How Did Artemis Affect Greek Culture

658 Words3 Pages
When we hear Greek gods, we usually think of the basics that everyone knows, such as Zeus, Poseidon, or Athena. But in all, there are twelve Olympians that are/were believed by Greeks to protect them in everyday life. One of these Olympians was the goddess Artemis, goddess of the hunt, the moon, virginity, childbirth, and nature. Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, Leto being the goddess Zeus cheated on with, who ran to the island Ortygia from Hera’s wrath. It was there that she gave birth to Artemis, then a day later her twin brother Apollo, whom Artemis helped deliver. It is believed this is where her nurturing and desire to protect came from, having been a protector of Apollo from then on. This led her to become a goddess, thus forth affecting Greek culture in many ways.…show more content…
One thing she was widely known for was her devotion to her virginity, protecting young women until marriage. The belief that they were protected obviously would have affected their belief system and confidence that they were safe. Artemis asked Zeus at a young age to take away her romantic emotion, for she wanted to devote her life to nature and everything in it. This led to tales, telling of how men attempted to rape Artemis. This was because they could not win her heart, so she responded by punishing them by turning them into some woodland creature, and in most stories, shooting them with her bow. It is believed she did the same to mortals in the same situation, virginity was sacred and they trusted Artemis to protect
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