Goddess of the Week: Artemis

Did you read our blog feature last week on the greek goddess Hera, and why we’re fascinated by her story? We’ll be focusing on several of the greek goddesses in the next few weeks to prepare for an exciting collection, so today we’ll be diving into the goddess of the moon and the hunt, Artemis.

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While Artemis’ twin brother Apollo represents the sun, this independent goddess represents the dark and mysterious moon, illuminating the night sky. From an early age, Artemis demanded from her parents to be as separate from her twin brother as possible as to not get lost in his shadow, and in return they granted her control of animals, all the world’s mountains, and her very own bow and arrow so she could hunt. Artemis also vowed to never marry, not wanting to be tied down by a traditional marriage. She soon took on the title of goddess of the hunt, leading a tribe of other like-minded women that would travel the world for eternity, living in a sacred sisterhood of friendship and trust. In a way, she’s also seen as somewhat of a queer, feminist icon to some.

Like many of the gods, Artemis had a fiery temper. Men who attempted to dishonour her vows of staying single were met with violent ends. Same went for the women who attempted to leave her sisterhood after falling in love with men. Once you were in with Artemis, there was no getting out. 

What do you think of Artemis? Her independence from traditional Greek female roles is inspiring, as it was unheard of for a woman to never marry and prefer something like hunting. But her violent outbursts towards her sisters who wanted to change their path puts a touch of hypocrisy into her independent message. Stand by your own ideals and what you believe in, but you'll constantly come across those who can’t always agree. Tolerance and patience can do wonders for your self improvement. 

That wraps up this week on our goddess feature! Stay tuned for more updates on our greek goddess collection.