Artemis
goddess of the hunt and the wild in ancient Greek religion and mythology
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Artemis (; Ancient Greek: Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of hunting, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was often said to roam the forests and mountains, attended by an entourage of nymphs. The goddess Diana is her Roman equivalent.
Artemis was the daughter of Leto and Zeus, and twin sister of Apollo. In most accounts, the twins were produced by an extramarital liaison, for which Zeus's wife Hera forbade Leto from giving birth anywhere on solid land. Only the island of Delos allowed her to give birth to her children. In one account, Artemis is born first and then proceeds to assist Leto in the birth of the second twin, Apollo.
Artemis was a kourotrophic (child-nurturing) deity, being the protector of children, especially girls, and animal cubs. She was worshipped and feared as one of the primary goddesses of childbirth and midwifery along with Eileithyia and Hera. She was also a patron of healing and disease, and was believed to send good health, illness and death upon women and children, and a guardian over transitions from maidenhood.
The public source identifies “Artemis” as goddess of the hunt and the wild in ancient Greek religion and mythology. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Artemis, goddess and hunt.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q39503. VIAF identifies the subject as 94964164. The Library of Congress control number is no2014110560. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Artemis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.