instance her chastity.
Roman authors called her "virgo" meaning 'young' (which could also mean too young for sex). They used the adjective "caste" meaning 'chaste.' In the Roman world this meant either loyal to the patriarch of the family (since she isn't married that would be Jupiter) or a virgin in the modern sense. Most importantly, you will find the word "intacta" meaning 'untouched,' and there's no confusing that. Her chastity was even held up by the likes of John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and probably a bunch of others as a model of how Christians should deny the temptations of the flesh.
I have heard from Hellenics that the question of Artemis in this matter is a bit obscure. So if that is true then there is another different aspect for ya.
EclecticDream, it is really a challenge finding info on Roman gods these days. But it does pay off in the end. Good luck!

[Theres]

:vanish:

[LLwitch-]

ok well look im new at this so dont get mad or anything,i already decided what goddess is for me.which is artemis.but..most wiccans say that that goddess is all myth.like diana and apollo,zeus,bast any goddess or god that can relate to being greek or roman?is that true..im kind of confused :geez:

[Theres]

sorry LLwitch, but i'm not quite sure what your question is.

[SylverStar]

Most goddess' and gods that we work with come from mythology. But just because a certain god comes from mythology does not mean they are not real. I believe the Bible to be mythology, but just because I alone believe that does not make the reality of god to others any less.

[WinterTree]

You might find this interesting. I was reading "A Woman's Guide to Earth Traditions" (very good book, by the way) by Vivianne Crowley, and it mentions that Italian witches had a book known as "Aradia: The Gospel of the Witches". "The Gospel of the Witches" contains a myth in which Diana is the first principle being who creates/brings forth all things from herself. The Gospel says:
"All things were made by Diana,
the great spirits of the stars,
men in their time and place,
the giants which were of old,
and the dwarfs who dwell in the rocks,
and once a month honor her with cakes."

Okay, I know it seems off topic but its just a bit of info that might draw a finer line between Artemis and Diana (but then again this is/was? a belief among a specific sect of witches so it depends on your perspective of Diana/what role you feel she plays).

Hope that made sense, sorry its such a long post. :ahhhh:

[Spectre In The Fog]

I could be wrong on this but if I'm not mistaken,according to an encyclopedia of Greek mythology that I have read,even though Artemis was strictly a virgin and required her entourage (sp?) to remain so as well,it says that she appeared to a man (I can't remember his name) in an amorous dream...

[banondraig]

I could be wrong on this but if I'm not mistaken,according to an encyclopedia of Greek mythology that I have read,even though Artemis was strictly a virgin and required her entourage (sp?) to remain so as well,it says that she appeared to a man (I can't remember his name) in an amorous dream...

wow, that's interesting. would you be able to dig that source back up for us?

[Pandoras]

I agree with SylverStar and Greenan above. Additionally, the gods and goddesses we associate with one place or culture weren't necessarily confined to that one place or culture. Their traits and attributes changed as well. Take the Diana of Ephesus, an ancient city of Greek Asia Minor in present-day western Turkey (by the way, she's mentioned in the Bible as are several pagan gods). After the Greek arrival and influence, Diana/Artemis is eventually even worshipped in Egypt, albeit in a different way.

I don't know what my point is. LOL. Oh yeah, that the gods and goddesses, and/or our perceptions and understandings of them, undergo tremendous transformations. So naturally, there are both many similarities and differences regarding deities that appear to be equivalents. To me, it's all about a very personal sense of spirituality and connection to the deity.

Having said that, I prefer Artemis. :)

Pandoras

[HorseCrow]

Some time back, I did some research on the whole thing of Artemis as a virgin- and the word "virgin" in ancient Greece, had nothing to do with the sexual aspect of it- "virgin"/"chaste" simply meant not married and thus not bound to any man. The prostitutes of ancient Greece were reffered to as virgins.
So Artemis being a virgin, simply means that she answered to no man. And when she required her followers to be virgins, that also simply meant, to be un-married. The sex part had nothing to do with it.

[banondraig]

so the story of Her throwing Callisto out of her band of nymphs for being raped by Zeus would then have more to do with the ancient meaning of "rape" which could include seduction? it certainly seems that a rape by the modern definition would not constitute a tie between the victim and the attacker, even though there was a pregnancy involved.

[HorseCrow]

I should think so, yes- Zeus was very seductive, so I would think Callisto was excluded because she had given in... for being weak, I guess.

[ckynes1968]

I've always felt drawn to Artemis because she is the goddess of the hunt. I call to her when I am out for deer season (This is food for the table in case you are wondering) and I have been successful. I also call on her to protect my family (when my husband is up in the woods, etc...) during the hunting season.

The books I have mostly mention Diana and do not mention any of the Greek gods and goddesses.

[SylverStar]

so the story of Her throwing Callisto out of her band of nymphs for being raped by Zeus would then have more to do with the ancient meaning of "rape" which could include seduction? it certainly seems that a rape by the modern definition would not constitute a tie between the victim and the attacker, even though there was a pregnancy involved.
Didn't he come to her in the form of Artemis though? I can't remember. Also Artemis did not want any man to even see her in the nude. I tend to think of Artemis as a virgin in the sense that we know it.

[banondraig]

Didn't he come to her in the form of Artemis though? I can't remember. Also Artemis did not want any man to even see her in the nude. I tend to think of Artemis as a virgin in the sense that we know it.

i don't remember that part, i know she got turned into a bear. i haven't actually read that story in a long time though.

i think of Artemis in the modern sense of a virgin as well. i'm not at all sure that that dream mentioned earlier in the thread was an actual visitation rather than some horny guy having a dream. the painting of Her by boris vallejo really gets on my nerves, too. he made her look like a barbie doll! how is someone built like that supposed to be able to run and hunt? sorry, but i don't have a link. it's something i saw when i was working in that framing shop a few years ago.

[HorseCrow]

I like these:

http://digilander.libero.it/paphlagonia/Apollon.html

http://www.spauda.lt/history/greece/amazons/artemis.jpg

http://www.linkclub.or.jp/~argrath/artemis.jpg

[banondraig]

yes, those are better, especially the second one.

[HorseCrow]

When Artemis was 3 years old, she asked her father Zeus, to grant her perpetual virginity/chastity and he gave it to her. This meant that he allowed her remain unmarried always, never to be the servant of a husband. The term virginity/chastity simply had a whole other meaning than today. She had her pick of lovers, but she never had to commit. Therein lies the "viginity". The turn towards her viginity being of a physical kind came alongside the christian meaning of the word and associations (Virgin Mary etc).