Artemis

An ancient Greek GODDESS. In mythology she is APOLLO's twin sister. Among other functions, Artemis presided over the rituals that marked a young woman's coming of age. In character, Artemis is a virgin and a huntress. In the battle of the gods in book 21 of the Iliad, she comes off poorly. In effect, Hera disciplines her physically, and she runs to ZEUS for comfort. But Artemis is not always such a weakling. Some myths tells how she killed the mighty hunter Orion after he had insulted her. In an indirect way she was responsible for another death. Hippolytus, the son of Theseus, was devoted to Artemis. Jealous, the goddess Aphrodite engineered an amorous intrigue that eventually resulted in Hippolytus's death. The playwright Euripides made this story famous in one of his plays. Artemis watches over the young from birth to maturity. Ancient Greek girls would dance in choruses in her honor as part of their rituals of growing up. Girls of Athens served Artemis at the sanctuary at Brauron. They were known as arktoi, bears, apparently after a bear whom myths said the Athenians had once killed.