In Greek mythology, themis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was born in Telo or Otigia (near Ephesus in western Turkey) and was the twin sister of Apollo. When she was three years old, her father sat her on his lap and asked her what gift she wanted. Young themis knew her father's strength, and she asked without hesitation. This is her answer (giving the impression that she has been thinking for a long time):
Pray for my eternal virginity; As many names as my brother Apollo; Bows and arrows like him; An office that brings light; A saffron hunting tunic with a knee-length red hem; Sixty young sea fairies, all the same age, are my maids; Twenty river fairies from Amnisus, Crete, look after my bus [boots] and feed my hounds when I'm not out hunting; All the mountains in the world; Finally, you are willing to choose any city for me, but one is enough, because I plan to live in the mountains most of the time.
At that time, Artemis was regarded as the patron saint of hunting and wild nature and the hostess of animals. For this reason, she is associated with wild animals such as deer and wild boar (especially young), forests and the moon. As the goddess of chastity, fertility and reproduction, Al themis is the patron saint of young women, especially the bride-to-be. They presented toys to her, symbolizing the transition to adulthood and assuming the responsibilities of a wife. Finally, the goddess, as a resident of wild nature, is related to boundary and transition in both physical and abstract aspects. Perhaps it is for this reason that temples dedicated to Al themis are often built on the edge of human settlements, or where the land changes, such as swamps or water junctions.
It is said that the goddess killed Orion after trying to kill Al themis herself or one of her followers.
In mythology,
Al themis played only a small role in the description of the Trojan War in Iliad and Homer's Epic. She is often regarded as the "goddess of archers", but occasionally she is also regarded as a "wild and loud chaser" and a "goddess, mistress of wild animals". She supported the Trojans, especially after Aeneas was injured by diomedes and cured him. Hesiod often described her as "the archery Al themis" in his genealogy.
At the beginning of the Trojan War, a noteworthy episode related to the goddess was the rescue of Agamemnon's daughter Iphigenia. The king killed one of her deer in the sacred forest, which angered the goddess. As a punishment, themis pacified the Achaia fleet, and only sacrificing Iphigenia could appease the goddess and make Troy blow a gust of wind. Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter on time, but out of pity, the goddess replaced the girl with a deer at the last minute and made Iphigenia the priestess of her refuge in Tauritz.
However, other descriptions of Artemis show her in a far less merciful way. It is said that after Orion tried to kill Al themis herself or one of her followers, she killed Orion. Artemis turned callisto, one of the attendants of the goddess, into a bear, because she was lying with Zeus, and then Zeus turned her and her son Achatz into the constellation of the Great Bear and the Little Bear (although before Achatz established the Arcadian race). The goddess mercilessly killed six (or seven in some accounts) daughters of Naomi with her bow because she boasted about her fertility in Biglietto. Action, the hunter, was turned into a stag by the goddess after he dared to boast that he was a greater hunter, or in another version, spying on Al themis while she was bathing in the forest pool. Then Actaion was torn to pieces by his own 50 hounds. Finally, Miss Alsi sent a huge wild boar to ravage Caledon, because the city neglected to offer sacrifices to the goddess. Organized an all-star hero hunting team including theseus, Jason, Dioscuroy, Atalanta and Meleg to hunt and sacrifice wild boar in the name of Al themis. After a long expedition, Atlanta and Meleg finally succeeded in killing wild boar.
The famous marble statue is located on the east lintel of the Parthenon. She sat between Apollo and Aphrodite.
The temple of themis is in Ephesus.
As the god of fertility, Artemis Ephesus is particularly respected in Ephesus, because it is close to Otigia, and many people think that Otigia is her birthplace. Here, her worship includes oriental elements (borrowed from the goddess Isis, Sibelli and "the mistress of animals"), and her main symbols are bees, dates and stags. The famous themis Temple in this city (built in 550 BC) is almost twice as big as the Parthenon in Athens, and it was finally completed after a century of labor. It is considered as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. There are 127 pillars in the temple, and the lintel plates on them are very heavy, each weighing about 24 tons. Ephesians believe that Artemis participated in the construction. There is a huge cedar statue in the temple. Today, all the remains of this temple are its foundation and a sad pillar erected by the remains of composite materials.
Other religious sites
Other famous places of worship of Artemis are the shelters of Braun, Tauritz, Magney, Berg and Taylor. In some mythological versions, the goddess was born there and helped her brother Apollo to be born there. In Braulong, on the east coast of Attica, in the 8th and 3rd centuries BC, temple ruins and sacred springs were used to hold adult ceremonies for young girls and brides-to-be. It is not clear what these ceremonies involve, but the painted pottery used for sacrifice at the scene does show pictures of young girls running and dancing. In Saldi, Lydia (western Turkey), around 300 BC, the fourth largest Ionian ancient Greek temple was built to commemorate Al themis, and was later renovated by the Romans in the 2nd century. They know that themis is Diana. In Sparta and Athens (the post-war marathon in 490 BC), themis worshipped Artemis themis and was sacrificed as a goat to Sparta. Before her annual engagement of 500 pounds, she was dedicated to Sivir, an Athenian.
Artistic depiction
In ancient Greek art, Al themis is usually depicted as a beautiful girl, Huntress, holding an bazooka, a bow and arrow or a spear. She is often accompanied by deer, stags or hounds, and sometimes she wears cat skin. Her early performances also emphasized her role as an animal goddess and showed that she had a bird or animal wing on each hand. For example, on the handle of the famous Fran? ois vase (570-565 BC), she held a panther and a stag in one depiction and a lion in another. In the later red and black figure vases of Attica, she was often depicted holding a torch.
The famous marble statue is located on the east lintel of the Parthenon. She sat with the goddess of love between Apollo and Aphrodite (440 BC). The goddess is pulling up her robe to better cover herself, perhaps because of her reputation for chastity. Later, perhaps more famous today, as a Huntress, he impressively grasped the antlers, a gesture captured by a Roman sculptor on marble, and copied a lost Greek original, which was attributed to Leo Cyrus (325 BC). It is called Diane Versailles and is now on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Themis continued to pay attention to the Romans, the goddess with a bow, who was going to visit the Roman marble statue in the 2nd century AD with hounds in the Vatican Museum at her feet. The goddess has a crescent moon on her head to remind her of her long-term connection with that celestial body. Finally, the connection between themis and fertility is particularly common in Ephesus, which is best reflected in the marble statue of the city. The goddess is covered with what seems to be small eggs and animals. Its history can be traced back to A.D. 125- 175, and it is now on display in Selcuk Archaeological Museum.